The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans. The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and differs theologically in several aspects.
The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868. The seat of the bishop is St. Peter's Cathedral in the most populated city in the diocese, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Other cities in the diocese include Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Hazleton, Nanticoke, Carbondale, and Pittston.
The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth in the United States was established on August 9, 1969, after being part of the Diocese of Dallas for 79 years. At present, the diocese has more than 1 million Catholics in 90 parishes and missions, served by 123 priests, 110 deacons, 24 sisters, and 5 brothers. It is made up of 28 counties of North Central Texas: Archer, Baylor, Bosque, Clay, Comanche, Cooke, Denton, Eastland, Erath, Foard, Hardeman, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Knox, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Shackelford, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise, and Young with a total of 23,950 mi2.
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in the 14th century, it was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XI on October 28, 1925. It has two suffragan sees of Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys.
Stanislaus Vincent Bona was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the Diocese of Grand Island in Nebraska (1932–1944) and bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin (1945–1967).
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 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).
James Clifford Timlin is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Scranton from 1984 to 2003. During his tenure as bishop, Timlin was accused in a 2018 grand jury report of covering up sexual abuse crimes by priests in his diocese.
Józef Padewski was the bishop of the Polish Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC).
Anthony Mikovsky is an American Polish National Catholic bishop. He is Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, having been elected at the General Synod of the church in October 2010 and his installation at 21 November 2010, at St. Stanislaus Cathedral, in South Scranton. Mikovsky was previously the bishop ordinary of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. Mikovsky holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.
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 born in Dickson City, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 17, 1939, and 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.
John Misiaszek was a bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church. He was consecrated on August 26, 1936, by Franciszek Hodur with the assistance of Bishop Leon Grochowski and Bishop John Zenon Jasinski. He was a major figure in encouraging the use of English in the worship of the PNCC. Misiaszek resigned in 1956 after his marriage to a divorced woman. The Great Council of the Polish National Catholic Church met in Buffalo in September 1956 to examine this matter, and Bishop Misiaszek was succeeded initially by Leon Grochowski.
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.
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.
Bernard Nowicki is bishop of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. An alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, he was consecrated on September 14, 2012 in succession to Bishop John Mack.
Anthony Michael Rysz was a bishop of the Eastern Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church. He was born in Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Scranton and Savonarola Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 11, 1964, and consecrated on June 26, 1968. Bishop Rysz was active in theological dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Polish National Catholic Church. He was succeeded as bishop of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church by Casimir J. Grotnik.
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.
