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Sustaining Arts Education Through Collaboration

From the New York State Alliance for Arts Education (NYSAAE):

December 15 is the early registration deadline for the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s institute, Powerful Partnerships: Sustaining Arts Education Through Collaboration, to be presented January 18 and 19, 2011 at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City.

This two-day, highly engaging hands-on workshop will explore how nonprofit arts education providers can more deeply engage their communities; gain access to a broader array of resources including expertise, credibility and funding; and increase sustainability through internal and external collaboration. The Institute is supported by the NEA, New York Community Trust and New York State Council on the Arts.

John McCann, president of Partners in Performance, is designing and facilitating the workshop. He will be joined by a faculty of experts, including Beth Vogel, the director of the Guild’s Partners in Arts Education program.

Collaborating effectively may require the acquisition of new skills and a profound shift in perspective. To take maximum advantage of this opportunity, arts education organizations are therefore encouraged to register three person teams.

After completing the institute, each team will be better able to:

  • Identify their organization’s core institutional and programmatic assets
  • Identify potential partners (other organizations, funders, advocates, etc.) with whom they can work to ‘co-create’ sustainable programs
  • Understand what is required (e.g., sharing authority, trusting others) to achieve sustainable collaborations
  • Understand common challenges to collaboration and learn methods of overcoming them
  • Capitalize on “lessons learned” through prior experiences, and
  • Develop an action plan for execution upon return home.

Each team will receive a set of tools for assessing institutional and programmatic assets, identifying prospective partners and “lessons learned,” planning collaborations, and developing an action plan.

Institute Location:

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Joan Weill Center for Dance
405 W. 55th Street (at 9th Avenue)
New York, NY 10019

Register by December 15, 2010 and Save! You may download the Registration form [PDF]. Questions about the Institute may be directed to National Guild program manager, Jay Samios, at (212) 268-3337 ext. 12.

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, Events, Political, Saints and Martyrs, , ,

Rally to Support Iraqi Christians

From the American Mesopotamian Organization, Justice in Iraq, the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, and the Seyfo Center U.S.A.: A Rally to Challenge the Obama Administration to Support and Protect Indigenous Assyrian Christians of Iraq

For the past seven years we have watched in stunned disbelief as savage Islamist extremist groups have continued to terrorize and murder Iraqi Christians. In the latest attacks, Al Qaeda-linked terrorists stormed the Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad during Mass, killing the priests in front of their parishioners, and children in front of their parents. On November 2nd the same group announced that all infidels in Iraq should be prepared to die. Enough is Enough!

WHEN: Saturday, December 4th, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Lafayette Park, Washington, DC

We, the undersigned organizations, demand that the Obama Administration immediately pressure the government of Iraq to protect its most persecuted citizens. To date, the Obama Administration has failed to even acknowledge that Iraqi Christians are being murdered specifically because of their faith and ethnic heritage. They are the descendants of the Assyrians and Babylonians, who were the first converts to Christianity outside Jerusalem in the 1st century A.D., and still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Their plight is shared by other defenseless Iraqis, including the Yazidis, Sabean Mandaeans and Shebeks.

Currently, under Article 125 of the Iraqi Constitution, Iraq’s Christians and other indigenous Iraqis have the legal right to practice their faith, and the right to establish a specific province in which they might live peacefully as citizens of Iraq. We ask the U.S. government to pressure the Iraqi government and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to remove the obstacles and fully implement Article 125 so that Iraq’s Christians will not be terrorized to extinction.

Join us this Saturday, in Lafayette Park, Washington DC, from 12:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M., along with groups from across the nation to demand, with a loud and unified voice, that the Obama Administration must act now and pressure the government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to protect all of their citizens!

From the Institute on Religion & Democracy: IRD Urges Prayer, Advocacy for Afghani and Iraqi Christians

“Freedom and democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan must apply to our Christian brothers and sisters there.” — Faith J.H. McDonnell, IRD Religious Liberty Director

The Institute on Religion and Democracy is urging an end to persecution of Christians in Afghanistan and Iraq. The organization also encourages Washington, DC area residents to show solidarity with these beleaguered Christians at a rally sponsored by Iraqi American Christians for “Justice in Iraq” at noon, Saturday, December 4, at the White House’s Lafayette Park. The rally will call upon the respective governments to ensure that the rights and freedoms of the indigenous minorities in Iraq are honored and protected.

