The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivided church but who separated from the see of Rome after the First Vatican council of 1869–70".
The Continuing Anglican movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
The Polish National Catholic Church is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), also known as the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), is a body of Christians in the continuing Anglican movement, which is separate from the Anglican Communion. This denomination is separate from the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.
Bishop Franciszek "Francis" Hodur was the founder and first Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC). Ordained by the Roman Catholic church in 1893, Hodur served two parishes in the Scranton diocese before he was excommunicated five years later in 1898 for his release of a National Church program, which called for reformation to canon laws of temporal goods. His excommunication was also a result of his rejection of the dogmas of papal infallibility and supremacy after the Council of Trent. With a congregation of approximately 200 families, he founded the St. Stanislaus Parish in Scranton, Pennsylvania and celebrated Mass in the Polish vernacular of the congregation, instead of Latin, as was common in the Roman Catholic church. Hodur was consecrated a bishop in 1907 with apostolic succession by the bishops of Old Catholic Church and went on to expand the episcopate of the PNCC to manage diocesan affairs and ordain priests therein. Under Hodur, the church expanded to 245 parishes across the United States and Poland. After his death in 1953, he was succeeded by Leon Growchowski, whom he had consecrated in 1924.
Casimir J. Grotnik (1935–2005) was a priest and bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC).
The Nordic Catholic Church, formerly known as the Lutheran Free Synod of Norway, is an Old Catholic church body based in Norway, of high church Lutheran patrimony. The Nordic Catholic Church is a member of the Union of Scranton.
The Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church is a diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church that includes New Jersey, part of New York, eastern Pennsylvania, and parishes in California, Colorado, and Maryland. The cathedral of the Central Diocese is St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The diocese comprises 41 parishes divided into five seniorates: Scranton, Plymouth, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, and Mohawk Valley. For each seniorate, there is appointed an Administrative Senior, who is a priest of the diocese charged with responsibilities throughout the area of the seniorate.
Józef Padewski was the bishop of the Polish Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC).
Leon Grochowski was the second Presiding Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States, Canada and Poland and early American radio evangelist.
Francis Carl Rowinski was an American prelate and primate of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC). Born in Dickson City, Pennsylvania, Rowinski was ordained to the priesthood on May 17, 1939, consecrated bishop on May 9, 1959, and served as diocesan Bishop of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church from 1959 to 1978, when he was appointed Prime Bishop of the PNCC. He was appointed Bishop Ordinary of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the PNCC on October 3, 1978, and retired in June, 1990.
The Lithuanian National Catholic Church or LNCC was a small American denomination organized in 1914 by dissident Roman Catholic Lithuanian Americans mainly in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Massachusetts. It was also known as the independent Lithuanian church as it rejected the papal authority. It was closely affiliated with the Polish National Catholic Church. The Church established several parishes, but most of them were short lived. The most successful parishes were in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Lawrence, Massachusetts. John Gritenas was consecrated on August 17, 1924, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as this church's only bishop. Due to lack of archival sources, available information about the church and its parishes is fragmentary, incomplete, and often contradictory.
The Union of Scranton is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions.
Saint Stanislaus Cathedral is the headquarters and one of the first churches built of the Polish National Catholic Church. It is named after Stanislaus of Szczepanów.
Thomas J. Gnat was a bishop of the Eastern Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Gnat was ordained a priest on September 18, 1958 by Bishop Leon Grochowski in the historic cathedral of St. Saint Stanislaus in Scranton, PA, and from 1958 to 1959 he was a pastor in Scranton. From 1959, he was the parish priest of the Holy Trinity Parish in Washington, PA, where, in addition to his clerical duties, he represented the Polish National Catholic Church in contacts with state administration offices. In 1970, he was appointed as Administrative Senior for a deanery within the Polish National Catholic Church.
Joseph Ignatius Nieminski was the first bishop of the Toronto-based Canadian Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church. He was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and ordained to the priesthood in 1946 after studies at Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton. He was consecrated in 1968, and served on the Polish National Catholic Church's dialogue commission with the Roman Catholic Church. While in Toronto with oversight for Canadian PNCC parishes, he also organized a Croatian National Catholic Church. Nieminski died in Toronto.
Eugene W. Magyar was the first and only bishop of the Slovak National Catholic Church, a mission of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) to Slovak Americans in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and educated through high school in Hungary, Magyar was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Columbia University, the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, and Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 14, 1933 and appointed PNCC dean of Slovak parishes in 1958. He was consecrated by Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski on June 29, 1963 for a small diocese based at Most Holy Name of Jesus Slovak National Catholic Cathedral in Passaic, New Jersey. Magyar was pastor of the Passaic congregation from 1938 until his death. In addition to pastoral and ecumenical work, he was a seminary professor, liturgical printer, newspaper editor, and cellist. Bishop Magyar died in New York City at Beth Israel Hospital.
The Eastern Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church is one of the 5 dioceses of the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States and Canada, with its seat in Manchester, New Hampshire. Paul Sobiechowski is the current bishop ordinary of the Eastern Diocese, being consecrated in 2011. He succeeded Thomas Gnat, who was consecrated a bishop in 1978. The constitution and laws of the Polish National Catholic Church provide for the mandatory retirement of bishops at the age of 75.
John Mack is an American clergyman of Polish descent and a bishop of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh diocese in the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC).
