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Meet my new Bishop

From the Times-Tribune: Central Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church to welcome new bishop in February

The Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church and its mother cathedral, St. Stanislaus in South Scranton, will welcome a new bishop and pastor on Feb. 1.

Bishop John Mack has served for the past four years as the auxiliary bishop of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese and has been a pastor in Western Pennsylvania for two decades.

The current bishop of the Central Diocese, the Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, was elected Prime Bishop of the church in October, leaving a vacancy at the head of the diocese that stretches from Maryland to New York. Bishop Mack was assigned to take his place at the end of the denomination-wide synod in October.

He will take charge of what he notes is the largest parish and the largest diocese in the denomination.

“It’s quite daunting,” he said.

Bishop Mack was born and raised in the Polish National Catholic Church in the greater Detroit area and attended Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton.

Although he has never served as a pastor in the Central Diocese, Bishop Mack said the relatively small size of the Polish National Catholic Church and the frequency with which people throughout the denomination meet at events means he knows at least a few families here.

“Our church, in its smallness, it has a family feel to it because you get to meet people from all around the denomination when you go to various national events,” he said. “You keep these friends through all the years.”

Because Scranton was the site of the denomination’s break from the Roman Catholic Church and its founding as a new church, parishioners here tend to have an acute sense of the denomination’s first principles, including its democratic structure, he said.

“Many of those parishioners, their grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, were some of the founding members of the first parish,” he said, “so there’s a heightened awareness there of the overall purpose of our denomination, why it began.”

As he prepares for his new role and its spiritual challenges, Bishop Mack has also had to adapt to the earthly logistics of a 300-mile move after decades in the same region.

Priests in the Polish National Catholic Church can marry and Bishop Mack and his wife have three children, aged 17, 20 and 23. In his other fatherly role, Bishop Mack was faced with how to let his 17-year-old son stay in the Pittsburgh area with his 23-year-old sister while he finishes high school.

“That’s one of the things that was the most difficult, and I’m still feeling that a bit in the pit of my stomach,” he said.

Having to make such hard family choices can help the denomination’s priests connect to parishioners who face similar struggles.

“You have a great deal of empathy for them when you’ve been through some of the sleepless nights, and little ones, middle-aged ones and teenagers,” he said. “You have, what do they call that, battle experience?”

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

St. Francis, Denver, attacked again

From the Denver Post: Griego: Little church’s St. Francis statue a target for vandals
By Tina Griego

Someone’s got it out for St. Francis. Or just the little church named in his honor. Or the church as a whole. Who knows? Maybe just fiberglass statues depicting humble saints who turn their backs on wealth to live in poverty.

It’s hard to know the mind of a vandal. This doesn’t keep Father John Kalabokes from trying.

Not quite five months ago, someone stole the bolted statue of St. Francis from its concrete base outside the St. Francis of Assisi Polish National Catholic Church. You might remember this story. The little church sits just below Leetsdale Avenue at South Jersey Street, across from a McDonald’s. Father John speculated the thief or thieves wrapped a chain around the 5-foot-tall statue, secured the other end to a vehicle and hit the gas.

This is a poor church, not affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver as it has its differences — small but significant — with Roman Catholicism.

When the news got out, people sent in donations, and about two months after the statue was stolen, the church dedicated a new one: St. Francis, gleaming white, a blue bird perched on his hand.

Credit: John Prieto, The Denver Post
And now this.

“St. Francis was attacked again,” Father John tells me in an e-mail.

I call him in disbelief. “What?”

The statue wasn’t stolen this time, he says. This time, someone or someones went after it with some kind of tool until the head smashed and the face came off.

“This was brutal,” he says, sounding weary. “Somebody has real issues. Whoever did it just beat on the statue, just beat on the head. The whole face came off in one piece.”

When Father John first discovered it Wednesday, he called a television reporter and a short piece aired. Afterward, he wondered whether it was the right thing to do. He wonders, even now, whether more publicity will just gratify the culprit. I don’t try to persuade him one way or another. As I said, it’s hard to know the mind of a vandal. Maybe, Father John decides, more publicity will prompt someone to come forward.

“Let’s face it,” he says. “These kind of crimes only get solved because someone comes forward, a witness or someone who knows something.”

It might not be the same person as last time, I say.

“There’s no way of knowing,” he says. “We suspect it’s an ongoing crime. It’s hard to accept that there would be more than one person out there who would do this.”

He tells me something he didn’t reveal before. About a week and a half after the statue was stolen, someone left a note on its concrete base. The letters were cut out of newspaper like a movie-version of a ransom note and said something like: ” ‘You will be struck,’ ” Father John said. “The police have it now.

“I’m a little discouraged and depressed,” he says. “I don’t understand the joy someone would get out of that. It’s a hateful action. It’s an act against the faithful.”

On Sunday, most of the congregation got its first look at the headless St. Francis. It’s a startling sight. Church members are angered and baffled and they compare it to recent attacks on statues at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden.

After Mass, Father John talks to the congregation. “I’m sure most of you, if not all of you, noticed that St. Francis was attacked again,” he starts, and the woman next to me starts to cry. He says he can’t figure out why someone would do this and that he no longer thinks this is a teenage prank. He says the good news, such as it is, is the statue might be reparable, but the church needs to figure out a way to protect it.

Someone out there is troubled, he says, so pray for him or her. Good came from bad last time, he tells them. It can again.

You may contact St. Francis Parish via their website to express your prayers and support.