Two Afghani Christian converts, Said Musa (45) and Ahmad Shah (50) are in prison awaiting trial on the death penalty charge of “apostasy” from Islam. The Christian population of Iraq is under threat from Islamic jihadists following the latest atrocity, a massacre of Christians at Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church, Baghdad, on October 31, 2010.

Musa and Shah were arrested May 31 with other converts after footage of a baptismal service was viewed on national television. Witnesses report that Musa has been beaten, tortured, and sexually abused on a daily basis.

Al Qaeda-connected jihadists have told Iraq’s Christians and other “infidels” to “prepare to die.” This threat followed the attack on Baghdad Christians at Sunday mass which left 58 dead. The Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christians trace their ancestry back 7,000 years to the ancient Mesopotamians.

IRD Religious Liberty Director Faith J.H. McDonnell commented:

“America has given billions of dollars, and, more importantly, given precious American lives, to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. But this must include freedom and democracy for our Christian brothers and sisters and other indigenous minorities, as well.

In 2006, the international community was outraged when Afghan Christian convert Abdul Rahman faced the death penalty. His life was saved because of the outcry. These Iraqi Christians, who are being hunted like animals by the Islamists, still speak Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke. We must stand with them in their hour of peril.”

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, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

The faith divide and a giant Jesus in Poland

From The Guardian: Poland’s faith divide: Ignited by the Smolensk crash, bitter tensions have emerged between Poland’s Catholics and liberal secularists

When 96 Polish dignitaries, including President Lech Kaczyński, were killed in a plane crash near Smolensk in April, the world briefly turned its gaze to Poland and its often tragic history. The victims were travelling to a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre – the murder of some 20,000 Poles by the Soviet secret police in 1940. The two tragedies became fused in the public imagination, reviving old anti-Russian prejudices and seeing the memorials to Katyn across Poland become the focus of fresh mourning. But the events that followed, and their consequences for Poland’s religious culture, have been little-covered in western Europe. The last six months have seen a bitter controversy emerge, raising serious questions about the place of religion in Polish public life.

Despite its image as one of the most homogeneously Catholic countries in Europe, Poland’s early history was one of religious diversity, with large Jewish and Orthodox populations, and the later founding of the Uniate church, making for a variety of traditions. The Warsaw Confederation of 1573 formalised a religious tolerance that had long been in existence and which had seen the country become a refuge for Protestants. The violence and extremism of the Reformation was hardly seen in Poland, and the country gained a reputation as an intellectual powerhouse in eastern Europe. With the arrival of the Jesuits in the late 16th century, however, the country experienced increasing Catholic dominance. The 1724 Tumult of Toruń, when Protestants ransacked a Jesuit collegium and were horribly executed for defiling Catholic images, marked a waning of religious tolerance. Finally, when Poland was carved up by competing empires in the late 18th century, Catholicism became a surrogate for nationalism in a fragmented country. It is the legacy of this that the country still deals with today.

The “cross controversy” that followed the Smolensk crash and dominated Polish headlines this summer was evidence of the intimate intertwining of Polish national identity and Catholic devotion. Threats to remove the large cross set up in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw as a memorial to the pro-church Kaczyński brought out conservative Catholic protestors in force. Styling themselves as “cross-defenders” and “true Poles”, they staged a round-the-clock vigil at a makeshift shrine. For a full month they could be found there kneeling in prayer, or blasting patriotic songs from a tinny stereo, holding their hands aloft in the victory sign that came to symbolise the Solidarność-led freedom movement in communist-era Poland.

The shrine provided a snapshot of the essence of contemporary Polish Catholic culture. Images of Pope John Paul II, Saint Faustina’s Christ of the Divine Mercy, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko and Our Lady of Czestochowa appeared alongside photos of Kaczyński, indicating his rapid transformation into a quasi-religious hero of the Catholic right. Popiełuszko, a political dissident murdered by the communist regime, and the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, mutilated by a Hussite heretic and later the miraculous defeater of invading Swedes, both carry strong messages about heroic Polish resistance to foreign foes and the threats posed to Catholics by unbelievers. Like in the equating of Katyn and Smolensk, historical specificity is erased to make universal symbols of Polish suffering, and at this shrine Catholicism was articulated as the essence of Poland’s history and nationhood.

But the cross controversy’s reaffirmation of conservative Catholic identity was met by an opposing force. Objecting to this overtly religious symbol at the seat of government, secularists and atheists were galvanised into action, staging a rally to call for the removal of the cross. Organised via the Akcja Krzyz (Cross Action) group on Facebook, this protest was dominated by a younger generation who were looking back to Poland’s history of liberalism and the prizing of enlightenment values. With the founding of the Polish Association of Rationalists in 2005, as well as the staging of an atheist “coming out” march in Kraków in October 2009 (repeated to great success just two weeks ago), another strand of Polish identity is emerging.

