Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Tag: Vocations

You are Here :
Christian Witness, Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Ś + P Sister Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska

From the Albany Times Union: A life of giving comes to an end (or really has not ended, has just changed)

She was known as Sister Andy, a tiny former cloistered nun with a big heart for helping others

GUILDERLAND– Sister Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska was so tiny, her feet never touched the ground when she sat in a pew and prayed.

It was her heart that reached to heaven.

Sister Andy, as she was known, who died Sunday at the age of 101, was remembered as a towering force for prayer and goodness who touched the hearts of many on both sides of the Atlantic.

A sister in the Society of the Sacred Heart religious order for 70 years, she spent three decades as a cloistered nun, walled off from society, until her order relaxed its rules in 1970.

She was for 25 years at Kenwood, where a community of Sacred Heart nuns lived on the grounds of Doane Stuart School’s former site. She worked in the infirmary caring for ailing sisters. On Tuesday, she was buried in a cemetery at Kenwood.

“She was a happy, little woman, a fairy godmother to so many,” recalled Sister Joan Gannon, who lives with 30 other Sisters of the Sacred Heart at Teresian House. As their group at Kenwood died off and grew infirm, they moved to the nursing home. Of the 50 who relocated since 2006, about 30 are still living. Roughly one-third are in their 90s.

After a funeral service for Sister Andy in the Infant of Prague Chapel at Teresian House, most of the 20 nuns who swapped stories about their friend used wheelchairs or walkers.

Sister Andy, who stood 4-feet-8, relished her role as imp.

She took yoga classes while in her 90s and liked to raise her walker overhead in jubilation. “She could reach her knees to her chin,” a nun said, to general laughter. It was a short lift.

Her room at Kenwood resembled a warehouse with stacks of boxes. She was constantly gathering clothing and other items to ship to her relatives in her native Poland. The clicking of knitting needles echoed down the hall as she knitted and crocheted acres of baby booties and clothing for great-grandnieces in the old country.

Born in the farming village of Katy on July 13, 1908, she came from hearty peasant stock. She has sisters in their 90s who are still living. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1934 and taught at Sacred Heart schools in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri.

“Her heart was always rooted in Poland,” said Mira Lechowicz, who met Sister Andy in 1995 when she taught yoga at Kenwood. They spoke Polish. “What a beautiful spirit she was. She was pure love.”

In recent weeks as Lechowicz as she came to visit, Sister Andy told Lechowicz she was going home to Jesus. She spoke low and in Polish: “Jezu ufam Tobie,” (“Jesus, I trust in you.”)

On Saturday, the day before she died, Sister Andy told Sister Gannon she was ready. Sister Andy took to her bed and declined a nightgown. She crossed her arms over her bare chest beneath the bed covers and showed no fear. She indicated she wanted to leave the world in the state in which she entered it as an infant, Sister Gannon said.

She recounted that Sister Andy lifted her arms and said, in English: “Here I am, Jesus, come take me.”

To You, O Lord, we commend the soul of Your handmaid, Ludwika; open the gates of paradise to her and help us who remain to comfort one another with the assurance of our faith. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz jej dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj jej świeci.
Niech odpoczywają w pokoju, Amen.

Her obituary: Sr. Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska

Sister Ludwika Sofja Andrzejewska, religious of the Sacred Heart, died peacefully at Teresian House on Sunday evening, October 25, 2009. Born in 1908, in Katy, Poland, “Sister Andy” was the daughter of Walenty Andrzejewska and Franciszka Majchrsak. She had four sisters and four brothers as well as five half-sisters and brothers. She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart on November 1, 1931 in Zbilitowska Gora and after making her first vows there, came to the United States as a missionary. She made her final vows at Barat College of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Ill. on February 2, 1940. During her many years of ministry, Sister Andy was a homemaker for her religious of the Sacred Heart sisters and the children in Sacred Heart schools in Omaha, Neb., Lake Forest, Ill., St. Joseph, Mo. and Chicago, Ill. She was known for her sewing and her knitting, and kept the little shops both at Duchesne Academy in Omaha and at Kenwood in Albany full of delightful home made articles. Sister Andy came to Albany in 1982 and was an aid in the infirmary for as long as she was able. In 2007 she joined the community at Teresian House where she was an active participant until very recently. Her tiny four foot, eight inch frame was packed with energy and determination. She was fun loving and beloved by all who knew her including, most recently, the staff and residents of Carmel Gardens at Teresian House. During her active years she worked earnestly to get donations of goods and money to send to her beloved family and friends in Poland, particularly after World War II. Sister Andy remained close to her family in spite of the geographical separation and after 1970, when cloister was lifted for the religious of the Sacred Heart, she went a few times to visit them. Some of them, in turn, were able to visit her. She is survived by a sister and by many nieces and nephews, grand and great-grandnieces and nephews and her religious family who will sorely miss her.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

