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Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC

Working together, as we are able

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Mt. Pleasant church seeks another congregation to share costs

A Mt. Pleasant church is looking for another congregation to share its facility.

First United Church of Christ members are exploring ways to raise funds to cover normal operating costs and to replace the roof, at an estimated cost of $20,000. The church, at the corner of Hitchman and East Main streets, was established in 1864.

The church previously shared its facility with the congregation of Transfiguration of Our Lord Polish National Catholic Church. That worked out well, so they thought they’d try it again.

“We were discussing ways to try to raise some money,” said Lisa Grate, president of First United Church of Christ. “We thought we could put an ad in the paper that we’re an established church seeking a fledgling congregation to share our facility. It’s a big church. The bills are expensive. We have a small, elderly congregation. We’re basically keeping our head above water. We don’t have the funding.”

The partnership with Transfiguration brought in about $600 a month in rent, which included use of First United’s social hall and kitchen. Transfiguration Church was razed in 2002 by the Diocese of Greensburg because of structural damage.

While some Transfiguration parishioners joined other parishes, others wanted to keep their link to their Polish heritage and stay together as a parish. That chance came as First United Church of Christ offered its worship site.

“Our church was their church, basically,” Grate said. “We did our worship on Sundays, they did their worship on Saturdays. They brought all their statues, they had full use of it. It worked out really, really well.”

For that, the parishioners of Transfiguration were very appreciative.

“It worked out real well,” said Dan Levendusky, chairman of the church committee at Transfiguration, adding his parish used First United Church of Christ for about five years. “It was just Christian charity. They knew we were looking for a place to worship.”

A new Transfiguration parish complex opened last November on Bridgeport Street, the site of the former Rainbow Gardens…

This is a really positive example of Christian’s working together as they are able. I have always been a firm believer of supporting our own (2 Corinthians 6:14) when we are ableOf course the UCC and the PNCC do not have the same perspective on many issues. That does not stop others from recognizing us as Christians by our love.. This type of support keeps buildings open, neighborhoods stable and small congregations afloat. It respects the character of community. May God bless both communities.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political

An officer of the court?

George Weigel posits a question in a column from The Pilot: CAMPAIGN 2008: Marriage, civility, persecution

Will the Catholic Church have to get out of the civil marriage business (i.e., priests no longer serving as officers of the court for purposes of validating a marriage)? Will Catholic marriages in the United States eventually resemble marriages in, say, communist-era Poland: a sad joke of a civil ceremony, followed by the liturgical ceremony?

At least in Poland people were honest enough to stop at the civil step if that was all they wanted.

Frankly I hope that such a turn of events does occur. Clergy should not be “officers of the court” for any purpose. We do not represent earthly government, nor should we align ourselves, or encumber ourselves, with the requirements governments put upon us. We should use great care in not equating the sacrament of marriage with a legal contract between two people (which is all a civil marriage is)Should we require that every civil contract between Catholics be blessed in a church. Can you imagine the fees from the lawyers and consultants… They’d be lined up for miles..

Such a move, getting the government out of the Church’s sacrament and the Church out of the government’s business of contract oversight, would only serve to bring a greater level of honesty to the whole process. The Church and couples should be free from the hypocrisy of it all — freedom from the notion that the Church is only a way point for marriage, later for the baby naming ceremony, later for the funeral.

I have seen faith filled couples come to church because that’s where they want to be. I have also seen people go through the motions, lying to themselves and to the Church for months, just for the pretty ceremony — the one grandma wants. Tens of thousands of dollars for lies and shame. Money that could be saved if only they had stopped by the local court, put down $10, and signed a contract. That was all they really wanted. If the word ‘sacrament’ passed through their minds for more than a millisecond I’d be surprised.

Let’s not make churches “officers of the court” as part of an elaborate faí§ade – filled with pretense and business opportunities for wedding consultants. Let’s not make the Church a party to corruption. Let those who come to Church come freely. When they come they will find the doors open to them, doors that open to a lifetime of faith.

As an aside, no Mr. Weigel, you don’t need a government ‘ceremony.’ It can be as simple as putting pen to paper, signing off on a legal agreement as it were. Why play make believe?

Frankly I think Mr. Weigel is full of beans. He cannot see beyond John Paul/Poland shrine he has built to the stuff John Paul really believed in. God’s Kingdom and His Church are greater than human folly.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective,

Awaiting the immanent collapse

The word from the NY Times: Talks Implode During Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved

The meeting opened with Mr. Paulson, the chief architect of the bailout plan, —giving a status report on the condition of the market,— Tony Fratto, Mr. Bush’s deputy press secretary, said. Mr. Fratto said Mr. Paulson warned in particular of the tightening of credit markets overnight, adding, —that is something very much on his mind.—

Matched against today’s word from the Word:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. — Psalm 1:1-3 (RSV)

So let us meditate on and delight in the Lord – then shall we prosper.

