From Fr. Randy Calvo of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in South Deerfield, MA: A Free Church
On May 27th a friend of mine and a dedicated historian of our church denomination passed away. His name was Walter Lasinski. He had visited our parish here in South Deerfield on several occasions over the years, always with his beloved wife Florence. His last visit was on May 31, 2008 when we hosted a talk by the local author Suzanne Stempek Shea. Mr. Lasinski would travel throughout our denomination to attend events that interested him about history, literature and music. When he was here, he took pictures of our church and cemetery for the extensive files that he maintained and constantly updated about all of our parishes. He even photographed the then-named St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in South Deerfield since that was the parish from which we emerged in 1929. If Mr. Lasinski was anything, it was thorough.
He devoted much of his life to our church, and that only became more true after his retirement. Many of his vacations were planned around seminars and his historical inquiries. No one could make better use of a business card than he could. With his card as a church historian in hand, his extensive knowledge of our religious history, an amazing memory and gift for gab, doors opened.
He absolutely loved the original ideals of this church. He saw in them the emancipation of mind and soul, and an entire generation of immigrant believers. He always maintained a profound admiration for Bp. Hodur and a respect for those early generations who built this church with him. He wasn’t a cheerleader for the church, shouting her praises no matter what. He respected what the church was, what it could be, and also took the time to compliment a parish or a person when they did something good for the church in the present.
He worshipped in many places, in many churches. He knew clergy of various denominations, and he knew just about all of the priests of our church. In our frequent phone conversations if I mentioned a priest or a parishioner from anywhere, I would invariably hear in reply, —Oh yes, so-and-so is a good friend of mine.— I would also wager that he had visited every parish of our church at one time or another.
I am certain that I am not alone in benefitting from Mr. Lasinski’s voracious reading of newspapers, periodicals, church pamphlets, religious publications and most recently of the internet. If there was anything that he thought any of us should know, out came the scissors and tape to make articles fit neatly on a regular sheet of paper, and off they were mailed to us, always in a neat folder, always with his return mailing address attached so that we would remember from whence it came. I do not know how many such pertinent gems Mr. Lasinski mailed me over the years, but they were always appreciated.
One article that he did not need to mail me was written anonymously by him and printed in God’s Field on September 4, 1993. There he writes:
—In any research project in which you are reviewing page upon page of printed materials, looking for key events or facts in a person’s life that would be worthy of historical interest today, certain words or phrases, at times extraneous to the topic at hand, keep coming to the fore through constant repetition. … The word that appears constantly throughout the Polish texts in the pages of Rola Boza and Straz is wolny (free) and it always precedes the name of the church … as though it is an integral, inseparable part of the name of the Polish National Catholic Church.—
I share this selection of his with you during this month of Independence Day. I believe Mr. Lasinski was the first to point out to me that Fr. Hodur waited until the Fourth of July to bless the cornerstone of his church in Scranton. This reinforced the idea that by nature and design we are a —free— church.
Mr. Lasinski would work all day long at Scranton’s archives and sleep at the Seminary to save himself and the church money, and there, back in the day, we would share a beer at the end of the day. I hope to raise another glass with him again some day, but until then, may he rest in peace, and may he always be remembered for his good work.
A fitting tribute to Ś.P. Walter and also his co-workers who have passed before us.
They believed in a Church that was both Catholic and free. They belonged to the Church that espoused Scripture and Holy Tradition in combination with the gifts of freedom and culture which God provides to every nation and people. They knew that the Church’s lay members could and should have a voice and a vote over the resources they contributed to found and support the Church, and that no one could take the Church from them. They followed behind Bishop Hodur, in the Apostolic line, who followed Christ as our ultimate leader, teacher, and guide. They were the ones who stood firm against the whims of men for a Church that is Catholic in opposition to whatever current trends or popularity dictate. They were firm in adherence to the Catholic Church and its teachings, to the sacred ministry that cannot be changed by men who think they know better/more than the Church. They knew that freedom is not license to change the Church – and indeed why we did not melt away into just another Protestant sect changing with the breeze. May it ever be so.