Christian Witness, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

The R.C. Church in Poland – one Dominican speaks

From Gazeta Wyborcza: A Dominican’s dramatic letter: The Sins of My Church (Dramatyczny list dominikanina: Winy mojego Kościoła)

Dominikanin o. Ludwik Wiśniewski, fot. Krzysztof Kuczyk/Agencja FORUM
Dominican Father Ludwik Wiśniewski sent a letter in September to the Vatican’s representative in Poland, Archbishop Celestina Migliore, recounting the major problems facing the Roman Catholic Church in Poland.

“All is not well with the Polish Church. It is large, colorful, impressive – but really is artificially inflated like a balloon. I’m afraid we do not appreciate the risks.”

Rev. Wiśniewski is a famous university chaplain who, in Communist times, signed the first declaration of the Civil Rights movement in Poland. The East German secret police, Stasi, considered him one of the sixty most dangerous persons in the Polish opposition.

The eight page letter presents an unusually severe diagnosis of the Polish Church’s problems. Among the problems he notes:

  • Scandalous division within the Polish episcopate: Bishops work against each other by using the facade of Catholic faith to divide society and the Church into rival political camps and causes. These efforts are in effect “pagan as they inflame and divide society and the Church itself.” He noted the recent example of some Bishops writing to major newspapers in support of the “Defenders of the Cross” protests in front of Poland’s Presidential Palace.
  • Politics over the Gospel: Half of the priests are “infected with xenophobia, nationalism and shamefully hidden anti-Semitism.” He notes that these priests have lost sight of the boundaries between the gospel and politics. They use vulgarities in the pulpit to condemn or support specific political parties and politicians.
  • A lack of discipline: By example he notes the unresolved issue of Radio Maryja, where in addition to prayer, people “learn fanaticism, resentment and even hatred for those who think differently” from a member of the clergy.
  • An inability to communicate: The hierarchy is unable to communicate with changing world. Their communications are meant to convey pronounced conviction, zeal, zest, and great confidence, but in the opinion of professionals, they come across as incompetent.

Rev. Wiśniewski proposes a “great debate” that will “restore the true” face “of the church.” This debate should be given to the care of special teams under the auspices of one of the major bishops. This should include a team “to address the issue of education and religious education of children and young people” as well as an assessment of the activity of clergy in the media, particularly that of Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, director of Radio Maryja.

Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek called the letter a moving call to repair the church.

Christian Witness, PNCC, Poetry, , , , , ,

A year of remembrance for two Polish greats

2010 marked the Year of Frederick Chopin. The year 2010 was the 200th anniversary of the birth of this eminent figure. There were great celebrations and concerts as well as piano competitions throughout the world and in particular in Poland in his honor.

We also celebrated another important figure in the history of arts, literature, and particularly poetry in Poland, Maria Konopnicka. 2010 marked the 100th anniversary of her passing. Maria Konopnicka is beloved of the Polish National Catholic Church in particular. Bishop Hodur established societies in her honor, as well in honor of Juliusz Słowacki, so as to promote literature and arts among Polish immigrants to the United States.

The following article appeared in the September 21, 2010 edition of God’s Field, written by the Very Rev. Frederyk Banas: Maria Konopnicka, May 23, 1842 – October 8, 1910, Poland’s Great Poetess

October 8, 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Poland’s great poetess, Maria Konopnicka. It was at the time of her death in 1910 that our beloved Organizer, the late Prime Bishop Franciszek Hodur was in Poland and learned of the death of this great woman after whom he had already organized societies in his church in the United States. The Roman Church refused her burial considering her an enemy and heretic because she had the courage to speak and write of the evils in the Church of Rome and its exploitation of the poor.

The family of the late poetess learned of the presence of Prime Bishop Hodur in Poland and requested that he conduct the funeral service. However, after hearing of this, the Roman hierarchy had changed its mind and decided to conduct the funeral service for her. Bishop Hodur presented his message and placed a large wreath with the inscription: “To Poland’s Great Poetess from the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States.”

The late Prime Bishop Francis Hodur in his introductory comments to the first volume of poetry published by the United Ladies’ Maria Konopnicka Societies in Scranton, PA, in 1946 said:

“Maria Konopnicka is not only the greatest poetess of the Polish people, but we can say without exaggeration, that she is the greatest poet of the human race. Before her, three women have gained fame as poets, namely: Deborah, living in the 11th century before Christ, living in that era which was known as the period of Judges; Sapphonia, living near the end of the 7th century on the island of Lesbos in Greece, and Ada Negri, living at the end of the 19th century in Italy and a contemporary of Maria Konopnicka.

History tells us that Deborah was a prophetess a judge and a poet. She wrote patriotic songs calling the Jewish people to fight for their freedom and liberty; these songs were sung either by her when she led the soldiers into battle, or by others designated by her.

Sapphonia was a poet of nature. She wrote beautiful poems about the mountains, the forests, the valleys and about all of those beautiful things which spoke to the human heart and soul and which were found on the island of Lesbos. She was persecuted to such an extent that she had to leave and return to southern Italy in order to save her life. After a few years, guided by the love of her home country, she returned to Lesbos and lived out her remaining years.

Ada Negri is truly the daughter of the Italian people. She was born into the family of a poor Italian workman. In spite of extraordinary material difficulties, she secured an adequate education and became a school teacher. She began to write and speak of the poverty of the Italian people. She spoke of the wrongs suffered by the Italian peasant and workman, and as a result of this, she lost her job as a school teacher and was persecuted. After the peasants and workmen received some recognition in the nation, she became very popular and was respected and even practically glorified by her people.