Perspective, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Light on history, heavy on propoganda

This article: Diocese’s recommended consolidations reflect move away from ethnic parishes, which appeared in The Citizens Voice was such a propaganda piece that I just had to comment.

The article attempts to give a history of Roman Catholic parishes in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania:

More than a century ago, a congregation of people of German heritage decided to start St. Boniface Parish in Wilkes-Barre. Parishioners previously had to travel down to the German parish, St. Nicholas on Washington Street, or go to one of the territorial parishes for Mass and school.

—Children had to cross railroad tracks to get to school; it was dangerous,— Brother DePorres Stilp said. —So they tried to make a new church here in the neighborhood.—

Stilp’s grandfather was one of the founding members, and for years the parish, which celebrated Mass in German and EnglishMore likely in Latin only – but he wouldn’t know that., was a center for the German Catholic community in the area.

Many of the national parishes in Luzerne County that are historically attended by people and practice traditions from one ethnic background grew up in this manner, according to the Rev. Hugh McGroarty, senior priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pittston.

Fair enough. Then the article goes on to say:

The first immigrants to the area were mostly Irish, and they built Catholic parishes. However, when immigrants from other areas of Europe came, many lived in the same communities and wanted to worship with people who spoke their languages and shared their culture…

Are they saying that Irish = Catholic? That sets the tone for this:

So the Catholic Church gave many of these groups of immigrants national parishes, and made the parishes built by the Irish territorial so anyone in the area could attend.

—There’s no Irish church,— McGroarty said. —There was one church in the area, and so the Polish made their own. And the Slovaks came in, and so on. The other church, which they called Irish, was for everyone.—

The problem of course was that the area church was Irish – right Fr. McGroarty. You had to fit in or get out. They didn’t want the Poles, or Slovaks, or Ukrainians, or Italians. You wore green, spoke English, and worshiped St. Patrick like a good “Catholic” or you got out.

I like the way he implies that these other nationalities were “given” parishes while the Irish parish was the Catholic one. Does that mean that the Poles, etc. had a slightly less than Catholic parish, and the the only truly Catholic parish was the Irish one? Is that because Irish = universal?

What a bad retelling of history. These industrial and mining towns didn’t have homogeneous R.C. parishes. You either fit with the crowd in the Irish parish or you did not. The Poles wouldn’t give in, and wouldn’t turn their assets over the the local [Irish] R.C. bishop as demanded of them (no one was “given” a church) thus in part the genesis for the PNCC.

Later in the article Fr. McGroarty says:

Many parishes held on to their roots, but, McGroarty said, there aren’t nearly as many traditions and ethnic bonds as in the past.

—There isn’t that much,— he said. —The tradition is with the old people.—

I guess you ought to cancel the St. Patrick’s Day parade Father, and dump the corn beef and cabbage down the Susquehanna — it’s only for the old folks anyway. Tradition is only for the old? Kind of like the all that funny old Catholic stuff like devotions, the Traditional form of the Holy Mass, etc.? Sorry Father but those are all things the PNCC hasn’t had to rediscover (í  la Benedict XVI) because we retained them – because we listened to the people. The Church’s Tradition is universal, consistent, and is for all people.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, ,

Homogeneity, neighborhoods, the good life…

I found an interesting article at The Catholic Thing: Neighborhoods Thrive Throughout America wherein the author states:

—It is easy to see in this mutuality of obligation,— writes sociologist Andrew Greeley, —a continuation in the urban environment of the old peasant loyalties of village and clan.—

The Catholic immigrant experience proved that homogenous neighborhoods can enhance American urban life —“ quite a contrast the 1960s big-government social engineers who, in the name of urban renewal, turned many of them into municipal deserts.

I refer to this as the good life because this environment, the associations created therein, and as the author states, this “mutuality,” is part and parcel of God’s design for mankind. We are designed to grow in our understanding of our obligations toward each other. We are meant to act within a supportive and connected community, valuing our family and our neighbor (Luke 10:29). The good life is found in communities that build up and support the right aspirations of their members — aspirations founded in the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. The confluence of right teaching and communal membership forms a microcosm for teaching and passing on an understanding of our moral, social, and religious obligations.

