Causes for Break

EIGHT CAUSES FOR THE BREAK WITH ROME

This page contains the entire second chapter "Causes of the Break" from the book, The Polish National Catholic Church, written by the Rev. Dr. Paul J. Fox--Presbyterian minister, author and social worker.

In this chapter he outlines what he has determined as eight causes for the PNCC's separation from the Roman Catholic Church.

Rev. Fox was born in Kojkowice, Poland, in 1874.  He came to America in 1896, less than a year before the PNCC was organized.  He was naturalized in 1904 and in 1908 married Rosa Olive Cobb, who was a high school history teacher.  In 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland, they had a daughter, Olive.

He received his BA and MA from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1906 and 1908.  He completed his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1924.

Rev. Fox completed his ministerial studies in 1907 at Oberlin Theological Seminary at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.  In the latter half of the 1800s the seminary was the only non-denominational graduate school in the country with a Slavic department that prepared candidates to minister to Polish, Bohemian and Hungarian populations.  By 1900 there were 11 departments at the seminary for both master's and doctoral degrees in religion.  It began as a school of theology in 1935 and discontinued its education of ministers in 1965.

After serving his first pastorate at the Congregational Church in Brecksville, Ohio, from 1907 to 1910, Rev. Fox moved onto St. Paul's Polish Presbyterian Church in Baltimore from 1910 to 1924.

From 1924 to 1942 he served as the director of social, educational and religious work at Laird Community House in Chicago.  He held classes for children of immigrants and organized summer camps for them.  While living in Chicago, he lectured on social ethics at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois, and then in Polish language and literature at University College at Northwestern University in Evanston.

His other books include:  The Poles in America, The Reformation in Poland and The Essentials of Polish.  He was also the editor of a Polish magazine called Advance.

Rev. Fox died in 1961.  His collection of papers are owned and kept by the Immigration History Research Center in the Anderson Library at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Causes of the Break

     Every event has a cause.  Among the causes of the break with Rome we note, first, high-minded and overbearing dealing with the people on the part of the parish clergy and the diocesan hierarchy.  Instances upon instances of autocratic dealing with the people could be cited.  In 1888, in Bridgeport, Conn., for instance, the Poles numbered only six families.  By 1895 they became sufficiently strong to organize a Polish Catholic parish.  The bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese assigned them Father Joseph Sulkowski as parish priest.  Father Sulkowski was a good and understanding priest, interested in the welfare of the people.  He earnestly cared for the spiritual and cultural welfare of his parishioners.  This close relationship between priest and people did not appeal to the bishop.  He recalled Father Sulkowski, and replaced him with Father Becker, of German nationality.  This naturally disturbed the people very much.  Fortunately, Father Becker did not last long; he died shortly.

     The new appointee was Father Stephen Wierzynski, also a good and understanding priest and fully acceptable to the congregation.

     Shortly after his arrival, one day without any notice to the congregation or even Father Wierzynski, the Franciscan Fathers arrived, ready to take possession of the parish and its property.  The bishop had sold the Bridgeport church to the Order without consulting the congregation at all.  When the surprised people protested and tried to prevent the Franciscan Fathers from seizing the property, the bishop called on the local police to disperse the people.

     The congregation appealed to the bishop and even to the papal legate in Washington, but without any effective result.  This high-handed procedure could not lead to any other end than a break of the congregation with Rome and the organization of a Polish National Catholic parish under the name of St. Joseph.1

     Another example of similarly high-handed procedure is furnished by New London, Connecticut.  The Polish settlement in New London dates to the middle of the last decade of the 19th century.  A Polish Roman Catholic parish, however, was not organized until the middle of the second decade of the 20th century.  According to the custom of other Catholic parishes, the title to the property was given over to the bishop.  For a time everything went smoothly.  In 1920, however, the bishop made a change in parish priests.  The new appointee evidently was not a Pole, for he disliked the Poles and everything Polish.  Naturally the parishioners came to dislike him, and asked for a change.  The bishop, however, was stubborn about it, and declined to make a change.  Finally he appeared on the scene in person, and informed the congregation that the church property was his, that he was its administrator, and that their part was to conform to his management of things.  If they did want to do that, they could get out; and if they wanted to resist his orders, they would have to reckon with the police.

     That was all that was needed; the bishop's ulitmatum was accepted.  The people turned to Bishop Francis Hodur, and a Polish National Catholic Church was organized on May 1, 1921, with Father Theophilus A. Czarkowski as its first parish priest, who ministered the church very ably and acceptably until 1928.  A house of worship was promptly erected and dedicated by Bishop Hodur on Nov. 20, 1921.2

     In Albany, N.Y., there was friction between the parishioners and their parish priest over church finances.  The people turned to the bishop with their grievances, and asked for a change in priests.  The bishop advised them to pay their dues and to mind their spiritual counselor.  Their spiritual counselor, however, seeing that the people were determined to have him removed, resolved on a singular way to have some of the people taken care of.  He called on the police to have them forcibly removed from the church as he pointed them out.  That finished any possibility of reconciliation.  Unable to cope with the situation, the priest called on the bishop for help.  The bishop responded readily, appeared on the scene, and exercised his episcopal authority.  He denounced the people, calling them bolsheviks, for that was fashionable at the time as communist is today; and informed them that they have no right to try to rule in the church, that that was his prerogative.