Maria Konopnicka united in her person the talents of the three mentioned immortal names. She was the poetess of her people. She did not lead her people into battle in the common meaning of the term as did Deborah, but she carried on the spiritual battle, calling for more education, equality of all people who constitute the nation, and prophesied victory for the Polish people when justice among them would be satisfied. She loved the natural beauty of the Polish landscape, the glorious majesty of the Tatra Mountains, the fields, streams, the gardens and the villages and all of those things which would foster love for the Fatherland.

She was disillusioned and disgusted with a visit to the Church of St. Joachim in Rome in which were placed all the national standards of all nations of the world, but among which the standard of Poland was not evident. She wrote of this bitterly saying, “Upon these marble walls where even the schismatic Lutheran has his place, this holy martyr for the Christian cause, this sacred Poland has been erased from among the nations of the earth as though anathemized.From “Do braci zmartwychwstańców.”” In a poem concerning the Church of Rome she speaks thusly:

O Rome! . . . How you have disappointed
     me, Rome!
You have not spread your wings over
     the brood as the hen does
When in Jerusalem the hawks hovered
     over the chicks,
No, you have hid in the smoke of your
     thuribles,
And with the hawks you have made
     alliance.
In the brightness of the feathers of
     peacocks you
Permit yourself to be carried, basking in
     the glory
Which you have torn out of the garment
     of Christ!

Maria Konopnicka struggled for social justice; she was the mediatrix of her people. She wrote of the oppressed, of the disinherited, the orphan and the poverty of her fellowman. The words which she uttered in receiving the gift of a home and a little parcel of land in Zamowiec, a gift of the Polish people in appreciation for her labor, sufferings and work on their behalf, could be interpreted as her will and testament: “On this occasion,” she said, “what do we need? … Love for the earth. Confessors for an ideal, education for the people, respect for work, soldiers for an idea, triumph for truth, unity and equality for all!”

Her principles and ideals were so closely related to those of our beloved Organizer, the late Prime Bishop Francis Hodur. Both lived and struggled for freedom, truth, equality, justice, education, brotherhood and enlightenment; Both were warriors for great causes and issues! People of this caliber are not born daily but are providential! Let us cherish their work and continue on the mission they have begun for causes so noble and holy which will make our Country and our Church great, free, and unique!

PNCC, , , ,

Considering in Streator, IL

I had previous written on the parish closings occurring in Streator, IL (Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria) in Another Sad Tale and More on Church Closings.

Two recent articles have appeared in MyWebTimes on the Polish National Catholic Church as a potential alternative for Streator Catholics wishing to find a Church that is both fully Catholic and democratically governed. I wish the Catholics of Streator well in their discernment process.

Having personally faced the pain of Parish closings I understand their hurt and anguish. Much can be gained from the experience of many former Roman Catholics in the Buffalo area who have formed at least two new PNCC Parishes. God works, through His grace, to bring good out of the pain and anguish we feel. Having found a wonderful spiritual home, a Church that is both fully Catholic and democratic in governance, and great personal comfort in the PNCC, I know this to be true. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

The article Independent, but traditional — Polish National Catholics practice Catholicism their way keys on the many of the issues Catholics find appealing about the PNCC:

Mike Sheridan is not alone.

The Streator Catholic is curious about the Polish National Catholic Church but does not know much about it.

Since the city’s four parishes merged to form St. Michael the Archangel Church, the Polish National has been brought up as an alternative, but no one has approached it about starting one.

Found on page 2 of the missalette in Streator church pews, the Roman Catholic church does not object to Polish National members receiving communion, but then how is it they are not affiliated with the pope or the Vatican?

Although completely independent of Rome, the church is representative of the first 1,000 years of the Roman Catholic Church, according to the Rev. Anthony Kopka, bishop of the PNCC’s Western Diocese in Chicago.

“That’s the best way to describe it,”Kopka said. “We are a Catholic church, there is apostolic succession, but we have honored no dogmas since 1054.”

Disgruntled with the structure of power in the Roman Catholic church, the PNCC broke away in 1897 to give Polish immigrants their own Catholic church to worship. At the time, there was concern Irish and German immigrants controlled too much power in the church.

Originally Polish, all ethnicites are welcome today. The church boasts more than 25,000 members nationally with 30 parishes in its Western Diocese alone. There are eight parishes in Illinois, with six in the Chicago area and one in suburban St. Louis. The closest is Holy Trinity Church in Kewanee.

Since its independence, theological and governmental differences were drawn.

The PNCC rejected the idea of papal infallibility, which meant the pope is preserved from the possibility of error when he solemnly declares a dogmatic teaching on faith.

“We believe no one is infallable in their teaching,” Prime Bishop Anthony Mikovski told The Times.

The church created its own structure of power with an emphasis on the parishioner.

Unlike the Roman Catholic church, members control the fate of their own parish. A committee of at least nine members is voted on by parishioners once a year. This committee controls the finances of the church and determines whether their parish needs to be closed.

The parish also elects a senator to represent it at the general synod. This is conducted every four years to discuss church matters and law.

A priest is appointed to a parish from the bishop of its diocese. The committee can then vote to accept or reject the appointment. Committee members also can hire or fire priests.

The priest serves as the parish’s spiritual leader and financial adviser. He makes no final decisions on the finances of the church.