In mid-September, the Smolensk cross was finally removed. The shrine was cleared away, but the passions that built it are far from diffused and other controversies threaten to reawaken the conflict between conservative Catholics and secularist liberals. The atheist movement continues to grow, and there are also signs of greater religious diversity in the country, with an Islamic cultural centre planned for Warsaw, and more mosques being built across Poland. But hardline Catholic views also remain strong … Meanwhile, in a bold statement of Poland’s Catholic identity, the town of Świebodzin in the west of the country is building the biggest statue of Jesus in the world…

This article covers a lot of territory and hits the highlights of Polish religious and ethnic diversity very well. What Poland had been, for most of its history, was a welcoming and diverse country where the right to freedom of thought and conscience were protected. Much of that changed with the 18th century divisions of Poland. Poles were faced with rabid anti-Polish policies enacted in the German and Russian controlled sections of Poland (nationalism as well as religious and linguistic unity were the protective backlash), policies that pitted one ethnic group against the next in the Austrio-Hungarian controlled territories (which shored up the Empire’s control since the natives were too busy fighting each other to fight against the Empire), the murder of 6 million Catholic and Jewish Poles by Nazi Germany, and the subsequent shifting of borders leading to a more homogenous state. The result of the last 196 years is exactly the national mythos that exists today. Those who understand the longer and wider 1,044 year history of Poland know that it citizens achieve the greatest in human endeavor from diversity.

On the giant Jesus… what upsets me is not the fact of the statue, but the motivations behind it. The great buildings, cathedrals, monuments and such were always constructed to the glory of God and the memory of others. Not so much in this case! Underpaid and cheated workers building a statute to attract tourist money on a shaky foundation; not exactly a tribute to our God and King. Local newspaper editor Waldemar Roszczuk gets it right: “It’s a monster of a statue which has nothing to do with Christian teaching.” Amen!

Christian Witness, Events, Political, Work, , , , , ,

Criminal business enterprises steal wages

National Day of Action Against Wage Theft on Thursday, November 18th

  • 60 percent of nursing homes steal workers’ wages.
  • 78 percent of restaurants in New Orleans steal workers’ wages.
  • 100 percent of poultry plants steal workers’ wages.
  • Wage theft is too big a crime to solve?

Except for the last one, the numbers are all true. Imagine being robbed at the street corner when you have just enough money to get you through the day. Now, picture that happening to you day in and day out.

Unfortunately for too many workers, especially those in low-wage jobs, being robbed is a reality they face every day — at their own work place.

Billions of dollars are stolen from millions of workers each year, often forcing them to choose between paying the rent or putting food on the table.

Wage theft affects not only the workers and their families, but also robs from the government’s tax coffers, resulting in cutbacks of vital services. Wage theft also puts ethical employers at a competitive disadvantage and can destroy community businesses, as working families cannot spend wages they haven’t received. Wage theft hurts everyone!

On November 18, individuals and groups in more than 50 cities across the country will take action against wage theft. Please join in calling attention to this epidemic and mobilizing support for the various efforts to combat it, from new national legislation to creative local initiatives.

Wage theft is a crime we can solve. In the past year, there have been local victories that have impacted the lives of workers. A couple of months ago, two new pieces of legislation were introduced, one to curtail worker misclassification and one to strengthen community anti-wage theft programs. The time to join in and take action is now. Lend your voice and speak up for justice.

What Can You do on the National Day of Action?

Take Action Against a Wage Theft Perpetrator:

  • Conduct a bus tour of unethical businesses that steal wages
  • Organize a group to confront an employer to pay his workers; flyer the business’ customers
  • Hold a prayer vigil
  • Plan an action at a non-union contractor or employer that is stealing wages and undercutting union companies.

Host a “Know Your Rights” Educational Workshop with Workers

Highlight Local Ordinance or State Law Campaigns/Victories

  • Organize press events with legislation sponsors
  • Lead an educational forum

Highlight the Need for National Anti-Wage Theft Legislation

  • Lead a delegation of workers and faith leaders to your Representative
  • Hold a press conference with your elected leaders

Announce a New Initiative Against Wage Theft

  • Attorneys can file a new lawsuit
  • Politicians can announce new initiatives

Academics can report on new wage theft survey results

…and Sign this Peition. Help stop Wage Theft- Workers should get the pay they’ve earned.

