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Year: 2011

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Benefit reading to support One Story

On Tuesday, February 22nd at The Stone, you can support One Story at a benefit reading with a bonus: Amy Hempel, A.M. Homes, and Hannah Tinti will not only read, they will also join forces to perform a musical number. This event is part of a series curated by Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. It will cost just $10 and all proceeds will go to support One Story!

Date/Time: Tuesday, February 22nd at 8 pm.
Curated by: Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed
Featuring: Amy Hempel, A.M. Homes & Hannah Tinti
At: The Stone, Lower East Side NYC, located on the Corner of Avenue C & 2nd Street
Price: $10. All proceeds benefit One Story. One Story is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported by readers and by grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Amazon.com.

Art, Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Movie night at the Albany PCC

The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Albany Polish American Community Center is sponsoring Movie Night at the PCC with a screening of the film, In Dessert and Wilderness (W Pustyni i w Puszczy).

The movie is based on a story by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It tells the story of 15 year old Stas Tarkowski and 9 year old Nel Rawlinson, kidnapped by rebels fighting for the great Arab leader – the Mahdi. Their fathers desperately organize a search party, but the Mahdi uprising is spreading rapidly across North Africa and the chances of finding the children seem remote. Forced to rely on themselves, Stas and Nel, together with two young African slaves, Mea and Kali, escape their captors and head south across desolate country. In their search for a way home, they must battle wild animals, thunderstorms, hunger and malaria. Their journey to freedom brings them into contact with some colorful characters: Kaliopoli, a displaced Greek, guides Stas through a critical encounter with the great Mahdi, and Linde, an eccentric Polish cartographer, himself lost in the jungle, offers hope when Nel comes down with malaria and all hope for her survival seems lost.

The movie is in Polish with English subtitles. The movie will begin at 7:30 pm. Pizza, popcorn, and soda will be provided. A donation of $2 to support the Ladies’ Auxiliary is kindly requested from PCC members, $5 from non-members. Children are FREE!

Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

A good day for Polonia

Stan “The Man” Musial received the Medal of Freedom and a Polonian church is saved.

From CBS News: Stan Musial Receives Medal of Freedom

(CBS/AP) St. Louis Cardinal legend Stan “The Man” Musial was one of 15 people to receive the Medal of Freedom from President Obama today. In a ceremony in the White House, the President awarded the Medal, the highest civilian honor in the country, to Musial as well as poet Maya Angelou, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and basketball great Bill Russell.

President Obama called the recipients, “the best of who we are and who we aspire to be.”

In the world of baseball, few lived up to that praise as much as Stan Musial. As a St. Louis Cardinal, Musial was a three-time World Champion and appeared in 24 All-Star Games. He retired after the 1963 season with a .331 batting average and 475 home runs. Of his 3,630 career hits, exactly half came at home and half on the road. This is in spite of the years he took off during World War II to serve in the Navy.

Musial, 90, wore his familiar Cardinals-red sports coat during the ceremony shown on St. Louis television and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website. He beamed as the president placed the medal around his neck.

Musial, a native of Donora, Pa., was signed by the Cardinals as a pitcher but converted to the outfield after a shoulder injury in the minor leagues. It worked out well.

He earned the nickname “The Man” in 1946, when Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg heard fans at Ebbets Field welcome Musial to the plate by saying, “Here comes the man.”

Musial was the general manager of the 1964 Cardinals that won the World Series in seven games over the New York Yankees. That victory came a year after his retirement from playing.

He has remained a beloved figure in St. Louis. In fact, it was a grassroots “Stand for Stan” campaign that helped convince the White House to honor Musial with the Medal of Freedom. The Cardinals promoted the idea through Facebook, Twitter and other social media, and politicians quickly joined in letter-writing campaigns.

The Medal of Freedom is the highest honor awarded to civilians. The award is meant to recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions to national security, world peace, or the culture as a whole. Only 257 Americans have ever received this honor.

From the Berkshire Eagle: Vatican: St. Stan’s must re-open as place of worship

ADAMS — The Vatican rarely reverses a church closing, but today parishioners from St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish learned their prayers were answered: A decree made public today declares that St. Stanislaus Kostka Church must re-open as a place of worship.

About 200 parishioners have participated in an around-the-clock vigil at the church on Hoosac Street in Adams since Dec. 26, 2008, the day the Catholic church closed.

