The new bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church's Central
Diocese will be installed during a Mass at St. Stanislaus Cathedral on
Sunday, four months after he assumed the post in Scranton.
The Right Rev. John Mack became bishop of the denomination's largest
diocese on Feb. 1 when he arrived in a snowstorm from his previous
assignment as auxiliary bishop in the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese.
The installation ceremony will officially mark the start of a new era in the diocese under its eighth bishop.
"The work has gone on before - you were on the job already - but now it is official," Bishop Mack said.
Bishop Mack was selected for the post after the diocese's previous
bishop, the Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, was elected Prime Bishop last
fall. Bishop Mack is also pastor of St. Stanislaus Cathedral, the
denomination's mother church.
Sunday's ceremony will draw parishioners and more than 30 priests
from across the diocese, which stretches from New York to Maryland.
Bishops and pastors from other Polish National Catholic dioceses and
other denominations also are expected to attend.
"It's a time for the diocese to come together and celebrate," Bishop Mack said.
The Mass will begin at 4 p.m. and will be followed by a reception in the parish youth center.