The PNCC originated in Scranton, PA in the late 1800’s when Polish immigrants felt that they were being treated badly by the Irish hierarch in that diocese. They apparently wanted to have a Polish bishop appointed for them, and Rome could not or would not grant the request. The Polish people also were requesting to have a say in choosing the priests for the parish, and to have control of the parish finances. Apparently, this was how many of te Polish Catholic churches in Poland were run. From the articles I have read, the “requests” were more like “demands” and it seemed to me upon reading the different versions of the origin of the PNCC, there was some blame on both sides. After several years of these requests and being denied, the parish broke off from the diocese of Scranton. They got a Polsih priest (Francis Hodur) from a nearby town to leave his parish and lead their new “community” as their priest.
They went on for several years like this and Fr. Hodur eventually had to look around for someone to consecrate him as a bishop so that the community could continue. I think they also knew that they could not attract new parishioners without Apostolic Succession, and they eventually had Hodur consecrated by a bishop from the Old Catholics in line with the Union of Utrecht - which was a union of bishops/dioceses in the Netherlands who broke from the Church after the first Vatican Council over the issue of Papal Infallibility and other issues. They are a schismatic church.
The Polish National “Catholic” Church was alligned with the Old Catholic Church for many years, and still also hold to the Declaration of the Union of Utrecht. A few years ago, the Old Catholic Church ordained women as priests, and the PNCC broke their intercommunion with them. They are in dialog with the Catholic Church and because of the technicality of Apostolic Succesion we do allow for intercommunion in a limited way. If a Catholic were in a hospital and needed to receive last rites or communion, they could receive from a Polish National priest. Generally, they will administer Holy Communion to anyone who attends their mass and claims to believe in the True Presence.
I would beware of the PNCC. They are in schism (although, I am told we are not supposed to use that word nowadays). But in Fr. Hodurs’s own words, they severed themselves from the Catholic Church. Look up a book on him from the PNCC bookshop called Works and Writings of Francis Hodur. Although they are in many ways, very Catholic in appearance, and they do have valid sacraments and valid orders, these are illicit. This means that their masses and sacraments are valid but not legal. Many of the priests in the PNCC are former Catholic priests who have left the Catholic Church, and have gone over due to differences with their bishops or because they could not deal with celibacy (the PNCC allows a married clergy). The fact that there are so many ex-Catholic priests in the PNCC is one of the reasons that the dialog between the two bodies is at something of a standstill now.
Another difference is that of General Confessions - in the Catholic Church, General Confession is reserved to those instances where it would be impossible for people to get to confession in an “ordinary” way. Such as if you are on a sinking ship and there is a Catholic priest aboard who offers to grant General Absolution to the people. If these people were to survive, any of the Catholics on board would be obligated to seek confession to “reconfess” their sins that that they had confessed to God during the time of the General Confession/Absolution. In the PNCC, General Confession is done near the beginning of every mass, and the people confess their sins to God and then the priest gives everybody absolution and then they get on with the mass, and everybody can come forward.
I see this as a dangerous practice, because I believe that actually “speaking” our sins to someone else helps us to grow in humility. Knowing that I will have to go to a priest and either face him or speak through a screen, forces me to think about my sins and helps me to come to a state of contrition for my sins. I think if I were to practice confession in the way that the PNCC does it, I would become very lax in even giving much thought to my sins. I do not think they go through an examination of conscience during this penitential rite at the mass, and I believe it is done rather quickly. If I were really trying to take the time to go over my sins in my head and heart, I don’t think I would be able to really do a good review of them, and so I don’t think I would really feel contrition for my sins.
The PNCC mandates private confession up to the age of 16, but then after that, they generally encourage the use of the general confession/absolution method. They will hear private confessions if requested. I just think it is a dangerous spiritual practice to get into.
There are some other differences in the sacraments also. The PNCC recognizes 8 sacraments (they count Baptism and Confirmation as one and then they add the sacrament of the Word of God). In many websites, you will see them say they recognize 7 sacraments, but that is because they combine Baptism and Confirmation. Other sites will say they have 8 sacraments.
In their catechism, they say that they believe that everyone will be saved eventually. Fr. Hodur did not believe in the eternal damnation of hell, just that if you went to hell, eventually you would be released to heaven. This contradicts the Scriptures.
The PNCC has a Constitution which states that although they are no longer in communion with the Union of Utrecht, they do still adhere to the Declaration of Utrecht. In this declaration, they say that they reject the primacy and authority of the pope and the infallibility of the pope. They only say that the pope has a primacy of honor and of an equal among equals. They therefore do not recognize any dogmas pronounced by any popes, and they do not recognize dogmas generally, from after the first 4 or 7 councils. That number changes depending on the site you are reading. They do not have the same understanding of Original Sin, saying that the stain of the sin of Adam & Eve was not passed on to succeeding generations. They reject the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption because they were pronounced by a pope. They do however, recognize these, and have masses on the days of the Immaculate Conception and Assupmtion. This could be partly due to the fact that so many of their parishioners and priests were formerly Catholic, and they do believe in these.
The PNCC is a schismatic church, and is not in union with the Catholic Church. Their masses do not fulfill the Sunday obligation for a Catholic. On the PNCC website:
www.pncc.org, it identifies itself as a “Christian denomination,” although many of its parishes are very “Catholic” in appearance and practice. In effect, it is a non-Catholic Christian church which has Catholic sacraments and statues, etc. They do not distribute Communion in the hand, but use the method of intincture instead (personally, I prefer this method), and therefore, they do not use Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (again, I would prefer not to have these myself…). Their liturgy uses a mixture of the old Roman Missal before 1962 - but said in English - and some of the newer Novus Ordo changes. For instance, in the PNCC, they do the Sign of Peace, and they use the newer versions of the Great Amen after the Doxology. Perhaps the way the liturgy is done is different at different PNCC parishes. I have been told by a former PNCC priest that in many dioceses and parishes, there is a more “Catholic” feel to the liturgy and in others, it is more “Protestant” feeling. That is how he described it - he said that some of the northern dioceses are very much more Protestantized, and in the General Synods (held every 4 years), these dioceses try to bring up many modernizations to vote on. He told me that he left the PNCC priesthood and church because he feared that eventually he would wake up one day and find that the PNCC had become Protestant. In fact, due to the manner of the protestations in bringing about the PNCC’s origins, it IS protestant, with many Catholic elements. Valid but still, illicit.
Its name does say “Catholic” but in order to be called “Catholic” a church has to be in union with the Communion of the Catholic Church, which has its center in Rome.
I pray that one day it, and all schismatic churches and groups, will be in union with the Catholic Church. Until then, it is not good for Catholics to attend PNCC masses.