From experience we know that such communities were not without their sins and shortcomings. That is where we all fall short. That said, we must not negate the greater value provided by those communities all-the-while rushing headlong into forced unanimity. As we have ventured into new, unexplored, individualistic territories, under the mask of unanimity, we have seen the fabric of society torn in numerous ways. As recent events tell we have all played the role of robber-baron in an attempt to claw to the top, enriching ourselves at the cost of family, community, and our nation’s treasure.

As our PNCC experienceThe author notes the growth of ethnic rather than territorial parishes in urban centers. The National Church movement was a key motivator in this arena. R.C. bishops were focused on homogenization, but homogenization into the culture, language, and traditions they personally espoused at the expense of people’s natural connections. demonstrates, the joining together of the component parts of the universal Church is not a denial of the Church’s universality, but rather a strengthening of its component parts – each offering its skills, talents, and abilities to the enrichment of the wider community.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Bishop of Portsmouth bans Polish Mass

I am on a streak — catching up with old items I wanted to opine on. Here’s one:

From Damian Thompson at the Telegraph: Bishop of Portsmouth bans Polish Mass.

It’s a wonder that stuff like this still happens. As the Young Fogey pointed out at the time – not only are Bishops who do this against tradition, they are fighting against the very folks who do go to church.

If anyone wonders: Why the PNCC? they need not take a stroll through a hundred plus years of history, they can see it day-to-day, in the here and now. The reasons are obvious, from church closings to clergy that fail to relate to the needs, desires, and aspirations of people in search of God. The reasons for the PNCC were expounded from our first day. It is about respect for God and those who believe in Him, respect for Holy Tradition as well as tradition, respect for those who pay the bills, and central to all these, respect for each person’s God given dignity. Freedom and democracy apply or they do not. Man’s right to use his intellect, talent, and freedom in the service of God apply beyond a bishop’s desire that the believers pray, pay, and obey.

As we declare:

The Church is an organized body of free religious people who strive with the help of their organization, to achieve life’s highest purpose. Every religious act must evolve from man’s free will; it must not yield in any way whatsoever to external compulsion. Neither religion nor the Church as its exponent, should be servants of political parties, governments or tools of the potentates of this world for combating the free aspirations of man or a nation toward liberty; but on the contrary, they are to strengthen men’s spiritual powers, assist them in life’s struggle – in fulfilling their mission nationally and to humanity as a whole. — Principle 5, from The Eleven Great Principles of the Polish National Catholic Church.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, PNCC, , , ,

Economic doom, economic safety

The collapse of major financial houses, the loss of retirement savings, and the ripple effects to come (increased unemployment, higher taxes, fewer “programs” to calm the surley, personal bankruptcy, unpaid bills, alcoholism, divorce, suicides, crime…) causes me to wonder; who played the market right?

I had cause to call my bank the other day. I forgot the password on an account and I needed a reset. The woman on the phone was extremely friendly. As she was doing the reset we had a little chit-chat. She noted that she had been busy. The topics came around to the current “crisis.” She quickly reassured me of the bank’s capitalization and soundness. I agreed with her.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t done an analysis of the bank’s financial statements, or an assessment of the credit risks they have taken, but I know this much – they are local.

These are the sorts of banks who still say no to people. They make folks jump through hoops to prove themselves before they hand out money. Tony and Anna couldn’t get the interest only mortgage, or any mortgage, if they didn’t have money down and a sufficient income to make the payments. Most of the little, hometown, homegrown banks and credit unions do it that way. They reduce unwarranted risk by sticking to models that work. They act in a principled and disciplined manner even if they could have eked out a 20% profit boost.

I also had pause to consider the fraternals, like the Polish National Union (Spójnia). These fraternals are so much more than insurance companies. Fraternals like the PNU provide insurance of course, but that provision is made based on sound business principals — principals that protect members in life and their families in times of grief. Beyond insurance, organizations like the PNUA have branched out into other lines like credit unions – again, focused on serving the members. Our PNUA serves its members in many ways, beyond the business model, that is, at a human level. They step in whenever necessary. For instance, the PNUA will grant charity to members when they are faced with a catastrophic event. They encourage education through college stipends, and underwrite youth focused programs through their charitable arm. Did AIG or Merrill do that? HSBC, Bear Stearns, BOA, or Chase…?

The local banks, the fraternals, the mom and pop companies that many felt were too small, too backward, too unsophisticated, are the ones who built upon solid principals (Matthew 7:24-29). They put the interest of their members (the insureds, the account holders) first. They will be the ones who are left standing.

Perhaps we need to recognize the fact that glamor, bright lights, and derivatives are just a faí§ade (2 Timothy 4:3). Perhaps we need to walk down to the corner, deposit slip in hand, PNU policy in hand, and reconnect with those who say yes when they mean yes and say no when they mean no (Matthew 5:37).