“After over two years’ worth of effort, we are very happy and deeply grateful to the Vatican for hearing our case and deciding it favorably — we feel very blessed that our prayers have been answered,” said Laurie Haas of Adams, whose name led the appeal by St. Stan’s parishioners.

“This is an historic moment in the Catholic Church. It is our understanding that a decree decision like this has just been issued to only two other diocese in the entire U.S. So this is truly monumental, we are very grateful to almighty God for this wonderful blessing and the return of our beloved St. Stanislaus Kostka Church,” Haas said.

The complexly written, four-page decree from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy supports the appeal by St. Stan parishioners to keep the church open as a divine place of worship. The decree was signed by prefect Mauro Cardinal Piacenza.

The decree upheld the right of the Most Rev. Timothy A McDonnell, bishop of Springfield, to “suppress and merge” all the Roman Catholic parishes of Adams and to locate the newly formed Parish of Pope John Paul the Great at the former Notre Dame Church. However, the decree takes issue with the closing of St. Stan’s church, stating that the reasons given by the diocese for the building’s closure in December 2008 were not justified.

The decree states the church building must be re-opened as a place of worship but does not define how McDonnell should proceed…

Here’s the video:

As I recently pointed to in The Immigrant Mosaic in Massachusetts: Adams, MA has the largest percentage of people self-identifying as Polish-Americans [in Massachusetts] — 29.1% of the local population.

A great victory attesting to the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of the people of the parish, but remember that they could only appeal one bishop’s decision to another. The decision making power in relation to the assets of the parish, which they support and pay for, is totally outside of their hands.

Events, PNCC, ,

Help Father Gary get out of jail

Father Gary Spencer of Holy Trinity Parish in Woodlawn, New York is in jail — and needs your help. From Fr. Gary:

I’m excited to tell you that I have chosen to serve as an MDA Jailbird and am being Locked-Up…that’s right, I’m going behind bars to help Jerry’s Kids. In order to be released on good behavior, I need your help to raise my “bail.”

My bail has been set at $1,600 and if everyone I know makes a tax-deductible donation, I’ll reach my goal quickly!

Make a secure, online donation before 02/15/11. This is a fun event benefiting individuals and families served by MDA who are affected by neuromuscular disease. I am honored to partner with MDA, and help this important cause.

Thanks in advance for your help. Together we’ll make a difference!

Father Gary

He’s really a great priest and friend. Help him get out of the slammer.

PNCC, , , , , , , ,

Church controversies

From the Bloomington Pantagraph: Streator parish mired in $35,000 dispute

STREATOR — The 86-year-old former head of the now-defunct Altar & Rosary Society of St. Casmir Roman Catholic Church had to make a trip to the police station Tuesday to explain why her organization did not steal $35,622 that a monsignor says belongs to the parish.

Dorothy Swital said she told the police the money was raised by her society and did not belong to the church, so the society was within its rights to transfer the two certificates of deposit to the newly created Altar Society of the Polish National Alliance in Streator. She said the new group’s mission is the same as its predecessor’s: raise money to aid the Catholic Church’s work.

Monsignor John Prendergast, who heads the St. Michael the Archangel Parish, which was created by the consolidation of four parishes last fall, called the transfers “unauthorized withdrawals” from a church account.

No charges were filed as of Tuesday. Police declined to comment on the investigation.

Prendergast said Tuesday that Swital was given “ample opportunity” to resolve the dispute without it going to the police and the public. He said now that the matter is in police hands, he cannot comment, other than to say “the church has survived for 2,000 years and it will survive this.”

The dispute is part of a continuing feud between some parishioners of the defunct Streator parishes and the Peoria Diocese and Prendergast. The diocese opted to close St. Stephen’s, St. Anthony’s, Immaculate Conception, and St. Casimir’s parishes and merge them into the new parish to cut costs and revitalize the Catholic Church community in the city, Prendergast said previously.

In a letter to Swital made public this week, the monsignor vowed to bring charges against her if she did not return the money by Feb. 4. With that deadline passed and the police complaint filed, Swital said she was asked by the police department to come in and make her statement.

“We raised that money,” Swital said Tuesday. “Any time they (the church) needed it for something, we’d give it to them.”