A personal note of thanks

Last Sunday, the Solemnity of the Christian Family, marked one year since I began my active ministry at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Schenectady, NY.

Of course thanks are in order, but in a way I am uncomfortable making this list because everyone should come first. Needless to say I will start with the Lord who leads me in my ministry of service, at Holy Name, in the Mohawk Valley Seniorate, in the Central Diocese, and the PNCC as a whole. I am so thankful to Fr. Stan Bilinski for taking the time (and having the great patience necessary) to teach me the ropes. A huge shout out and special note of thanks to all the parishioners at Holy Name; they have been very charitable, accepting, and have shown great Christian love in welcoming my family and me. And, finally, my family who support me in my ministry and whose patience I tax with running to and fro to minister. I realize their sacrifice and am so thankful for their charity.

Here’s a picture of me assisting at Holy Mass on the occasion of the YMSofR Track and Field meet in Scranton. Holy Mass was celebrated at the Grotto of Christ the Benign. Prime Bishop Nemkovich is celebrating, I am the Deacon of the Mass, and Fr. Jason Soltysiak is standing in as Sub-Deacon.

Holy Mass at the Grotto of Christ the Benign

Please pray for me.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, , , , , ,

Two kinds of people who know better than the Holy Church

From BreakingNews: Supreme Court ruling loosens Catholic diocese hold on priest sex abuse papers

The first kind are those that make themselves greater than the Church, substituting private judgment and corporate fear for faithful duty consistent with Scripture and Tradition.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against a Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut, saying that thousands of documents generated by lawsuits against six priests for alleged sexual abuse cannot remain sealed.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Tuesday denied the Bridgeport diocese’s request to continue a stay on the release of the papers until the full court decides whether to review the case.

Ralph Johnson III, a lawyer for the diocese, said church officials were considering whether to ask all nine justices to rule on the request.

The diocese said on its Web site Tuesday afternoon that it was disappointed with Ginsburg’s decision and that it —intends to proceed with its announced determination to ask the full U.S. Supreme Court to review the important constitutional issues that this case presents.—

Jonathan Albano, attorney for three newspapers who requested the documents, said the ruling compels the diocese to release the documents, but he acknowledged the church could ask the full court to reconsider Ginsburg’s decision.

—At the end of the day, the diocese will be able to say they were heard before every court that was available to them,— Albano said.

…

The Connecticut high court also rejected the claim by church officials that the documents were subject to constitutional privileges, including religious privileges under the First Amendment…

From The Deacons Bench: Dissident (Fr.) Roy Bourgeois: ‘I will not be silenced.’

The second kind — those who see their private judgment and assessment as some sort of revelation when it is no more than mimicry of the the world’s message.

The controversial priest who participated in a woman’s ordination ceremony last year is back in the news again — and continuing to stir the pot:

“A prominent priest whose support for women’s ordination has him in trouble with the Catholic Church ratcheted up his confrontation with the hierarchy yesterday, calling the church’s refusal to ordain women a —scandal” and —spiritual violence.”

—I will not be silenced on this issue,” said the priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, to about 100 people in Weston at an event hosted by the congregation of Jean Marchant, a former staffer for the Archdiocese of Boston who claims she was ordained as a priest in an unsanctioned ceremony four years ago.

“The Catholic Church views Marchant and Bourgeois as having been automatically excommunicated for participating in unsanctioned ordination ceremonies.

