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Joseph Peter Tomczyk (May 19, 1935 – October 4, 1995) was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 19, 1954, and consecrated bishop in Scranton, Pennsylvania on October 18, 1993. He served as the second diocesan Bishop of the Canadian Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church until his death. [1]
With 23 percent of the United States' population as of 2018, the Catholic Church is the country's second-largest religious grouping after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided into separate denominations. In a 2020 Gallup poll, 25% of Americans said they were Catholic. The United States has the fourth-largest Catholic population in the world after Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.
The Polish National Catholic Church is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
National parish is a type of Catholic parish distinguished by liturgical rites or nationality of the congregation; it is found within a diocese or particular Church, which includes other types of parishes in the same geographical area, each parish being unique. A national parish is distinguished from the commonly known type of parish, the territorial parish, which serves a territory subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the territorial parish priest. A national parish is an ecclesiastic subdivision which serves a community of people but is not necessarily a geographic subdivision.
The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868.
Joseph Edward Kurtz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville in Kentucky from 2007 to 2022. He previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 1999 to 2007. Kurtz was president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2013 to 2016.
Stephen Stanislaus Woznicki was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw in Michigan from 1950 to 1968. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1937 to 1950.
Robert M. Nemkovich is an American prelate and was the sixth Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, elected by the twenty-first General Synod of this denomination in 2002 and serving until 2010.
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.
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.
Gerardus Gul served as the seventeenth Archbishop of Utrecht from 1892 to 1920. He is known for his role in assisting the persons who would later found the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States, as well as for consecrating Arnold Harris Mathew, the founder and first bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Great Britain.
William O'Hara was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania, serving from 1868 until his death in 1899. He founded St. Thomas College in 1888.
Michael John Hoban was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1899 until his death in 1926.
Ignatius Frederick Horstmann was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1892 until his death in 1908.
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.
Joseph C. Zawistowski was born in Rochester, New York. He was ordained to the priesthood on January 14, 1948. He was consecrated bishop in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 30, 1968, and served as Bishop Ordinary of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. He retired on April 19, 1994.
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.
Walter Andrew Slowakiewicz was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Polish National Catholic Church by Leon Grochowski on March 3, 1933, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was consecrated bishop on June 26, 1968, and served as fourth bishop of the Eastern Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church from 1972 until his death.
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 October 19, 1950, 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.
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.