Polish National Catholicism- Our Faith

By the late Rt. Rev. Walter Slowakiewicz (1911-1978)

“You and I are of the Polish National Catholic faith.”

“What does that mean in comparison to other denominations?”  Polish National Catholic faithful are so often asked that question when introduced in social situations.  Most often, our faithful reply:

“We are catholic, but non-papist.”

“We have a church constitution, and a democratic form of church government with both men and women, lay and clergy, serving as elected delegates to diocesan and national synods.  In our parishes we have elected committees that are responsible for the stewardship (management) of all parish properties, financial and real.  These committees are equally responsible to the parish at large, to the pastor and to the diocesan bishop.”

On a general church level we have a supreme church council, presided over by the Prime Bishop of the church, which includes both lay and clerical representation. 

We use the language of the people in our worship but adhere to ethnic traditions and cultural patterns in our corporate expression of faith.

Our priests are allowed to marry, if they so choose.

Candidates for the office of bishop are elected at general and special synods of the church.

We are one of the more recent reformation movements in that our Polish National Catholic Church was organized in 1897, and grew in size to 147 parishes in the United States of America and Canada today.

Most unique, however, is the fact that this church, organized by a single ethnic group, was able to take its teachings from North America to the land of its ancestors, Poland, establishing an organized church there”

These are the more frequent statements concerning our church.  There are other aspects of our church’s ideology and theology however, that we also wish to have known.

For example, we are the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!

“But how can this be?” some may ask.  “In using the words ‘Polish National Catholic’ does the church not imply the propagation of its own type of Catholicism?” 

Not at all.  We adhere to the one and only Church founded by Jesus Christ.  The Church that remained undivided historically until the year 1054.  In reality, a break in the Church was in effect before that year.  The Seventh General Council, the last valid ecumenical council of the Church, occurred at Nicea in 787.  Following that council, the church of Rome, in her surge for prestige and power, began the practice of convening councils on her own.  Using these strictly provincial councils, the Roman church introduced dogmas without the consultation or sanction of the whole Catholic Church.  The Roman church would then attempt to impose these upon all of Catholicism. 

Such actions, naturally, created a period of discord in the Church.  This period can more specifically be termed an era of opposition to the methods and practices of the Roman church.  Such opposition culminated in the division of the Church in two- the Eastern (Orthodox) and the Western (Roman Catholic).  Later breaks with the Roman church of great consequence were the Reformation movement led by Martin Luther in 1517, the formation of what would become the Old Catholic movement in 1724, and the organization of our Polish National Catholic Church in 1894.

It should be made clear that we are not a new church.  Bishop Francis Hodur and those initial Polish immigrants that aligned themselves with him were devout members of the Church – One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.  These people did not want to sever the tie connecting themselves with the Church of all ages.  Rather, they sought the abolishment of abuse within the church while still adhering to Catholic tradition.  To maintain the purity of the Catholic faith, Bishop Hodur and the faithful rejected all the innovations attempted by the church of Rome and returned to the era of the undivided Church.  Our faith, therefore, is the faith of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The dogmas held by the Polish National Catholic Church are only those specifically decreed by the ecumenical councils of the first millennium, and postulated in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.

We believe that humanity is God’s supreme creation, destined to eventually abide eternally with God in His heavenly kingdom.

We know that sin is the obstacle between God and His creation – humanity.  Humanity’s willful transgressions bring evil consequences in their wake.  Following the manner of nature’s physical law, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

We believe that God’s “Grace” is absolutely necessary for our attaining salvation.  We believe that when we accept God’s Grace and make ourselves predisposed to its influence, our deeds become a fulfillment of god’s Will and make us acceptable for salvation.

We believe that the Holy Sacraments are the primary channels by which the Grace of God is made available to man; that Christ has established His Church for the purpose of dispensing these sacraments and bringing man to God and salvation.

We are also convinced that Christ established His Church with the Holy Priesthood.  This is verified, by His direct charge given to the Eleven (Mt. 28:16-20) and by the election of Matthias to replace the traitor Judas (Acts 1:15-26).

The Holy Scripture and the Tradition of the Church are the sources of Catholic faith for all Polish National Catholics.  In fact, the Tradition of the Church, by virtue of its Pentecostal beginning, predates the writing of the New Testament texts.  Tradition must always, however, be substantiated by Holy Scripture and can never supersede it.

So much for the “Catholicism” of our Church.  What about the words “Polish National” in our name?

The word “Polish” indicates the original ethnic origins of our Church.  The word “National” in the original Polish means “of the people.”

While the Polish National Catholic Church was organized by the people this does not infer that it was exclusively for one ethnic group.  Bishop Hodur and the laity always believed that they were called by God to this task because it was the propitious time for fulfilling this mission for the preservation of the Catholic Church.

Very shortly after the beginnings of the Polish National Catholic Church, the Lithuanians and the Slovaks joined the Polish people, organizing their own National Catholic parishes under the jurisdiction of the Polish National Catholic Church.  This illustrates that God has communicated with His people in diverse cultural conditions.  Thus, our faithful firmly believe that the gift of God in Christ and His Church is for everyone.

We can justifiably be proud of our spiritual forbearers who, guided by the Holy Spirit, dared to join the ranks of those who organized our Polish National Catholic Church over a century ago!  Today their pioneering work in Church administrative practices and liturgical renewal is being emulated by other Christian disciplines.  Such imitation is a great compliment to our forbearers.  It is fitting that we should hold these organizers of our church in even greater honor today.