“Yesterday Bourgeois said he remained unclear about his status because he has had no formal communication from his order, the Maryknoll Fathers, or from the Vatican, which last fall told him he would face excommunication if he did not recant.

—If they choose to kick me out of the church because I believe that men and women are equal, so be it,” Bourgeois said. —I will never be at peace being in any organization that would exclude others…

What’s funny in this case is the Rev. Bourgeois’ name – bourgeois which describes his attitude more than anything. As the Young Fogey might say, the class that touts SWPL (stuff white people love) – knowing better than the Church based on private judgment and believing that everyone must absolutely believe what you believe or they are evil, of course all in the name of “human” justice.

The Rev. Bourgeois is completely wrong of course, and women’s ordination is non-Catholic and a non-issue. It has nothing to do with equality or exclusion, but rather people of his class and background touting their personal assessment of what equality and exclusion mean — and then forcing others to eat that assessment.

Funny how all the Churches that eat and enjoy Rev. Bourgeois’ assessment are about as non-inclusive as they come. If you don’t buy what they sell you are out — you are just the ignorant proletariat. Further their congregations and parishes are dying at a fast rate (see here or read Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity) while truly Catholic Churches (Roman Catholic, Orthodox) are bringing the remnant in.

People who know know that Catholic Churches are all about inclusivity – all are welcome to come and pray. All are ministered to. All have a role consistent with Scripture and Tradition within those Churches.

The voice of the Holy Spirit is not asking that we grasp at straws for an answer, but that we show our faithfulness to what has been handed on to us. Not enough men in the seminary? We need to challenge them, be dynamic examples as men motivated by deep faith, love, and service. It’s hard work to put aside the tiredness, the monotony that can creep in to our all too human lives, but we can do it — truth, work, and struggle and we will be victorious. The solution isn’t in Rev. Bourgeois’ head or in our heads. It isn’t in society. It is in faithfulness.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

New Ordinary for the Western Diocese leaves Stratford, Connecticut

From the Connecticut Post: Kopka leaving Stratford parish to head West

Kopka Named Diocean Bishop of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church in Chicago, covering eight states

STRATFORD — Bishop Anthony Kopka and many of his parishioners at St. Joseph’s Polish National Catholic Church still recall his first sermon on Father’s Day in 1982, when the congregation was in Bridgeport and the 26-year-old priest came strolling into the church carrying his clergy shirt and collar on a hangar, with a few dozen people in attendance.

It will be far different for Kopka when he delivers his final sermon Sunday at 4 p.m. in front of an expected crowd of 400 people at St. Joseph’s parish, 1300 Stratford Road, before departing for his new job in Chicago on Tuesday.

He won’t be carrying his clothing on a hanger this time, and there will be plenty of tears from those who eagerly awaited his arrival 27 years ago after being without a priest for more than a year.

Kopka will be adorned in the full black Bishop’s Cassock and floor-length robes, with red trim, and a brass headdress of miter and crosier — centuries-old symbols of regalia for bishops.

Kopka, now 53, has been named Bishop of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church in Chicago, which covers eight Midwestern and southern states and 30 parishes. He’ll also be pastor of All Saints Cathedral in Chicago. It’s a big change from overseeing a couple of hundred people for most of his time at St. Joseph’s, before being named auxiliary bishop of the Eastern Diocese in November 2006 that covers four New England states, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Manchester.

“It’s a very emotional time. I have loved every minute of my 27 years here and it’s not easy to leave,” said Kopka, getting uncharacteristically choked up several times during an interview this week. “I grew up in New Castle, Pennsylvania, but after all my wonderful experiences here — being part of the community and raising a family — I will now forever say I’m from Stratford.”

Kopka said he is ready for the new challenge.

“I believe God has been preparing me for this for a long time,” Kopka said. “I want to help take our church into a new era that goes beyond just (Polish) ethnicity and appeals to all those searching for an alternative. Our church tends to be more liberal in its doctrine as priests and bishops are allowed to marry and have families, which I think is important because we can relate to the same everyday problems that face other people.”

Dolores Smith, 68, who has been a church member her entire life and is chairwoman of a gala party Sunday that will celebrate Kopka’s tenure, said the party will include 20 members of the clergy from the area, as well as Mayor James R. Miron, State Rep. Terry Backer, D-Stratford, and Supt. of Schools Irene Cornish.