“It’s up to us if we stay open,” said Resurrection Polish National Catholic Church parishioner Chris Cremean. “A church closes only if it runs out of money.”

…

In 1993, the Vatican’s Council for Promoting Christian Unity stated that PNCC members in the United States and Canada can receive Roman Catholic Communion and other sacraments, and the PNCC issued parallel guidelines in 1998.

…

Only time will tell if it is a viable option for alienated Streator Catholics.

Cremean said he likes the idea of having married priests that can relate to family life and enjoys the traditionalism practiced within the church.

“I feel like Ihave a parish I can call home for my family.”

The experience of parishioners from Toledo was highlighted in Polish National — Is it the answer for Streator Catholics?

Chris Cremean was once a “Roamin’ Catholic.”

His home parish in Toledo, Ohio closed in 2005 and he felt abandoned like many in Streator.

“I started to search for where my family would end up,” said the former St. Jude parishioner, noting there were at least 40 others like him. “We were looking for something traditionally Catholic and something that was ours — that our parish could say we owned.”

He had never heard of the Polish National Catholic Church in his hours of study on the issue, but it would provide him with his answer. An answer he suggests to the others he refers to as “Roamin’ Catholics.”

“It’s not for everyone, there are a few differences (from the Roman Catholic church),” Cremean said. “It’s an option that caters most to those who want a say in their own parish. Parishioners control their own parish.”

Groups like Save the Catholic Parishes in Streator wished they had more say in the merging of their four parishes into St. Michael the Archangel.

A handful of St. Jude parishioners found a Polish National church on a trip to Hamtramck, Mich. Impressed by its hospitality, the group discovered a small church with apostolic succession and no attachment to the diocese that closed them. In 1897, Pope Leo XIII recognized the Polish National as a Catholic church.

Within three years, St. Jude parishioners had their own parish in a Toledo suburb called Resurrection Polish National Catholic Church.

“We found our home,” Cremean said. “You don’t have to be Polish to start a parish.”

…

Like in Streator, when the Catholic Diocese of Toledo closed 17 parishes, it was met with disagreement. Cremean’s home parish St. Jude filed two rounds of appeals to Rome to save their parish.

The Polish National Catholic Church has its own dioceses, but the dioceses cannot close a parish; that must be done by a board of parishioners.

The Rev. Anthony Kopka, bishop of the Western Diocese in Chicago, said no one in Streator has expressed an interest in starting a Polish National Catholic Church.

“I think a lot of people would be interested in finding out more about (the PNCC),” said St. Anthony parishioner Mike Sheridan. “I feel so many are still alienated. Some are still sad and some are very angry. People have thrown it out as an option, but I just don’t know.”

Kopka said anyone interested in starting a parish in Streator would have to contact him and then he would send out the Rev. Jaroslaw Rafalko from Holy Trinity Parish in Kewanee — about 75 miles west of Streator.

About 20 parishioners are all that is needed for a charter, said Cremean. Resurrection had 40 members to start and the priest from Hamtramck conducted Mass. Services were conducted at rented halls and churches until a combination of fundraisers and a loan from the PNCC provided a new building in 2008…

Christian Witness, PNCC, ,

PNCC Jubilarians — God bless you and many years!

May God bless the hard working priests, senior priests, and bishops of the PNCC, and in particular the Rt. Rev. Anthony Rysz, Very Rev. Fryderyk Banas, and Rev. John P. Kowalczyk, Jr. who celebrated anniversaries of their ordination to the Holy Priesthood over the past few months. Szczęść Boże i Sto Lat!

Rt. Rev. Anthony M. Rysz

Bishop Anthony Rysz, born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania is the son of the late Aniela (Szmyd) Rysz and the late Joseph Rysz. He was educated in local schools and attended the University of Scranton. During the Second World War he served with the Fifth Amphibious Force of the Pacific Theater with the United States Navy.

Long involved in the activities of the Polish National Catholic Church, his calling prompted him to enter the Savonarola Theological Seminary of the P.N.C.C. During his seminary days he taught Polish language to the students at the Cathedral schools located in a number of locations in the vicinity of Scranton. He was ordained to the priesthood on October 19, 1950 by the Rt. Rev. John Misiaszek in St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Cathedral. He served as the assistant pastor of the Cathedral and secretary to Prime Bishop Francis Hodur.

In February 1954 he was assigned to the pastorate of Holy Mother of Sorrows Parish in Dupont, PA. During his time in Dupont, Father Rysz served as chaplain to the United Y.M.S. of R. and United Girls Sodalities. On November 11, 1964 he was elevated to the rank of Senior Priest by Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski, and he served as the Administrative Senior of the Scranton Seniorate. At the 12th General Synod held in Manchester, NH in October 1967, Fr. Sr. Anthony Rysz was elected to the office of bishop. In February 1968, he assumed the pastorate of St. Stanislaus Cathedral Parish and was raised to the episcopate on June 26, 1968 and appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Central Diocese. He held this position until assuming the responsibilities of Bishop Ordinary upon the death of Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski in July of 1969.

He has served on various commissions of the Church, including the United Polish School Societies, the National Commission for the School of Christian Living, the Bishop Hodur History and Archives Commission and the Board of Trustees of Savonarola Theological Seminary. He also lectured on Church History in Savonarola Theological Seminary. He oversaw St. Stanislaus Elementary School as well as fulfilling the pastoral obligations of the largest parish in the P.N.C.C. He was the personal secretary to the First Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, Bishop Francis Hodur, as well as his successor, Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski. He was secretary to the General Synods held in 1954, 1958, 1963, 1967 and 1971.