It really isn’t too late. Those who live by sound principals will be the ones who prosper.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC

Punish the lunch lady

Marian High School in Mishawaka, Indiana has apparently fired Mrs. Nan Gilbert, their lunch lady, for being a member of the PNCC. Mrs. Gilbert apparently failed to acquiesce to a demand that she become a Roman Catholic. And here I thought forced conversion was a thing of the past… ‘You vill convert madam or ve vill fire you.’

This report comes from a post on It’s Good to Know That Lifeteen is Dangerous. As this is the sole source of this information I am attempting to confirm it.

For those wishing to inquire (with all Christian charity please) you might contact:

  • The Ordinary of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Bishop John M. D’Arcy at (260) 422-4611.
  • The Superintendent of Schools by sending an E-mail to: Rev. Stephen Kempinger, CSC or call at (260) 422-4611 or (574) 255-1387.
  • The Associate Superintendent of Personnel by sending an E-mail to: Mrs. Rebecca Elswerky or call at (260) 422-4611 or (574) 255-1387.
  • The Principal of Marian High School by E-mail to: Mr. Carl Loesch or call at (574) 259-5257.
  • The Assistant Principal by E-mail to: Mr. James Kryder or call at (574) 259-5257.
  • The Director of the Diocesan Ecumenical Office by E-mail to: Rev. Robert Schulte or call at (574) 291-6404.

You can show your prayerful support for Mrs. Gilbert and for a speedy resolution of the matter at St. Mary’s National Catholic Church (PNCC), 1601 W. Sample Street, South Bend, Indiana on Sunday’s at 9am. For more information you can telephone the parish at (574) 287-9381 or just stop by and talk with Fr. Charles, his wife, and children.

Yesterday I cited an article that now seems ironic. It was about bringing people into the Church. In a poll (unscientific) most respondents said that free food would do the trick. If this report is true, Marian High School has neither the food (they fired the lunch lady) nor the witness to bring people to the faith.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political,

You can enjoy Poland, but…

An very nice article from a R.C. Seminarian who spent some time in Poland this past summer. Check out Summer Part I: Tertio Millenio Seminar in Krakow in Poland from his blog, The Law of the Gift.

An amazing history:

Poland certainly has an amazing history. It has played a great role on the world’s stage, a role that goes beyond the two or three sentences commonly taught in U. S. schools. It is unfortunate that students in the U.S. are so unfamiliar with Poland’s history, and that they have a rather narrow understanding of European history. Europe doesn’t stop at the norder of England, France, and Spain. That said, in reading the seminarian’s post I recalled something Dr. Ryszard Sokołowski told me before my first trip to Poland in 1991, “Do not overly romanticize Poland.”

Getting to the truth:

It is a half funny, half true statement. Can you imagine your typical American tourist going to Poland, expecting to be greeted by girls in Cracovian costumes, dancing the Polka, and feasting on pierogi every night; gallant men riding into battle every day with sabers at their sides…

Of course the seminarian is both an idealist and a questioner of the future. It is the advantage and disadvantage of youth. He sees churches filled, he sees a history of faith, he sees the great martyr nation, w jedności siła, and a hero in John Paul II. He also sees uncertainty ahead. I offer him the same caution Dr. Sokołowski gave me. Don’t over idealize it.

Polish history is filled with sins equal to the heroism, fragmentation equal to strength in unity, abandonment of religion equal to conversion. As a member of the clergy you have to look to and understand the culture — long term, but only as the backdrop for the struggles people face every day.

Seeing the Sheep:

Individual struggles have not changed very much. The opportunities for sin may be a bit different today, but at the core it is the same temptation. If we spend too much time looking at the big picture, the movements on the world stage, we miss the souls we are supposed to care for. How can we help people see the way today? Pointing to history is part of the equation, but the greater measure is found in pointing to the future, to our hope in Jesus Christ.

Applying the Gospel:

I appreciate the fact that he states:

[Krakow] provides an interesting context to study the social doctrine of the Church

This is true because the city offers a micro level lesson in the application of the Church’s teachings. We can learn from the witness of people who have lived through the application of the Church’s teaching, both in their heroism and their sin. We can learn from culture because God endows each nation with unique gifts and skills that benefit man’s journey back to Him. At the same time we must avoid the trap of assuming that Church teaching, including social teaching, is solely based on the experiences of a people. Rather, the Church’s teachings are a unified whole formed from the Gospel. The Gospel message applies universally; past, present and future, in Poland, this nation, and in every nation. Bishop Hodur understood that. The Church is here to lift men up to their true potential: intellectually, morally, and spiritually. The Church is key to the fulfillment of God’s plan for mankind. So we have to continually ask: Lord help me to lift your people up to You. Help me to see their gifts and their challenges.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political

This, that, or the other thing (on political religion)

An interesting post from Catholic Eye: Becoming A Catholic Nation.