Smith said it will be tough to replace a pastor who has led the congregation for nearly three decades, including the move from Bridgeport in 1989, “who has made such an impact on the community with his outreach and leadership.

“I still remember that first sermon he gave like it was yesterday,” Smith said. “Bishop Anthony was so young and hopeful, and had this wonderful big smile that has been comforting us all these years. It’s very bittersweet to see him go, but we know God will send us the right person to replace him, just like when he was sent to us all those years ago.”

When Kopka arrived church membership was dwindling, as parishioners were becoming scared to come to Barnum Avenue and Harriet Street on the east side of Bridgeport. He said car break-ins, muggings, threats to churchgoers and women being accosted resulted in the congregation voting overwhelmingly in 1988 to move to the Lordship section of Stratford, where the church owned a parcel of land.

A new church was built and opened in January of 1989. “It was the right decision and turning point in helping to revive church membership, which has more than doubled to over 200 since that time,” said Smith. “We now have members in more than 20 communities and much of the credit for that has to go to Bishop Kopka, who has been a sparkling presence in the area and made our church a community center where so many events have taken place.”

While Kopka didn’t want to give away too much about his final sermon, he said the theme would be uplifting and hopeful.

“I’m going to talk about how much we have grown together, how we all have gifts from God and because we’ve shared them with each other we have all grown in our faith and relationships,” Kopka said, again having a hard time holding back the tears. ” I hope to use that same theme as a model in all the parishes I’ll be overseeing.”

Kopka’s new assignment, which covers the largest geographic area of the church’s five regions in the country, includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Florida and a mission in the State of Washington. Bishop Kopka replaces Bishop Jan Dawidziuk, who is retiring on June 30.

The Polish National Catholic Church was established in 1897 in Scranton, Pa., with members breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church. Today, there are more than 25,000 members in America.

Among the many local boards Kopka has served on include a stint as chairman of the Ethics Commission and president of the Stratford Clergy Association, chaplain for the Stratford Police Department, and coordinator of youth groups of Stratford congregations for the Bridge Building Initiative of the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport.

Kopka and his wife Darlene, have two grown daughters, Kristen, 25 and Lauren, 23, who both live in Stratford and plan to remain here. “It’s great because when I come back and visit, we know we have a place to stay,” Kopka said.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, , , ,

The ecumenical Dutch Touch that leads to unity

Fr. Robert Hart of the Continuum Blog has an interesting article on the “Dutch Touch” and Anglican Orders. In The Dutch Touch: A study in irrelevance he says:

Frankly, Saepius Officio, written in 1897 by the Archbishops of England (Canterbury and York) said everything that needed to be said in defense of our Orders, and the best summary anywhere is that of Bicknell.

As for the subject of the Infusion itself, it is a relic of an innocent age of ecumenical hope, that innocence and hope that would suffer destruction for the official Anglican Communion in 1976. If the Infusion may help someday between orthodox Anglicans of the Continuum and Rome or, restart some ecumenical relations with the Polish National Catholic Church, then maybe it will not have been a big wasted effort after all.

Until such a time, who cares?

Two observations: First, I think that ecumenical contact between orthodox Anglicans and the PNCC would be a fine thing. We offer the Declaration of Scranton as a point of unity between national churches, and as a structural building block in accord with the National Church philosophy expounded by Bishop Hodur.

The interesting thing about the word continuum is that it means a connection that surpasses the here and now. At core it is a continuation of a Church’s traditions, practices, and character (of course only important if they are Catholic in character and in fact). I have said before, including to local clergy of the TAC, swimming the Tiber will eventually lead to the dissolution of everything that you are. Simply put, the weight of the Roman Church will subsume the TAC and any other Continuum Church that joins it, just as Anglican Use parishes will disappear within two generations.

I also think that there is another issue that gets lost in the whole swimming the Tiber spirit within the TAC, “Is that what your people really want? Just as among clergy some will say yes, but I believe that a majority will see what I see, that ‘who they are’ will slip away.