     This overbearing way of priest and bishop in dealing with the people drove them out of the Mother Church, and led them to organize a National Catholic Church.3

     Another example of episcopal high-handed dealing with the people is furnished by Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.  The Polish settlement of Shenandoah dates back to the year 1874.  As early as that year there was a Roman Catholic Church there, composed half of Poles, and half of Slovaks, Ukranians and Lithuanians.  By 1896 the Poles decided to have a church of their own.  The bishop approved their request, and a new parish church, Polish in composition, sprang into existence.  In the pastorate of Father Dabrowski the bishop imposed a diocesan apportionment of $45,000 on these two parishs, $30,000 on the older parish of St. Casimir and $15,000 on the newer parish of St. Stanislas.  The people naturally complained, and rightly so, but the bishop was adamant in his decision and demand.

     The result of this adamantine attitude on the part of the bishop was a split in the exisiting churches and an organization on May 10, 1922, with the assistance of Fathers Leon Grochowski and Jay Gritenas, of a Polish National Catholic Church.4

     Among the causes of the break with Rome and of the rise of the Polish National Church we note, in the second place, the matter of the ownership of church property and of the administration of church finances.  The policy and accepted practice of the Roman Catholic Church in this matter is episcopal ownership of church property and priestly management of parish finances.  The title to any church property is automatically signed over to the diocesan bishop and the administration of church finances is vested in the hands of the parish priest, who is the bishop's appointed administrator of parish finances.

     This arrangement did not appeal to the Polish immigrant.  He was religious, devout, loyal to the Church of his fathers.  The first thing he did after settling in an adequate number in a given community in the land of his adoption was to organize a parish and to build a church.  To make this project possible, he contributed to it liberally and generously.  He was equally liberal in its maintenance.  But he began to feel that something was not right.  The diocesan bishop was invariably either German or Irish, and not particularly friendly.  In case of misunderstanding or tension, harsh and overbearing, not hesitating to call even on the police to enforce his will rather than to yeild to the fair and just wishes of the people.  The parish priests, too, were repeatedly calling for more money without rendering any account of it to their congregations.  In fact, frequently, if a parish committee risked to inquire into parish finances, it was brusquely told to mind its own business, and not to try to meddle in things which did not belong to it.

     It was natural for the early Polish immigrants to be concerned about the ownership of church property and about church finances.  Money was not plentiful.  It was coming hard.  Wages of coal miners and industrial workers were low at the time, far from what they are today.  In their giving the people had to be careful and cautious.  They wanted to know what they were giving to and what was being done with their money.  When they found out that they were not the owners of the churches they built at considerable sacrifice, they were disturbed.  They were equally disturbed when they could not get any accounting of their parish finances.  They therefore rightfully demanded title to their churches and the management of parish finances.  When they were denied these natural rights within the fold of the Mother Church, they decided to seek them outside its pale.  Many a National church has been organized because the people did not propose to surrender their right of ownership to what was their own, or their right to know what was being done with it.5

     A third reason for the rise of the Polish National Catholic Church is to be found in the refusal on the part of the Roman hierarchy to let congregations have any voice in the appointment or changes of parish priests.  As a rule the Roman episcopate was foreign to the Poles, being either of German or of Irish extraction, unfamiliar with the psychology of the people and unsympathetic with their ways.  Consequently changes in priests were usually arbitrary.  They were made without any consultation with the congregation.  Appointments were not always happy.  Congregational wishes or preferences were either disregarded or summarily rejected.

     All we need to do is recall some of the instances already noted.  At Dupont, Pa., for instance, death removed a beloved parish priest of many years.  The temporary supply assigned the congregation won the hearts of the people, and they were anxious to retain him.  For reasons of his own the bishop made another assignment, much against the wish of the congregation, and stooped down to the employment of force to have his way in the matter.  At Bridgeport, Conn., the diocesan bishop removed a beloved parish priest, and assigned the congregation one of German nationality.  At Albany, N.Y., the bishop preferred a split in the congregation rather than yield to the congregation's wish for a change in priests.  The same thing was the case in New London, Conn.6

     Yet helpful spiritual ministry can be rendered only where there is a cordial relationship between priest and people.  The Poles sensed this simple and obvious fact.  They strove and pled for it.  How the church hierarchy failed to appreciate the significance of this fact and this plea is very difficult to understand.

The fourth reason for the break with Rome and the rise of the Polish National Catholic Church in America is to be found in deep Polish nationalism.  The Poles are intensely patriotic and inflexibly loyal to national customs, culture and traditions.  With the conquest and partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria in the second half of the 18th century the partitioners were bent on the denationalization of the Poles by every available means at their disposal.  In America the situation was different.  The immigrants, whatever their nationality, were free to give their national sentiments unhampered expression.  The result was that the newcomers instinctively loved their adopted country.

