The Polish National Catholic Church is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Daniel Nicholas DiNardo is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas serving since 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City in Iowa from 1998 to 2004.
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.
Kevin Carl Rhoades is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in Indiana since 2009. Rhoades previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2009.
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.
Jan Dawidziuk was the sixth diocesan bishop of the western diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church.
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.
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.
Joseph Charles Bambera is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Bishop of Scranton, serving since April 26, 2010.
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 Richard Kopacz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Jackson in Mississippi since 2014.
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.
Jeffrey Joseph Walsh is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord in Michigan.