As an ardent supporter of God’s Field, the official organ of the Church, Bishop Rysz served as editor from 1969 to 1999 and was a frequent writer.

Bishop Rysz made many trips to Poland. From 1959 to 1966, he spent many months as the consignee for Aid to Poland, under the American-Polish National Relief Program. Later, he worked in building the Bishop Hodur Memorial Church in Zarki, Poland. Bishop Rysz attended the Congresses of the Old Catholic Church in Europe and was a frequent participant in the lnternational Bishop Conferences of the Union of Utrecht. Until his retirement he was active as co-chairman of the Polish National Catholic – Roman Catholic Dialogue.

Bishop Rysz retired from the pastorate of St. Stanislaus Cathedral and as Bishop Ordinary of the Central Diocese in 1999 to Old Forge, PA. At the present time Bishop Rysz serves as pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Nanticoke, PA.

Bishop Anthony Rysz is married to the former Marie V. Bednash.

Very Rev. Fryderyk S. Banas

Father Senior Fryderyk S. Banas son of the late Stanislaw Banas and the late Waleria (Szczepanek) Banas was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts and attended Holy Mother of the Rosary Parish there. After his education in local schools he took up his calling and enrolled in Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, PA. He was ordained to the priesthood on October 19, 1950 by Rt. Rev. John Misiaszek, Bishop Ordinary of the Central Diocese.

After ordination, Fr. Banas was assigned as assistant pastor of Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Buffalo, NY and the administrator of Holy Trinity Parish in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

In August 1953 he was assigned as interim pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Hazleton, PA and administrator of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in McAdoo, PA. He was transferred to St. Adalbert’s Parish in Dickson City, PA in September 1953. From January 1957 he also served as administrator of Holy Trinity Parish in Throop, PA. While in Dickson City he was elevated to the rank of Senior Priest on August 5, 1964 by Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski. During the time of his pastorate in Dickson City, St. Adalbert’s Parish was renovated with many improvements and cemetery lands were purchased. Holy Trinity Parish in Throop, PA was also remodeled following a fire in 1959.

Fr. Sr. Banas served as chaplain to the Central Diocese United Choirs, recording secretary of the Central Diocesan Clergy Conference, a member of the Central Committee of the United Polish National Schools Societies and a director on the board for the Home for the Aged and Disabled (the Manor at Waymart). He was and still is active in the life of the Polish National Union. Fr. Sr. Banas also lectured in Moral Theology at Savonarola Theological Seminary.

Fr. Sr. Banas journeyed to Poland in 1959 as the first delegate for the American-Polish National Relief for Poland to sign agreements between this humanitarian organization and the Polish government. He also accompanied Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski on his last missionary trip to Poland in 1969.

On May 1, 1977 Fr. Sr. Banas was assigned as pastor of Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Buffalo, NY and served as Administrator of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese.

In February of 1979 Fr. Sr. Banas transferred to the Eastern Diocese where he served as pastor of Blessed Virgin Mary Parish to May 1989. He presently serves as pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Ware, MA.

Fr. Sr. Banas has been and continues to be an avid supporter of God’s Field having written articles for the official organ of the Church for many years.

Rev. John P. Kowalczyk, Jr.

Rev. Kowalczyk is the pastor of St. Michael The Archangel National Catholic Church commemorated his 25th Anniversary of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood of the Polish National Catholic Church on December 4, 2010.

A Holy Mass of Thanksgiving was offered at the interim worship location for St. Michael The Archangel Parish in the Great Oaks Banquet Center, lower level, located at 13109 Wicker Avenue, Cedar Lake, Indiana. Following Mass, a banquet honoring Rev. Kowalczyk was held at the same location, upstairs in the banquet hall.

Joining with Rev. Kowalczyk at Holy Mass was the Most Rev. John F. Swantek, Prime Bishop Emeritus of the Polish National Catholic Church, as well as the Rt. Reverend Anthony D. Kopka, Bishop Ordinary of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church, as well as other Clergy and Ecumenical Guests.

Rev. Kowalczyk was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on December 11, 1985 at St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Cathedral of the Polish National Catholic Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Father Kowalczyk had served in parishes in New York prior to his transfer to St. Michael’s Cedar Lake, formerly East Chicago, in June 2000. In December of 2003, under the leadership of Fr. Kowalczyk, the members of St. Michael The Archangel voted and approved the relocation of their parish to Cedar Lake, Indiana. Currently, construction of the new St. Michael church is underway with a completion estimate of Spring 2011. Father Kowalczyk currently serves as the Chaplain of the Cedar Lake Fire Department, as well as the Chaplain for Cedar Lake and East Chicago Police Departments.

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

Thanksgiving 2010

We give Thee our most humble and hearty thanks, O God, for blessings without number which we have received from Thee, for all Thy goodness and loving kindness, for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. And, we beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all Thy mercies, that our hearts may be truly thankful for all things, and that we show forth Thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to Thy service and by walking before Thee in holiness and righteousness all our days. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — A General Thanksgiving – from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church, Published by the Mission Fund of the PNCC, 7th edition, May 1, 1984.

John Guzlowski posted a poem for Thanksgiving at Lightning and Ashes. It begins:

My people were all poor people,
the ones who survived to look
in my eyes and touch my fingers
and those who didn’t, dying instead

of fever or hunger or a bullet
in the face, dying maybe thinking
of how their deaths were balanced
by my birth or one of the other

stories the poor tell themselves
to give themselves the strength
to crawl out of their own graves.