None of the money came from church collections, she said…

Also see State’s attorney to review Streator church funds

Of note, in the PNCC, Church organizations like the Women’s Adoration Society, YMS of R, and parent groups supporting the parish Schools of Christian Living are all independent and answerable only to their individual constitutions and membership. Of course they actively support their parishes and do thousands of positive and valuable things for the Church and their parishes. As with the ladies mentioned above, these societies are formed, organized, and governed on a principal of love for the Church and its mission. Clerical control is not what is necessary, but a community that abides by the democratic principals which subsists in the PNCC. For instance, per the Constitution of the PNCC:

ARTICLE V, SECTION 8. All of the funds, moneys and property, whether real or personal, belong to those members of the Parish who conform to the Rites, Constitution, Principles, Laws, Rules, Regulations, Customs and Usages of this Church, and subject to the provisions of this Constitution and Laws.

Similar statements are contained in the constitutions of the various Church Societies. For instance, the Constitution of the National United Women’s Societies for the Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament notes that the “Pastor serves as the Society’s spiritual advisor” (Article IV, Administration, Section 4). Funds are used in keeping with the Society’s mission and goals (Article II, Purpose, and Article III Membership and Responsibilities). Each Society controls its own funds (Article V, Dues and Funds) through its votes and elected officers (Article IV, Administration, Sections 1 and 2).

Also note, per the Church Constitution, the Pastor doesn’t control the existence and development of Church Societies, but supports them, seeing to fertile ground so that they may exist and develop.

ARTICLE XIV, SECTION 4. [The Pastor] organizes and is responsible for the conduct of a School of Christian Living, the Standard Church Societies and, whenever and if possible, a Polish School. He shall particularly take care that the School of Christian Living and the Standard Church Societies established by the Synods shall exist and develop within his Parish.

Chicago Now looks back in history at the conflict that led to the founding of an independent Polish Catholic Church in Chicago (which later became part of the PNCC) in Civil War at St. Hedwig (2-9-1895). Note the key phrase I have highlighted:

Like the flag of Poland, there was white and red. Blood was on the snow outside St. Hedwig church–and a bit of red pepper.

St. Hedwig parish had been founded in 1888 to serve Polish Catholics in Bucktown. The pastor was Rev. Joseph Barzynski. He was a member of a religious order–the Congregation of the Resurrection, or Resurrectionists.

Now, in the early months of 1895, the parish was engulfed in civil war. One faction supported the pastor. The other side had gathered around Rev. Anthony Kozlowski, the young assistant who’d recently arrived from Poland. Kozlowski was not a Resurrectionist.

Depending on which side you listened to, there were many reasons for the conflict. Was Kozlowski attempting a power-play to become pastor? Were the Resurrectionists too autocratic? Was someone stealing money from the St. Hedwig treasury? What role should lay people play in a parish? Who should hold title to parish property?

A majority of the parishioners backed Kozlowski. There were protests at Sunday Mass. The police placed guards at the church. On the evening of February 7, the situation turned violent.

About 3,000 people, mostly women, tried to storm the parish rectory. The pastor and his new assistant barricaded themselves inside. The police guard called for backup…

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, , , ,

The concept of assent in a democratic Church

The Polish National Catholic Church rightly takes pride in the fact that its people, all its people, function as its legislative body. Per the Constitution of the PNCC:

ARTICLE VI — CHURCH AUTHORITY

SECTION 1. The authority of this Church is vested in three branches, namely: legislative, executive and judicial.

…

SECTION 3. In administrative, managerial and social matters, this Church derives its authority from the people who build, constitute, believe in, support and care for it. It is a fundamental principle of this Church that all Parish property, whether the same be real, personal, or mixed, is the property of those united with the Parish who build and support this Church and conform to the Rite, Constitution, Principles, Laws, Rules, Regulations, Customs and Usages of this Church.

SECTION 4. The administration, management and control over all the property of the Parish is vested in the Parish Committee elected by the Parish and confirmed by the Diocesan Bishop, and strictly dependent upon and answerable to the lawful authorities of this Church.

The Church is democratically governed, that is, its people make the decisions and express their will at Holy Synod, both the quadrennial General Synod and at Diocesan Synods.

One of the problems frequently seen in other Churches, with similar democratic forms of governance, is the constancy of faith, morals, Tradition, doctrine, and liturgy (within liturgical Churches) under a democratic decision making processes. Are there limits to democracy, and can democracy trump all things?

In a democratic Church, are you one vote away from deciding Jesus is not true-God and true-man, from denying the Virgin birth, from turning the resurrection into a fuzzy myth narrative of confused and poor disciples who carried along the beautiful message of Jesus because it was oh so special to them?