The problem with the argument is that it involves a sine qua non that places religion as key to governing.

The author cites a First Things article on the decline of ProtestantismAn interesting enumeration of the foundational elements in the American experience is found in Eric Kaufmann’s American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: Anglo-Saxon Ethnogenesis in the ‘Universal’ Nation, 1776-1850, European Institute, The London School of Economics and Political Science in which he concludes:

This paper has tried to illustrate that the United States was not an exception to the rule that nations are formed by core ethnic groups which later attempt to shape the nation in their own image. The American case betrays many of the same features that characterize other ethnic groups. These include: a sense of election (Puritan), a myth of exclusive genealogical descent (Anglo-Saxon), a set of cultural boundary markers (‘WASP’), a process of dominant-conformity (anglo-conformity), an association with a specific territory (United States/Frontier), a lifestyle representation (Yeoman) and a communal Golden Age (Jefferson’s Republic) to which the group seeks to return. Together, these elements formed the myth-symbol complex of the “American” ethnie. This ethnic structure, once crystallized, decisively shaped the reactions of the American nation for a over a century.

. He posits that Catholicism has assumed (is assuming) the role Protestantism once played in setting the moral tone and focus for the nation. He also cites Michael Gerson’s book Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don’t), connecting Catholicism’s emergence to its relationship with the Republican party.

If the sine qua non between religion and politics is true, then religion, faith, is little more than a subjective part of the human experience. The type of religion required for a nation’s existence is really irrelevant – as long as you have one. While classicists point to the role of religion as foundational to civilization I do not think you can carry that argument to the extent some believers do, equating religion as central to sustaining a nation’s political reality. We do not have the right to co-opt faith in that way. Government and the political order is a self-serving and self-preserving endeavor. It will use whatever tools are available, from religion to the military in order to maintain itself. While government can promote and restrict through its beneficence, that power does not equate with truth. While you may get “faith based” programs if religion serves those in power, you can just as easily get concentration camps if religion opposes the will of the political class.

Our Lord and Savior told us that we cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13). Religion, tied to government, looses its center, its mission, and the truth found in its voice. The Bishop of Rome’s talk on the role of religion in the social order makes sense only when seen in light of faith speaking the Gospel regardless of political circumstance. In a society that is truly free religion should have equal footing with all voices; the protection of just laws. That said, we know that in times of injustice and persecution the Gospel cannot be silenced, but rather produces martyrs and confessors.

[French President Nicolas] Sarkozy openly argued that while secularism is important, it should not be a hostile force that forbids all talk of God, faith, and transcendence. Sarkozy called for a —positive laïcit闝 that allows religion to help forge an ethical society.’

It is —legitimate for democracy and respectful of secularism to have a dialogue with religions,— Sarkozy said at the palace with the pope. —That is why I have called for a positive secularism,— adding that —It would be madness to ignore [religion.]—

Pope Benedict reinforced Sarkozy’s words, and rephrased them rather more bluntly: —it is fundamental to become more aware of the irreplaceable role of religion for the formation of consciences and the contribution which it can bring,— the pope said.From Sarkozy, Pope Challenge French Secularism at PoliGazette

The voice of faith is beyond government, the political order, and the nation. Its life is apart from the world, in it, not of it (John 17:14-18), speaking and gathering according to its witness.

This nation, any nation, cannot have this religion, that religion, or the other religion. It cannot change affiliation and philosophical perspective like people change underwear, suiting the political winds of the times, and still expect to be thought of as proclaiming truth. The fact that exercises in doing so occur proves that government treats religion like a subjective good. If we are an objective good, the true sine qua non in the lives of men, then we must be outside and unaffiliated. speaking the Gospel in good times and bad, in freedom and persecution, under the Republic or the tyrant.

To the author’s argument, this country is neither Protestant or Catholic. Our Republic is simply a political reality. Our job is to speak the truth. Our task is to form our citizens in faith, to enlighten their intellect by His word and His way. God’s gift is that intellect, the intellect enlightened by truth, that sees beyond the lies and hypocrisy of the world. Unless we transform the lives of men we fall short of building the true Kingdom on a hill. That kingdom is not a nation of geography, political parties, and men, but is the Kingdom of God.

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