…

It is stark, and fitted to our times.

From CNN: More Americans filing for unemployment

The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose by 2,000 in the latest week, pointing to continued weakness in the job market, the government reported Thursday.

The number of initial filings rose to 439,000 in the week ended Nov. 13, the Labor Department said. The number was slightly better than the 442,000 economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected, but higher than the revised 437,000 initial claims filed the week before.

Overall, the weekly number has been treading water since last November, hovering in the mid to upper 400,000s and even ticking slightly above 500,000 in mid-August.

Economists often say the number needs to fall below 400,000, before the stubbornly high unemployment rate can start dropping significantly…

While Congress (various sources): Fails To Extend UI Benefits – Program Faces Lapse By November 30

On November 18th, the House of Representative failed to pass a three month extension of emergency unemployment benefits (EUC08) setting up the possibility the program will lapse once again on November 30.

Plunging over 2 million people into hopeless economic uncertainty. No lifeline, no paycheck, no jobs — nothing by which they might feed their families, pay for housing, or sustain themselves till the one job for every five people becomes theirs.

The hope for that happening is slim, at least for 6 years at the best estimate. From Money Morning via NuWire: Pre-Recession Unemployment Rates Won’t Be Seen Until At Least 2016

Stocks are up nearly 70% from their bear market lows. Corporate profits are rising. And the economy is expanding. Yet the unemployment rate continues to hover around 10%.

Neither President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus program, nor the U.S. Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing has generated enough good news to convince companies to hire meaningful numbers of new workers.

Of the 8.7 million people who lost their jobs during the recession, more than 7.3 million are still without work. There are still nearly five job seekers for every job opening. In fact, adding in workers who are working part time but looking for full-time work and those who have given up looking all together brings the “real” unemployment rate to a staggering 17% compared to 16.5% last year, the latest government report shows.

And even though private sector payrolls increased by 151,000 in October – bringing the number of jobs created since the economy bottomed in December 2009 to 1.1 million -the share of the population working or looking for work declined to 64.5%, its lowest level since 1984.

…

The Great Recession has spawned some truly unique – and ugly – economic offspring. But one trend has emerged that sets it apart from most economic downturns: the swelling ranks of the long-term unemployed.

The number of people who’ve been collecting unemployment benefits for at least six months increased by more than 100% in 40 states over the last two years, according to an analysis of unemployment insurance data compiled by National Employment Law Project (NELP).

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) stood at 6.2 million in October. Those folks now account for 41.8% of the 14.8 million unemployed workers in the country.

“Long term unemployment is more than ever the norm of a layoff , and it’s across the country and across the economy that this is happening,” Andrew Stettner of NELP told the Huffington Post.

The reality of long-term unemployment is even worse than the numbers suggest.

“This is certainly a crisis of huge proportion and it is reflected in an extraordinary number of people unemployed for a very long time,” wrote Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, in an email to the HuffPost. “It’s even worse than that because we’re seeing a large withdrawal from the job market and one can assume that this is among those who have been unemployed a long time — giving up.”

This trend is important because long-term unemployment feeds on itself.

There are a series of consequences that follow long-term unemployed workers far into the future. Job skills deteriorate, job networks disappear, and workers lose hope. The longer a worker is unemployed the less likely he or she is to find a new job and the more likely it is they will find only a lower-paying job.

“People lose job skills, they become unemployable,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “It becomes a real long-term problem. People in their late 40s and 50s who end up out of work for long periods of time may drop out of the work force and never get another regular job.”

There are also other – less obvious – consequences of long-term unemployment. According to recent research, job displacement can lead to significant reductions in life expectancy . Other research shows that the children of these workers earn less when they become adults and enter the labor force.

…

The specter of long-term unemployment will sustain the unemployment rate as the skills of idled workers deteriorate and segments of the labor force are compelled to retrain or move out of the areas of the country that were propped up by the housing bubble. The likely result is that the unemployment rate will fall at only a gradual pace.

…

To determine how long the recovery will take this time, the Brookings Institution recently examined the “job gap,” or the number of months it would take to get back to pre-recession employment levels while absorbing the 125,000 people who enter the labor force each month.

The results show that even under the most optimistic scenarios, it will take years to eliminate the job gap.

If the economy adds about 208,000 jobs per month, the average monthly rate for the best year of job creation in the 2000s, it will take 142 months, or about 12 years to close the job gap.

At a more optimistic rate of 321,000 jobs per month, the average monthly rate for the best year of the 1990s, the economy will reach pre-recession employment levels in 60 months, or about 5 years.

Here’s the takeaway: Based on the history, pre-recession unemployment rates won’t be seen again until at least 2016, and in all probability much later, as idled workers find it harder and harder to land jobs.

Also, if you are unemployed, certain elitist, undereducated, and reactionary segments of society cast the blame squarely on your shoulders. They think you’re banking the money for a lavish vacation and a grope from your local TSA agent. Of course reality is different, one job for every five workers, and that UI benefit money gets spent on the basic needs of life, preventing a horrific dip into poverty. Per the Congressional Budget Office in Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Family Income of the Unemployed [PDF]

  • Almost half of families in which at least one person was unemployed received income from UI in 2009. In 2009, the median contribution of UI benefits to the income of families that received those benefits was $6,000, accounting for 11 percent of their family income that year.
  • Without the financial support provided to families by UI benefits and under an assumption of no change in employment or other sources of income associated with the absence of that support, the poverty rate and related indicators of financial hardship would have been higher in 2009 than they actually were. For instance, in 2009 the poverty rate was 14.3 percent, whereas without UI benefits and with no behavioral responses taken into account, it would have been 15.4 percent.