There are those, even within the PNCC, who take Bishop Hodur’s teaching on the democratic nature of the community of Church as a license to make everything subject to democratic process. This form of thinking places the individual in charge of the Church’s teaching, and frees them from the constraints of ‘all that old stuff we’ve gotten way past.’ They use enlightenment arguments, Bishop Hodur arguments, other Churches are doing it arguments, it suits me better arguments, and its unfair/unjust/un-democratic arguments. They only argument they fail to see is the Catholic argument, the linkage to the universal constant within which we strive to overcome what is personal to reach what is Divine.

InsideCatholic, a strongly apologist website which easily resorts to the “heretic” and “exommunicated” argument does make a solid point in Episcopal/Catholic Conversion Is a Two-Way Street:

The developing story of the new Apostolic Constitution for Anglicans continues to unfold in the media, boosted by the Anglican Communion’s instability due to the Episcopal Church and their co-revisionists in the Anglican Church of Canada. Less reported has been the equally well-trafficked path away from Rome and toward the Episcopal Church.

In 2009, Episcopal bishop and gay celebrity Gene Robinson crowed that his New Hampshire diocese was brimming with disaffected Catholics, drawn to the promise of a more inclusive church. While Bishop Robinson’s celebration was premature … he was not misrepresenting the source of some new pew occupants.

“Pope Ratzinger,” Bishop Robinson declared, referring to Benedict XVI by his given name in a late-2005 speech, “may be the best thing to happen to the Episcopal Church . . . . We are seeing so many Roman Catholics join the [Episcopal] church.”

Roman Catholics and Episcopalians have swapped places for years, easily facilitated by related liturgical forms and practices. Unlike other Reformation-era churches, the Church of England, then a geographic arm of the Roman Church, maintained the forms and hierarchies of its parent. The Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism is the closest to its source, in many cases conducting services that are more recognizably Catholic than the post-Vatican II Mass. Some American conservatives see Rome’s embrace of theological orthodoxy — reasserted by Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II — as a compelling alternative to an increasingly listless Episcopal Church.

Similarly, liberal Catholics tied to their forms of worship enjoy the option to embrace the Episcopal Church’s “Catholicism Lite” without the inconvenient frowning upon birth control, abortion, or whatever the latest sexual lifestyle innovation might be.

The point being that if Church is merely choices, one may find the most comfortable outward portrayal of Church for oneself. One may find that place where a loose set of choices is constantly put up for personal and collective vote as the mood strikes today. It is a stunning lack of constancy and perseverance on the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14).

As with any linear analysis of possible alternatives, one can find the place of balance. In the PNCC the balance point lies at the junction between democracy and assent. Democracy is a governing principal, and self determination over what one gives to build the Church. No one can take the parish, or the Church itself, away from those who “build, constitute, believe in, support and care for it.” In the same manner, no one can use the power of the vote to take the Catholic out of the Church, similarly taking catholicity away from those very same people.

At the XXIII General Synod, a perfect example of balance was on display. The Church Doctrine Commission presented two papers, “To Live in the Spirit of God,” which addressed Church teaching on current moral and bioethical issues, and “Eschatology in the PNCC: A Clarification.” Both were presented, not for a vote, but for the assent of the faithful.

In accord with the Constitution of the PNCC:

ARTICLE VI — CHURCH AUTHORITY

SECTION 2. In matters of Faith, morals and discipline the authority of this Church lies in the hands of the Prime Bishop, Diocesan Bishops and Clergy united with them. This authority is derived directly from God through Jesus Christ, agreeably with the words of our Savior: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18)

The Church’s Catholic nature of Church precludes votes on doctrine and its Holy Tradition. As PNCC faithful, we are bound to conform our lives to the Church’s teaching, not as a matter of choice but as a matter of becoming.

Of course, we are not all there, conforming our lives and our choices perfectly to the Church’s guidance. It is difficult to lay down ones life (John 15:13). We all struggle in the gulf between our sinfulness and perfection, the gap between what is earthly and Divine within us. As we travel that road in growing closer to God’s desires for us, as we climb the ladder, we are called to become, to strive for that which is promised to the faithful. That promise is best fulfilled under the guiding and protecting hand of sound orthodox doctrine and Tradition — not a fuzzy assumption that we are any more right today in our personal choices than people have been for 2,000 years.

Yes, a Church can have a democratic form of governance and hold its Catholic faith through assent.

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