     In the church, however, the atmosphere was not quite as congenial.  The bisops were not always friendly toward national sentiments of the faithful.  Not only that; at times they went over them roughshod.  They either failed to pay any attention to national sentiments, or deliberately disregarded them, assigning priests of non-Polish origin to Polish congregations.7  This attitude on the part of the Roman episcopate was very difficult for the Poles to understand in the light of the country's atmosphere in this respect.  They had had enough of these harsh suppressive dealings in the old country.  They did not propose to tolerate them in this land of the free, in the church in particular.

     Moreover, one more reason for the break with Rome and the rise of the Polish National Catholic Church must not be overlooked, namely, the demand in Poland in the Reformation era for the establishment of a National Church.  That attempt constituted an instructive historical precedent and a powerful incentive to Bishop Francis Hodur and the early leaders in the American Polish National Catholic Church movement.

     The new learning, the Renaissance, together with the new temper of mind resulting therefrom, reached Poland early in the 15th century, won many enthusiastic followers among the educated nobility and even among the higher clergy, and exerted a powerful influence over the minds of the upper classes in the nation throughout the 16th century.  Many of the Polish bishops were ardent admirers of Erasmus.  Their episcopal courts as well as the palaces of the Polish magnates were centers of humanistic culture.

     The most notable representatives of the new temper of mind and exponents of the new ideas were John Ostrorog, who died in 1501, John Laski, known also as John a Lasco (1499-1560), and Andrew Frycz Modrzewski (1503-1572).  The first lived and wrote in the 15th century and the second two in the 16th.

     In his Monumentum pro reipublicae ordinatione, published in 1456, exactly five hundred years ago, John Ostrorog opposed the Polish king's humble submissiveness to the pope, the payment of annates, the proclamation in the country of papal jubilees and indulgences for the purpose of raising money, contended for the separation of the Polish church from Rome, and advocated state control of clerical education.

     John Laski, nephew of the primate of the same name, was the most ardent and conspicuous Polish humanist and patron of humanists before his acceptance of the Reformation and his break with the established church.  He had spent considerable time with Erasmus at Basel, purchased the great scholar's wonderful library, the use of which, however, he left to his master until his death, and on his return home became a zealous promoter of humanistic studies in his own country and the most distinguished patron of a number of young Polish humanists, among whom was Modrzewski.  John Laski's ultimate aim was a complete break with Rome and a creation of a national church of the Reformed type.

     Andrew Frycz Modrzewski was educated at the universities of Cracow and Wittenberg, and at the latter he became intimately acquainted with Melanchthon.  On his return to Poland he became secretary to Prince Sigismund Augustus.  In 1546 he joined the Cracow circle of humanistic religious reformers, to which belonged Andrew Trzycieski, a fellow student of Modrzewski at Cracow, the jurist James Przyluski, James Uchanski, deacon of the Cathedral Chapter, later archbishop and primate of Poland, Zebrzydowski, also deacon of the Cathedral Chapter and later bishop of Cracow, Lismanini, the Franciscan confessor of the queen, and others.  In his work De republica emendanda, published in Basel in 1554, he dealt in the fourth part, De Ecclesia, with the problem of church reform.

     Modrzewski was primarily a humanist, secondarily an advocate of church reform.  He strongly favored the establishment of a national church, independent of papal jurisdiction.  The idea of the separation of the church from Rome runs, according to Joseph Lukaszewicz, through all his writings.

     In this first half of the 16th century humanism reached the height of its development and influence in Poland, and as a result brought about a radical mental and spiritual change.  It freed the individual from the mediaeval burden of religious and intellectual authority; and awakened a sense of criticism, of intellectual and spiritual inquiry, and of independent judgment.  This new critical attitude of mind constituted a well prepared soil for the reception, growth, and development of the new seed of religious reform.  This accounts in a large measure for the easy and rapid spread of the Reformation in Poland.  In their search for truth the humanists disregarded the authority of the church, and subjected the established faith and ecclesiastical order to criticism.  Criticism led, in turn, to rebellion against the dogmas of the church and its organization.9

     This idea of the great minds of the Renaissance and the Reformation in Poland was a source of strength and inspiration to the founder of the Polish National Church movement, and it has been a source of strength and inspiration to all its followers ever since.  Great ideas never die; they live and they conquer.

Notes
1. Ksiega Pamiatkowa "33", Scranton, Pa., 1930, pp. 347-353.
2. Ibidem, pp. 385-388
3. Ibidem, pp. 362-367
4. Ibidem, pp. 270-272-278
5. Ibidem, pp. 24-28
6. Ibidem, pp. 253-258
7. "Rola Boza," 10-15-55, pp. 5-7
8. "33", pp. 435-441, 447-450, 405-410, 326-336
9. Cf. Fox, Paul, The Reformation in Poland, Johns Hopkins Press, 1924, pp. 64-66.

To purchase a hardcover copy of The Polish National Catholic Church contact the Office of the Prime Bishop at (570) 346-9131 or write to the Office of the Prime Bishop, Polish National Catholic Church, 1006 Pittston Ave., Scranton, PA  18505.  The cost is only $4.