Christian Witness, Events, PNCC, Political, , , ,

The real unemployment crisis to come

At the end of November, slews of unemployed persons will be cut off from unemployment benefits when emergency federal extensions end.

It is important to recall that unemployment benefits are not an entitlement program or a form of welfare. Unemployment is an insurance program that tides folks over through temporary periods of unemployment. It allows them to maintain their dignity and the basics of life so that they may be best prepared to re-enter the job market (it is a lot harder to get re-hired if you haven’t had a shower or a decent meal in weeks, or are living out of the back seat of your car). It is also a program that requires the active participation of beneficiaries in job searches, skills readiness training, and other such programs that best prepare them for re-employment.

Unfortunately, every recent recession has seen an increase in the time necessary for a jobs recovery. This recession has been by far the worst. The chart below shows the relatively fast jobs recovery following past recessions. Jobs recoveries began to lengthen with the 1981 recession.

There is no jobs recovery right now, and many of the jobs unemployed persons lost will never come back. Many have already received a full 99 weeks of benefits. Many will need significant retraining to prepare for new jobs. With the November cut-off, others will never get that far. In the following article, the National Employment Law Project projects that 1.2 million people are faced with a November 30th cut-off. The question is, how will they and their families eat, how will their rents be paid, how will they prepare for jobs if they become homeless and transient? As Christians, and particularly members of the PNCC which has a long history of advocacy for workers, we need to ask those questions and make our voices heard so that those who are ready, willing, and able to work are not abandoned.

From NELP: Some 1.2 Million Jobless Workers Will Lose UI Benefits if No Extension, Report Says

About 1.2 million jobless workers will lose emergency unemployment insurance benefits if Congress fails to extend the benefits again by Nov. 30, according to a report released Oct. 22 by the National Employment Law Project.

The 10-page report found that of those 1.2 million workers, 387,000 are workers who were recently laid off and are now receiving six months of regular state benefits.

“These are people who have been laid off through no fault of their own and are desperately looking for jobs, but would be snapped from the lifeline of jobless benefits just as the holiday season kicks into high gear,” said NELP executive director Christine Owens. “Congress will have to act fast when it reconvenes to avoid a catastrophe. The clock is ticking.”

California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York top the list of states that would face the most cutoffs, according to the report.
Report Findings

The report includes the following findings:

  • Since the unemployment insurance program was created in response to the Great Depression, Congress has never cut federally funded jobless benefits when unemployment was this high for this long (over 9 percent for 17 consecutive months).
  • Businesses and the struggling economy—especially the retail sector—will take “a major blow” if Congress fails to continue the federal jobless benefits during the holiday shopping season.
  • In 2009, the increase in the number of people in poverty would have doubled were it not for unemployment insurance benefits.
  • With the average unemployment extension weekly check of $290 replacing only half of the average family’s expenditures on transportation, food, and housing, jobless workers have a major incentive to look for work.
  • The 51-day lapse of the federal UI extension program this summer caused substantial hardship for many of the more than 2.5 million unemployed workers cut off from benefits.

“Cutting unemployed job seekers off the extended unemployment benefits they need and have counted on receiving is hard any time, but doing so around Thanksgiving and the ensuing holidays is especially harsh—and counterproductive,” Owens said.

In New York, per the Department of Labor (my employer), 190,000 will be loosing benefits immediately:

NY state prepares for end of jobless benefits: New York state prepares for end to extended unemployment benefits; Congress controls fate

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York is preparing for the possibility that an extra 190,000 residents could lose emergency unemployment insurance benefits at year’s end if Congress fails to act next week, state Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner said Friday.

“This is no time to cut off benefits,” Gardner said. “We still have a job market where there’s only one job opening for every five people looking for work.

“We estimate that for every dollar invested in unemployment insurance benefits, close to $2 is spent in every local economy,” she added in a conference call with reporters. “That’s especially important between now and the end of the year as the holiday time approaches.”

More than 100,000 New Yorkers already have exhausted their emergency benefits. Some 30 percent of those have tapped public assistance, typically food stamps and sometimes the Medicaid health care program for the poor, Gardner said.

An additional 190,000 state residents could lose out by Jan. 1 or around 400,000 by May 1, she said.

Republicans in Congress want spending cuts of $5 billion to $6 billion a month as a condition for extending emergency benefits scheduled to expire in December. Up to 2 million people could lose the benefits if the Democratic-controlled Congress doesn’t act in the postelection lame-duck session.