But who cares about studies and research when we are simply angered because our neighbor is in need. Not too long ago we would have invited that family in. We would have fed and clothed them (Matthew 25:40). Now, who cares! Not businesses like Giant Food, the Thanksgiving Grinch, because someone may be slowed on the way to the cash register.

For many of us, it’s a Thanksgiving tradition to drop a few coins in the Salvation Army’s red kettle outside our local grocery.

It’s quick, easy, and has real impact – last year, more than $139 million was raised by red kettles to provide services ranging from hot meals to warm beds for homeless and impoverished Americans.

This year the need is greater than ever, with more than 44 million Americans on food stamps. But because of the objection of a large grocery store chain, the residents of poverty-stricken Washington, D.C. are at risk of going without essential holiday services.

Giant Food, a major supermarket chain in Washington D.C. and several surrounding states, just issued new regulations severely limiting red kettle fundraisers. Why? “In order to best serve our customers, and not hinder their shopping experience,” a Giant Food representative said in a statement.

Donating to the needy might not be at the top of everyone’s shopping list, but that’s why physical reminders of the importance of giving are needed. Caught up in the commotion of our own lives, we can all use help overcoming the distractions and indifference that prevents us from helping to alleviate suffering in our communities.

Tell Giant to offer more than a bargain, but hope as well. Tell Congress to actually do something for the long term unemployed, that is, other than posturing.

Oh, and if you are working; watch over your shoulder because employers are stealing their worker wages at an alarming rate. From the Albany Times Union: Wages belong to the workers

In New York City alone, a study by the National Employment Law Project earlier this year found that 21 percent of low-wage workers are paid less than the minimum wage, 77 percent weren’t paid time-and-a-half when they worked overtime, and 69 percent didn’t receive any pay at all when they came in early or stayed late after their shift.

We’re talking about the jobs that literally make our economy run — home care and child care workers, dishwashers, food prep workers, construction workers, cashiers, laundry workers, garment workers, security guards and janitors. Hundreds of thousands of them aren’t getting even the most basic protections that the rest of us take for granted.

And make no mistake, the problem isn’t going away: These types of jobs account for eight out of the top 10 occupations projected to grow the most by 2018.

Wage theft in New York is not incidental, aberrant or rare, committed by a few rogue employers. Over the last two years, the state Department of Labor has brought cases against restaurants in Ithaca, a printer in Albany, horse trainers at the Saratoga Race Course, hotels in Lake George and car washes across the state. Altogether, the agency recovered $28.8 million in stolen wages for nearly 18,000 New Yorkers in 2009 — the largest amount ever. That’s a valiant effort to be sure, but still not nearly enough to match the scale of the problem…when workers made a complaint to their employer or government agency, 42 percent experienced illegal retaliation — such as being fired or having their wages or hours cut. That is enough to discourage even the most committed worker from filing a wage theft claim.

[And r]ight now, it’s all too common that a worker successfully brings a wage theft claim, only to see the employer declare bankruptcy, leave town, close shop or otherwise evade paying up… In New York City alone, more than 300,000 workers are robbed of $18.4 million every week, totaling close to $1 billion a year. Extrapolate that to the state level, and you get a staggering amount of potential stimulus that’s being taken out of the pockets of working families and local businesses, and state coffers.

Even in good times, fighting wage theft is smart policy. In a recession, it’s such a no-brainer…

Our call as people of faith is to bring hope, to give hope, to recall in the minds of our brothers and sisters that all we have, even our poverty, is from the Lord, and to take action. We must remind all that God is about freedom and justice, not subservience and pain, and show our solidarity with those thrust into poverty, hopelessness, joblessness, or who have their daily bread stolen out of their hands.

Today, the struggles are growing closer to those of 125 years ago. Our people no longer look to bright hope in tomorrow, but the hunger pains to come tomorrow. They are falling into a grave out of which they might not crawl.

As opposed to purveyors of the success gospel, or the gospel of monarchies of every type, we are aware our hard scrabble, blue collar background. Our Holy Church, the PNCC, gave hope to working men and women when all that was offered them were days of back breaking labor for little in wages and the company store. When their Churches were joined at the hip with the ruling classes and the government bureaucracy, we stood by their side on the picket line. What we offered then was education, literature, a better future, lived ideals based on God’s closeness to man, an expression of the freedom these men and women had as Americans. We showed them that they could join together in Unions, that they could worship God in truth and freedom. We taught them about our God who desires deeply to be joined to men and women in their lives, who communes with them in their work and struggle. Our God wants more than a fractional share of our pennies for others to administer, but true thanks from a free people joined to Him.

The hope of Jesus Christ, His peace, His presence, His justice, His tomorrow are more necessary than ever. Let us as a Church stand up and show the hope that is more than social services, more than mere charity and political posturing; the Church that is the hope of eternity, the hope of freedom and justice for a free people joined to Jesus Christ our brother. God stands with us. Let us give Him thanks and more — our action.