My second observation, and I congratulate Fr. Hart for making the point, is “who cares.” That is really the point if your Church believes itself to be Catholic. Like the Orthodox Churches we need to place less emphasis on what Rome thinks of us and more on what we think of ourselves (and no emphasis on what some over-the-top on-line R.C. pundits and detractors think of us). The full body of Catholic Churches are, in their varied external manifestations (those whose ecclesiology, polity, and praxis are Catholic), the totality of the Church, which is truly universal.

Perspective, PNCC, ,

A class on the cusp

From the Buffalo News: For Class of 1969, a priestly era fades

After 40 years of seismic shifts in Catholic Church,once-plentiful shepherds reflect on what they’ll leave

It took two Buffalo cathedrals and a basilica in Lackawanna to accommodate the ordination Class of 1969. On a bright spring morning 40 years ago this week, 25 young men made solemn vows to serve as Catholic priests in the Diocese of Buffalo.

Afterward, they stood for photos shoulder to shoulder in their pressed white vestments, looking with pious expressions at the camera, as if peering into the future.

Little did they know at the time what was in store.

Most of them ended up as respected pastors and are now approaching retirement. A few left the priesthood and got married. One of them was elevated to bishop and Tuesday will be installed in the Diocese of Syracuse.

The Class of 1969 was one of the largest ever in the Buffalo diocese —” and a stark contrast to the state of priestly vocations now. In many ways, it was a class on the cusp.

Its members were called into a whole different priesthood than the one they ended up learning and practicing. Not that they minded.

—We really did think there was going to be a major change in the direction of the church,— said the Rev. George L. Reger, pastor of Blessed Trinity Church.

The country was in upheaval over the Vietnam War, inner-city riots and campus protests, and the Catholic Church in the United States was in the midst of its own drama, adjusting to a new Mass in English, along with other liturgical and philosophical changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council.

—The sands were shifting under our feet in the institution we were committing ourselves to,— said the Rev. John J. Leising, senior associate pastor of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Clarence.

…

The Rev. Patrick H. Elis, pastor of St. Rose of Lima, even remembers talk of more dormitories being built when he was a theology student at the East Aurora seminary, now known as Christ the King.

—We were unaware of the future dissolution of numbers. We just thought it was going to continue on,— he said…

The sad fact is that most of this class still fails to acknowledge the downside of Vatican II. They expected that they would turn the Church on its head, and that everything would change. It was pure naivete. Things did change and the change was on balance negative because the core elements that had fostered their vocations were thrown out like the proverbial baby with the bath water. The good that came out of Vatican II remains overshadowed by the destruction its purveyors wrought.

1969 R C Ordination in BuffaloThe picture (click on it for a larger version) that accompanies the article, of the portion of the class ordained by the Rt. Rev. Pius Benincasa, was likely the last of its kind, with the new ordinands in Roman chasubles. Those chasubles were thrown out as easily as were the foundations of their vocations.

I know many of these men. Many are personable, kind, and hard working. They are great administrators, great with the people, but attend one of their liturgies — well at least the lectors read what’s in Lectionary. The rest is dodgy.

Thankfully the PNCC offers the tradition that fosters vocations as well as the advances many of these men sought — which we instituted in the early twentieth century. The PNCC made necessary changes, like the abolition of mandatory celibacy, the Holy Mass in the vernacular, and enshrining the democratic rights of each member, in a natural, unforced way. It is why I can call the PNCC home as opposed to the R.C. Church in the United States. The R.C. Church is still trying to gain its footing, something likely to take generations, and not all that certain to occur.

Perspective, PNCC, , ,

The PNCC and Labor – an old/new opportunity

A wonderful article from the Boston Review: God’s Work: What can faith-based activism do for labor?

—I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain, common workingmen,— recalled Frances Perkins. And so she did. From 1933 to 1945, Perkins helped create the core features of the New Deal state: minimum wage and maximum hours laws, legal guarantees for workers’ rights to organize and join unions, prohibition of child labor, Social Security, unemployment compensation, and fair labor standards. For all of the New Deal’s limitations, its laws and programs tamed Upton Sinclair’s —Jungle,— encouraged broad economic security and prosperity, and created, in economic terms, the most equitable America in history. And it was promoted and protected not only by strong unions but also by religious leaders, thanks to the prominence of a social gospel in the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish traditions at mid-century. During her twelve years as secretary of labor, Perkins herself spent one day a month in contemplative retreat at a convent. For her, the reference to God was not simply a rhetorical flourish.