Jobless people are eligible for up to 99 weeks of benefits in most states. The first 26 weeks are paid by states. About 3.7 million draw them now.

Democrats argue that the extended benefits should be paid for with deficit spending because it injects money into the economy. Jobless people immediately spend the cash, they explain. But Republicans note that the government had to borrow 37 cents of every dollar it spent last year, and it’s time to draw the line.

From a Call to Action by IWJ (please sign the NELP Petition to Congress):

The good news for the new unemployment numbers: The economy added 151,000 jobs last month. The bad news: Official unemployment remained at 9.6 of the work force. Long-term unemployment continues to affect almost 42 percent of the nation’s 14.8 million jobless workers, according to the National Employment Law Project. The average spell of joblessness grew to 33.9 weeks in October, the worst since the government began collectinmg this data in the 1950s.

But, it’s one thing to talk about numbers and quite another to remember living human beings: unemployed workers and their families who are suffering severely. Every day, untold numbers of unemployed workers are asking: How can I feed my family? How can I buy the medicine to heal my sick child? How can I pay the mortgage? How?

On November 30th jobless benefit extensions expire. Unless Congress acts to extend benefits for another year, two million workers will be cut off next month alone and any brief extensions will still put millions at risk of cut-offs next year. Not only would this be catastrophic for millions of families; it would deny struggling businesses needed revenue during the rapidly approaching holiday season and beyond.

We can’t let this happen! Please call your Senators and Representative 202-224-3121 to urge them to extend jobless benefits for another year. Please tell your relatives and friends to call also.

It doesn’t matter whether your members of congress were elected, defeated or didn’t run last week. They are still your representatives now and need to hear your voices loud and clear.

And then join tens of thousands by signing this online petition to Congress:

The holidays will soon be here. Our joint efforts can make the difference between a season devoid of hope and joy for so many or a renewed sense that in the midst of pain there is a glimmer of light on the other side.

Art, Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

Writing of interest

Articles on Polish and Polish-American history by Martin S. Nowak from the Polish Culture Newsletter, No. 121:

Poles Developed Early Television:

It has recently become fashionable to credit the invention of television to the American Philo T. Farnsworth. But the truth is, modern television was not so much a single invention by a single person, but a long process of interdependent discoveries. Many scientists from different countries and backgrounds contributed to its development. Among them were Poles…

John Quincy Adams, future US President, visiting Silesia:

In the year 1800, John Quincy Adams, the U.S. Minister to Prussia, undertook a two month tour of Silesia, then part of Prussia. He detailed his experiences in a series of letters to his brother. It was a thoroughly German area in that time (Western Silesia) that Adams visited, yet it is interesting to note the observations of a distinguished American, later President of the United States, of this region. Silesia, during its complicated history, was in centuries past a part of Poland and is currently a part of that nation, comprising its southwestern region.

Starting by horse-drawn coach from his residence in Berlin, Adams’ first stop in what is now Polish territory was at Gruenberg, today the city of Zielona Gora. Noting its cloth mills and vineyards, Adams and his party, which included his wife and two servants, continued on their carriage ride deeper to Silesia. Their first stop in the province was at Bunzlau. There, Adams observed the main industry of the town. Even today it is famous, for the Polish name of this place is Boleslawiec, home of the world renowned Boleslawiec pottery…

Littlepage: American Citizen, Polish Statesman:

Lewis Littlepage was a young American who was a figure in the final years of the Kingdom of Poland. He was born in Virginia in 1762 into a well-connected family and at seventeen was sent to Madrid to live in the household of John Jay, U.S. Minister to Spain. There, he furthered his education in politics and foreign diplomacy in a hands-on manner.

In 1781 he joined the Spanish army and served with distinction against the British in Gibraltar. Two years later the French General Lafayette accompanied him to Paris, and Littlepage was introduced to the French royal court where he made a favorable impression.

In 1784, Littlepage traveled across Europe with a French prince who was married to a Polish woman. In Poland, he became acquainted with the leading social and political families and was personally introduced to King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Littlepage made an immediate impression upon the king, for he was charming, witty and intelligent bordering on genius. They shared an interest in books and liberal ideas. King Stanisław admired all things American, and Littlepage’s friendship with Lafayette and knowledge of France and Spain appealed to him. The king offered Littlepage a position in his court…

Poetry and Memory from Dr. John Guzlowski:

The website Editions Bibliotekos features a short personal essay Dr. Guzlowski wrote about his changing attitudes toward his parents and their experiences as Polish slave laborers in Nazi Germany in Truth Teller – John Guzlowski.