Christian Witness, Media, Perspective, PNCC, , ,

Parishioner discusses a church closing with her bishop

From FOX News 8 in Cleveland: ON TAPE: Bishop Lennon Recorded Talking About Church Closings

The entire conversation is available for listening. It runs a little over 28 minutes.

CLEVELAND — Behind closed doors, Bishop Richard Lennon, head of the [Roman Catholic] Diocese of Cleveland, is straightforward about the need to close churches.

“Let me be very blunt: why haven’t the people of Cleveland done this over the past years,” asked Bishop Lennon.

The bishop took part in a conversation back in May with Pat Schulte Singleton. She was a member of St. Patrick’s — a church on Cleveland’s west side that has since been closed.

Schulte Singleton was hoping to get the bishop to reverse that decision. She went to the meeting alone, and she recorded the conversation without his knowledge. Why?

“To have an accounting of what happened,” she says now. “When you go to talk to the bishop, especially Bishop Lennon, you’re a bit intimidated…”

A few things:

  • In most places people have a right to record conversations to which they are a party. I have no problem with Ms. Schulte Singleton’s doing so. It is her right.
  • The bishop hits all the right points on technical issues. Being catholic means more than just “place.” It also means a life of sacrifice. No one in the rest of the hierarchy will fault him on those points. You won’t likely get a co-adjutator or an apostolic administrator unless the Bishop goes completely off (becomes a heretic or a scandal to the Church) although the early change in Scranton looked to be a result of too heavy a hand by the R.C. Bishop there.
  • The Bishop is a good businessman who is cutting losses and moving to where his customers prefer to be (the suburbs). He knows the financials and the statistics.
  • He is equally wrong about place, because place is important, not just because of individual’s attachment to it, but because the presence of church and Christian witness changes the character of place. Yes church is more than place, but it is present in place and time to bring grace, life, and community.
  • He is absolutely wrong in his assessment of neighborhood change. If I were the folks living in, or moving into that neighborhood I would be deeply hurt by his attitude. I sense a subtle bigotry there. He could have just said, ‘I don’t want to minister to THOSE people in THAT neighborhood. I’ve written them off.’
  • The PNCC model works (as our Prime Bishop Emeritus often said – we have a gem of a Church because we are Catholic with a democratic form of governance) because parishioner ownership results in commitment to working for the home that no one can take from them. It allows parishioners to innovatively approach evangelization as well as solutions to issues. You would never hear – ‘we didn’t know about the financials,’ from the member of a PNCC Parish Committee (as opposed to Ms. Schulte Singleton noting that they didn’t know anything about assessments in arrears). Thanks be to God that the clergy in the PNCC can concentrate on the spiritual. You will never hear money preached from the pulpit. The people handle it and contribute toward what they own.
  • Whomever is hitting her people up for money to run appeals up the Vatican flag pole has quite the racket. Milk the dolts back in the states while we sip wine in Roma. O Solo Mio! The answer three years hence — Negato!
Christian Witness, PNCC,

Mohawk Valley Seniorate Meeting

On October 30th, I joined with other Polish National Catholic clergy and laity at Good Shepherd Parish in Amsterdam, NY for an annual meeting of the Mohawk Valley Seniorate Council. For those who do not know, a Seniorate consists of a number of parishes grouped by geographic region. The Mohawk Valley Seniorate is one of five in the Central Diocese which is headquartered in Scranton, PA. The Seniorate is comprised of PNCC Parishes in Latham, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Little Falls, New York Mills, Rome, and Syracuse, New York. The clergy of the Seniorate are under the supervision of the Very Rev. Walter Madej.

Approximately 20 people attended the October 30th meeting which was held in the Good Shepherd parish hall following morning prayer. Various concerns about declining participation and increasing costs were discussed as were the many successes we share. Many of the problems faced by the PNCC are similar to those in other Christian faith communities. The democratic distinctiveness of the PNCC allows small parishes to work together in maintaining their presence, and in evangelizing their area. It was a pleasure to be joined by the members of the Catholic Community of St. Johnsville, New York. They formed a cohesive community and sought the assistance of the PNCC so as to maintain a Catholic presence in their town. Also, we were informed of the growth in vocations to the diaconate across the Mohawk Valley. An added treat, the excellent lunch provided by the people of Good Shepherd. Whenever Good Shepherd Parish has a food sale or dinner I am sure to go, and go early because it is always sold out.

Delegates attending the Mohawk Valley Seniorate meeting

Many of those in attendance will be joining other members of the PNCC, as well as friends, guests, and political and ecumenical dignitaries at the upcoming installation of the 7th Prime Bishop of the PNCC, the Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Mikovsky, who was elected at the 23rd Synod of the PNCC in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in early October.

Other future events include:

  • The National Mission and Evangelism Workshop, May 13-14, 2011 to be held at Holy Family Parish in McKeesport, PA.
  • The National Bowling Tornament, May 20-21, 2011 to be held in Parma, OH, hosted by St. Mary’s Parish.
  • The Central Diocesan Acolyte Retreat, June 28 – July 1, 2011 at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and recreation Center in Waymart, PA.
  • The KURS Youth Encampment, July 2-9, 2011 at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and recreation Center in Waymart, PA.
  • The annual Fourth of July Holy Mass and Picnic, July 4, 2011 at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and recreation Center in Waymart, PA.
  • The National United Choirs Convention, July 27-30, 2011 hosted by St. Stanislaus Cathedral, Scranton, PA.
  • The National YMSofR Track and Field Meet/Zlot, September 3, 2011 at YMSofR Park, Minooka, PA.

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