More than a century ago, Catholic communities of Polish-Americans around the country, including Buffalo, broke with the Roman Catholic Church in disputes over property and lay governance. Now, two recently closed Roman Catholic churches are being considered for use as worship sites by the Polish National Catholic Church, a denomination established in 1897 as a result of the split.
Some of the vacant churches’ former parishioners — many of whom objected to the closings — are expected to be among those in the pews again.
The Polish National Catholic Church’s Buffalo Pittsburgh Diocese has expressed interest in purchasing Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Brant and Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Woodlawn.
The Polish National Catholic Church would establish a new parish at the Brant church, which closed last July.
Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church in Lackawanna wants to move permanently into the Woodlawn church, which the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo shut down last March.
Holy Trinity has been leasing the space for Sunday worship since mid- August, when a lightning strike sparked a fire, resulting in extensive water damage to its church on Pulaski Place.
“We’re hoping to buy it,” the Rev. Gary J. Spencer, Holy Trinity pastor, said of the Woodlawn site.
The parish was grateful that the Rev. John Kasprzak, pastor of Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church in Lackawanna, offered the use of the Woodlawn facility, Spencer said.
“It was truly a blessing from God. We didn’t miss one Sunday,” he said.
Some members of Our Lady of Grace and Our Lady of Mount Carmel disagreed with the diocese’s decision to close those churches in mergers with other Catholic parishes.
“It’s left some animosity with people,” said John Chiavetta, whose
great-grandparents donated land in the early 1900s for building Our Lady of Mount Carmel. “This is a move to try [to] reopen our small church in our small community.”
Chiavetta said the parish was in the black, still attracted enough people to be viable and was one of the few sites in the rural southern Erie County community where people could come together regularly.
He predicted a Polish National Catholic church, which has a liturgy and customs almost identical to those of Roman Catholicism, in the Brant building would attract many former Our Lady of Mount Carmel members.
“They’re the closest thing to the Roman Catholic Church. Yes, you’re asking people to change their religion, but it’s a very minor change,” Chiavetta said. “The biggest thing is the parish would own the church. No diocese would ever close it.”
In the Polish National Catholic Church, as in most Protestant denominations, parishes decide for themselves whether they should close.
Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski of the Buffalo Pittsburgh Diocese said the Brant site could work.
“We do have people who live in that area,” he said. “And there are some Roman Catholics interested in joining with us. . . . It seems there’s enough interest there. In other cities, in other states, we’ve purchased Roman Catholic church buildings.”
Spencer said Holy Trinity would not actively seek to recruit former Our Lady of Grace parishioners.
“It would be a blessing if a lot of people in that neighborhood did check us out,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to undermine the Roman Catholic Diocese in any way because of what they’ve done for us,” Spencer said.
Kevin A. Keenan, spokesman for the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, said the Polish National Catholic Church has inquired about the churches but has yet to meet with the diocese or make an offer.
Despite its name, the Polish National Catholic Church no longer encompasses only people of Polish heritage.
It has about 25,000 members in several dozen parishes throughout the United States and Canada.
The denomination’s bishops, including Peplowski, have been engaged in discussions over the years to join in “full communion” with Roman Catholicism.
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(Source: RCN)