For the last thirty years, I’ve been writing about my parents and their experiences during World War II. I’ve written about how my dad spent four years in Buchenwald, a concentration camp in Germany, and how my mother survived the day the Nazis raped and killed her mother and her sister but was taken to a slave labor camp in Germany. I’ve written about this and so many other things that happened to my mother and father first in Poland when the Nazis invaded, then in Germany where my parents were imprisoned, and finally in America after the war.

But growing up, I never thought I would…

…and a piece about the importance of patience in writing in Writing is an Incremental Art:

When you’re a writer, there are bad days and good days. Some days, you sit and write, and the words feel like they’re in someone else’s head; and some days, you write and the writing is fast and right, and you think that each word is a gift from some muse that really and completely loves and cares for you and what you have to say.

That’s the way it is for all of us, I think, but one of the things that I’ve come to feel about writing on bad days as well as good ones is that the progress, the movement forward, the work, is…

Art, Events, , , , ,

Opportunities for Youth in Service and the Arts

National Learn & Serve Challenge: Interest and participation in the National Learn & Serve Challenge continues to grow. Participation has reached an all-time high of 283,932 people. The year-long challenge aims to expand opportunities for youth to serve and promote service-learning, a proven teaching method that harnesses the enthusiasm and skills of young people to solve problems in their schools and communities as part of their academic studies. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Learn and Serve America, to be observed December 6-10, 2010.

Call for Entries: 2011 VSA International Young Soloists Award: Since 1984 the Young Soloists Program has been seeking to identify talented musicians who have a disability. This award is given annually to four outstanding musicians, two from the United States and two from the international arena. The award provides an opportunity for these emerging musicians to each earn a $5,000 award and a performance in Washington, D.C. Download a 2010-2011 Young Soloist Award application.

The Kennedy Center/National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute: A 4-week summer music program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, for student instrumentalists. The program is open, by recorded audition, to students who are seriously considering orchestral music as a career and are in grades 9 through 12 or are a college freshman or sophomore. Each student accepted into the program attends on full scholarship, which includes round trip air transportation to and from Washington DC, housing, food allowance, and local transportation during their stay in the Nation’s Capital. Download a NSOSMI Application 2011 [PDF]. The application deadline is Friday, January 28, 2011.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , , ,

Vocations: a growth sector

A story in the US News and World Report: 20 Industries Where Jobs Are Coming Back notes that jobs in religious and charitable institutions (with vocations being the largest share of jobs in that sectors) is among the top 20 areas with job growth. In fact, that sector has shown growth since before the recession began.

If you’ve been paying close attention to the economy and you’re inclined to look on the bright side, well, finally there is one.

As President Obama has been eager to point out, the private sector has been adding jobs for several months in a row. It’s still way too early to declare the return of prosperity, since nearly 15 million Americans remain unemployed and some key industries are still mired in recession. But the good news is finally starting to outweigh the bad, and economists hope that a virtuous cycle will soon replace a culture of gloom: Gradual hiring eventually makes consumers more optimistic, and as they spend more, business confidence grows as well. If that happens, companies are likely to keep on hiring.

Everybody wants to know where the jobs are, of course, so I analyzed data from the Department of Labor on employment levels in dozens of industries over the last three years. In most industries, the trend is similar: Job losses have stopped, but hiring hasn’t really picked up. So I looked for industries that have shown a notable increase in jobs over the last year.

In most of these fields, total employment is still far below the levels at the end of 2007, when the recession began. That illustrates how far we need to go until the economy is truly healthy again. But a recovery has to start somewhere, and these industries are the first to feel a hint of optimism. Here are 20 fields where jobs are starting to return:

…

Religious and nonprofit groups. Donations dipped during the recession, but religious, nonprofit, social, and business organizations have fared okay lately as endowments linked to the stock market have recovered and other sources of funding have stabilized. Clergy—a somewhat recessionproof calling—represent the single largest profession within this group.

Jobs gained in 2010: 56,000

Change since 2007: 9,000 jobs gained

For those seeking, both out of school, on second or third careers, or in retirement, the Savonarola Theological Seminary offers scholarships and other assistance so you can attend.

To find out more about vocations to the diaconate and the priesthood, please contact the Savonarola Theological Seminary of the Polish National Catholic Church, 1031 Cedar Ave, Scranton, PA 18505. School, (570) 961-9288, Office, (570) 343-0100. You may also E-mail me and I will get your E-mail to the right people.

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