Since the 1970s economic inequality has surged to levels not seen since the 1920s, Dickensian abuses of workers have returned, and deregulation has enabled the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. President Obama’s Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, faces challenges not unlike Perkins’s. Yet today, as in the 1930s, crisis also creates the opportunity for a bold new direction—”a New New Deal, potentially more inclusive of the nation’s diverse labor force than Perkins could have imagined. Might the nation’s churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples again have a role in rescuing a wayward economy?

In addressing this question, Solis can learn much from Kim Bobo, founder and Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ). Bobo’s goal is to revive America’s justice-seeking prophetic tradition, with a particular focus on economic justice…

The PNCC has a strong tradition as an advocate for working men and women. Its immigrant and democratic roots were formed by men and women who were workers, who knew degradation at the hands of mine bosses, and who looked forward to a brighter, more democratic future. John J. Bukowczyk covers a lot of history in the Labor, Radicalism, and the Worker chapter in his book: Polish Americans and Their History: Community, Culture, and Politics.

The PNCC connection is both historic and full of opportunity. Knowing what I know from my 9-5 job, Ms. Bobo is correct in her assessments:

Labor laws today are such a mess that they bewilder and deter those who need them most. As Bobo notes, they are —woefully inadequate,— —incredibly confusing,— and barely enforced. She tells the story of Anka Karewicz, a twenty-year-old Polish immigrant to Chicago who, in order to stop a single employer from cheating and demeaning her and her fellow workers, would have had to contact three different federal agencies (the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and two state agencies. Karewicz gave up.

Whatever a person’s ethnic background, whatever their status, the Church, our democratic Church, cannot stand by as the exploitation of working men and women continues. We are to stand with them, pray for them, and work together for a brighter future for all of God’s children.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Cover your Jesus

From CNA: Georgetown students react to White House request to cover Jesus’ name

Georgetown University’s decision to comply with a White House request to cover up the —IHS— monogram representing Jesus’ name at President Obama’s speech on Wednesday is drawing fire from the Cardinal Newman Society and Georgetown students, who are charging the university with —sacrificing— its —Catholic and Jesuit identity.—

Reports surfaced today from attendees at President Obama’s speech on the economy that the White House asked Georgetown University to cover up several emblems, including an IHS monogram above the president’s head during his speech at the Jesuit university.

Although President Obama focused his speech on his administration’s plans to spur economic growth, some in attendance noticed that the IHS monogram—”an early 3rd century abbreviation for the name of Jesus—”was covered up for the speech.

CNA attempted to confirm the report with Georgetown officials, but no one available for comment before press time.

However, Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at the university, told CNSNews.com that the covering up of Jesus’ name was prompted by —logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event.— According to Bataille, —Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage.—

She said the —signage and symbols— were covered up because —the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross— and that it seemed more —respectful to have them covered— so that viewers wouldn’t see them —out of context…—

IHSFrankly I do not blame the Obama Administration. They are being true to who they are and to what they represent. If they believe they have the savior on-hand why bring up the name of the other One.

I could say that the real fault lies with the Administration at Georgetown. By covering the name of Jesus they are not being true to who they are. But, is that so?

As Christians we hope that other Christians will be true to who they are. We feel a great sense of disappointment when our brothers and sisters fall short of our expectation. We hope and wish that Christians in academia, in politics, in ordinary life will set an example in relation to the immutability of their Christian faith. When they do not meet our expectation, as in this case, we are left to sort out who is being true to their beliefs. We point to the martyrs who chose death over denying Jesus, and we are left to wonder.

Our conclusion does not yield blame. Our conclusion must free itself of expectation, of false notion. The early Christians had a system of codes so that they would know their fellow travelers. We need to re-establish the outward marker, the sign by which we will know. Intellectual faith, the faith of the academics, has its place, but that doesn’t make one a Christian. The sign on the wall does not make one a Christian. Hanging a cross in the classroom doesn’t make one a Christian. What we do (or don’t do), for all to see, makes it so.

