Catholic Dude:
I have heard about the PNCC, I have heard they are not in communion with the Catholic Church, but I dont know much else.
What, who, when, where, why, how…is the PNCC
Dude,
The PNCC is much as described in the Wikipedia piece although, as is always the case with Wikipedia, whatever one reads in it should be verified elsewhere since it is essentially a collection of pieces independently written by whomever has the inclination to do so - regardless of the extent of their knowledge (or lack thereof).
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most Catholic hierarchs in the US were of Irish or German ethnicity, either themselves immigrants or, at most, only a generation or two removed from their ancestors who had arrived often in steerage.
They were, by and large, well-meaning priests and some were unquestionably holy; however, among them were men who were notoriously intolerant or who had little sympathy for or understanding of the pastoral care needs of those within their dioceses who had limited or no English language skills. These included many of the East European peoples, both Latin and Byzantine Catholic, who tended to cluster in ethnic ghettos throughout the industrialized urban areas of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Mid-West, as well as in the rural townships of the Coal and Rust Belts. These pastorally unserved or, at best, underserved peoples included the Polish.
The earliest points of contention related to the needs of the Polish population for presbyters who spoke their language. Mass was served in Latin, but homilies rendered in English were irrelevant and the historical role of priests as intercessors between their frequently illiterate flocks and civil authority was ill-served by priests who couldn’t understand them. These issues were gradually overcome; the ready availability of Polish clergy, who were dispatched by their bishops at home to either accompany or closely follow the crowds of emigrant Poles, made it difficult for the American hierarchy to refuse assignment of Polish clergy to parishes replete with their countrymen. However, new issues arose.
The Poles were determined to retain their culture and saw the teaching of Polish in their schools as an integral part of achieving this goal. The hierarchy objected, as it did to the use of the Polish tongue in marriage ceremonies, confession, and every other ecclesial consideration. While these battles raged and were generally resolved - albeit by default as often as not - a more significant issue brewed. It sounds melodramatic but it’s true that most Polish parish churches were built on the toil, sweat, and hard-earned pennies of their parishoners. Suddenly, though, they discovered that the hierarchy expected to exert ownership over the fruits of their labor and to exclude them from decision-making in regards to the parish and its property.
Not that some of the nationalistic and ethnic issues weren’t factors, but “trusteeship”, as it came to be called, was the ultimate deal-breaker (as it was in many Eastern Catholic parishes that would eventually form the nucleus of two Orthodox Churches) that caused the schism which would result in the PNCC. The earliest instances weren’t organized across jurisdictions - there were a few “independent” Polish Catholic parishes formed here and there. The first is thought to have been organized in 1872 in Polonia, WI, by Father John Frydrychowicz, of blessed memory. In the mid-1880s and into the 1890s, additional parishes sprung up, some loosely affiliated with one another, and at least one bishop, Anthony Kozlowski, of blessed memory, was consecrated by hierarchs of the Old Catholic Church of the Utrecht Communion. Another, Stephen Kaminski, of blessed memory, received his episcopal orders at the hands of Rene Joseph Vilatte, of blessed memory, an “independent Catholic” bishop. Kaminski was incardinated into Vilatte’s American Catholic Church, one of the many “independent” Catholic and Orthodox bodies that, to this day, trace their origins back to Vilatte (of whom it is sometimes said that he never met a man he didn’t want to make bishop).
It was Francis Hodur, of blessed memory, who really brought it all together though. He was about 30 years old when he initially broke with Rome and erected a parish in Scranton, PA that would eventually become the Cathedral of the PNCC’s Prime Bishop. The principal points at issue in his decision related to ownership of parish property and laity (name removed by moderator)ut and approval in assignment of clergy to their parish. Almost a decade later, he would be elected as the Church’s first Prime Bishop and consecrated by hierarchs of the Old Catholic Church.
(continued)
olish+National+Catholic+Church