It is easy to quote scripture in relation to what has been done. This scripture is key:

“So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 10:32-33

What does our doing and not doing say? This scripture is the measuring stick. I do not think that our Lord will count the number of Ph.D.’s we have obtained, or the number of books and scholarly articles on our C.V. Here is the test. Did you acknowledge Me beforeIn front of and above. men?

Christian Witness, Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Polish immigrant priest and Auschwitz survivor leaves $1.5 million estate

From the Charleston Daily Mail: W.Va. priest lived as pauper but left princely estate

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A priest who spent his retirement years in Cedar Grove led a pauper’s life but had secret assets totaling more than $1.5 million, officials from the Sheriff’s Tax Department said.

Chief Tax Deputy Allen Bleigh and members of the tax department are currently handling the estate of Father Anthony Wojtus, a priest who ended up in the Kanawha Valley in 1997.

Wojtus died in June 2007 at the age of 77, leaving behind no known family or will. The county was appointed as estate administrator in July 2007.

He was a Polish immigrant and survivor of Auschwitz, one of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, according to a 2005 newspaper story.

Bleigh and employees of the tax department have put in hundreds of hours since his death, trying to uncover all the assets of the estate and see if there was anyone who could take it over.

The estate included one home and one residence used as a chapel, known as St. Anthony’s Retreat. Both properties are located on Alexander Street in Cedar Grove. However, judging by the condition of the properties, Bleigh said no one expected to find what they did.

“At the time, no one knew that there was an estate of the magnitude there is,” Bleigh said. “The house he lived in was appalling…”

I have friends with relatives in Poland who survived the Nazi German concentration camps. Like this priest, they horde things, live frugally, do all they can to protect what little they have — the psychological consequences of all they endured.

From what I read in the comments to this story this was a fine priest who served his people with great grace and charity.

This article notes that he continued to offer the Tridentine Rite Holy Mass in his private chapel and in 1993 was suspended by his diocese for ministering to those who wished to attend that Rite of the Holy Mass. It appears that workers in the diocese refer to him as “eccentric” and a “loner.” He was likely a priest more attuned to the thinking of the Bishop of Rome than his own bishop.

Offer a prayer for him this evening:

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz mu dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj mu świeci.
Niech odpoczywa w pokoju, Amen.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua líºceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia,

…and Polish priests don’t like it either

From CathNews: Polish priests want to marry

Most Polish priests favour an end to celibacy and twelve percent say they are already in a relationship with a woman, a survey has found.

The research has dealt a blow to the country’s reputation as a champion of traditional Catholic values, the UK Telegraph reports.

A survey of over 800 priests carried out by Professor Josef Baniak, a sociologist specialising in religious affairs, found that 53 percent would like to have a wife, while 12 percent admitted that they were involved in a relationship. A further 30 percent said that they had had a sexual relationship with a woman.

Professor Baniak concluded from earlier research that the desire to have a relationship and a family was one of the key reasons for priests leaving the priesthood.

His latest research echoes an earlier survey carried out by the Tygodnik Powszechny newspaper. The conservative publication, aimed at Catholic intellectuals, found that as many as 60 percent of priests wanted the right to marry.

Professor Baniak’s survey, however, has come under fire from the Church. Bishop Wojciech Polak, chairman of the Church’s Vocations Council, described it as “full of generalisations”, adding that he found the “conclusions hard to agree with.”

Bishop Polak must not have access to the books and records as the auxiliary bishop of Gniezno. He’s obvioulsy missed the priests who have long-term “housekeepers,” have left to marry, have committed suicide because they cannot reconcile their conflicted relationships, or who have dumped their housekeeper and her (really their) children on the dioceses’ doorstep.

Of course “new trends” in Polish seminaries will change the balance. Perhaps Bishop Polak is concentrating on those changes.

More from Bishop Polak in Catholic Church in Poland reports sharp drop in vocations. Methinks that the Bishop has his fingers in his ears and is signing a hymn very loudly.

All Right Reserved © 2005 - 2023