There is a very popular and funny Polka tune called —Who Stole the Kiszka—. The song was originally recorded by Polka Hall of Fame inductee Walt Solek.
A little history
Walt Solek started recording in 1939 with the Krakowska Orchestra organized by his brother Henry. After recording with them on the RCA Victor label, he organized his own band. Solek served in the U.S. Navy and after the war he re-established his band and recorded the —Julida Polka— on Columbia Records. That hit vaulted him right to the top of the Polka world. Solek’s band was booked throughout the Eastern United States, and he was billed as the —Polish Spike Jones.— When the polka business reached a low in the 1950s, his band made the switch to cutting records with English lyrics. This resulted in a new hit for him, and the perennial Polka favorite, —Who Stole the Kiszka.— During his seventy-five years as a polka musician, Solek earned the nickname —The Clown Prince of Polkas— by wearing funny costumes on stage. He also was noted for his motto: —Bringing people together through music!—
Why is this important?
Walt Solek died in April 2005 at the age of 94. He was survived by his daughter, two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, a sister, two brothers and many nieces and nephews.
This quick review of his life shows the sort of indicators we all think about when we think of tradition. We think, Polka music —“ that’s traditional. We think, Wow a married man, children, family ties —“ that’s traditional. He served in the Navy —“ that’s traditional.
These few touch points set a sort of atmosphere that recounts for us happier times. We think of them as simple times. Time spent with family, going to church on Sunday, sitting by the radio and listening to Polka tunes on a Sunday afternoon. The family dinner. Going to bed at night while still singing —Who stole the kiszka—.
By the way —“ kiszka, polska kaszanka, for the uninitiated, is a type of sausage —“ very peasant in its origins. It’s basically made from buckwheat groats, leftover parts of pigs you wouldn’t want to think about, and blood.
A variant on the word kiszka is an informal term used to denote guts —“ kiszki (pronounced keesh-kee).
Well, somebody stole my kiszka!
What I’m speaking about is the slow trudging destruction of ethnic parishes in the R.C. church. I’ve been on the front lines of the protest against church closings, the removal of foreign language Holy Masses, and the removal of beautiful devotions and other spiritual exercises that enrich the community through prayer.
The worst situation I personally observed was the closing of Transfiguration R.C. Church in Buffalo, NY. My father was baptized in this church. In the rubble of what was left of the church I was able to see very clearly what was being done to my faith. Under the tossed about garbage and debris inside the church was the sacrifice of my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents. There were the memorial plaques —“ this window donated by such and so, In memory of him or her. The baldachin or canopy under which the Holy Eucharist used to be carried in procession was on the floor under chunks of plaster and other garbage. In my mind’s eye I recalled the first time I saw a canopy being carried over the monstrance. I saw myself as a child and remembered gazing with wonder at the awesome respect we Catholics were showing Christ. The people fell to their knees, artists created the canopy and the magnificent monstrance in which the Body of our Lord was being carried. Mom said it was called adoration.
You might ask: Are you attached to your ancestors or to God? As a Catholic —“ both. God is the summit and the goal and we reach Him not through just our own prayer and faith commitment, but through the shared prayer and faith of the church militant and the church triumphant —“ the communion of saints.
The sacrifice of our ancestors should not be in vain. They did not build magnificent monuments to themselves —“ but to God. Their sacrifice, their focus, their family was all about God and in praise of Him. We do not love these churches because they represent our ancestors but because they represent right ordered thinking about God. They represent a community working together to praise, worship and witness Him.
As these ethnic churches, created as masterpieces to the glory of God, from the sacrifice of our immigrant ancestors, are closed, as traditions are rethought and cast off as irrelevant, as respect for the Holy Eucharist and the beliefs of the Church wane, we need to ask, who stole our kiszka? Who is ripping out our kiszki? And why?
What I see is a slide toward a new stigmatization and subtle persecution of people. These are people like me, attached to faith, with family centered and ethnic values, and who hold that tradition is not just a longing for something long dead. These values have at their core the bulwark of the Church. The church as the center of the community is remarkably able to support and reinforce the Christian way of life. It happens in the time tested way —“ through prayer, sacrifice, and community centered action.
The press has recently highlighted the struggles of the members of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in St. Louis Missouri. In this particular case the struggle is between an Archbishop bent on resting singular control of $9.5 million in assets from the parishioners of the Church. The actions of Archbishop Raymond Burke, a Vatican trained Canon Lawyer, appear at face value to be legalistic, minimalistic, petty, and in direct contradiction to the actions of all previous Bishops and Archbishops of St. Louis.
Other struggles are not as well known. A quick search of the Internet will reveal the struggles that have taken place between the people of Assumption BVM Parish of Oil City, PA and the Bishop of Erie, PA., the people of St. Casimir’s in Albany, and many others. While these struggles to maintain the sacred, historical, and spiritual home of Catholic Christians are better know, the real story is closer to home. Buffalo, Detroit, Hamtramck, Chicago, Boston, Albany, large cities and small towns and the list goes on; have seen traditionally ethnic parishes close one-by-one. Of course the Bishops cite statistics and form committees that provide a veneer of credibility. They talk about fiscal problems, lack of vocations, declining census figures, and non payment of minimum diocesan assessments all as justifications for their actions.
Isn’t Tradition just old stuff ?
It depends. Some people practice traditions like they practice their faith —“ in a cold, separated sort of way. We do it because grandma did it. They never make it their own.
Like anything, tradition must be made alive by our taking ownership of it. We must make a conscientious effort to do these things because they are important to us and our children. It’s like our faith. Unless we accept Christ in faith, and invite Him into our lives, we are just going through the motions. In the same way, we must integrate tradition with our lives. Think of any traditional ethnic dinner during the holidays. At Christmas it may be Wigilia, Pronzo delta vigilia, or le reveillon dinners. How do you make it your own? Have you added your child’s favorite dish, pictures of your ancestors on the table, other meaningful objects (grandma’s crucifix or manager)? It is no longer just tradition but is alive because of your additions and modifications.
In the same way, our attachment to these churches is not just a cold, aloof, I go there because I have too faith. It is something real, meaningful, and visceral for us. It is alive, like Christ. It is felt not just in our minds and hearts, but in our guts, our kiszki.
What’s the problem…
What is the central problem and how does is represent a continuation of the repression of the Catholic faith, tradition, values, and of ethnic parishes?
The Struggle —“ Traditionalism versus Liberalism
First there is a constant struggle within the Roman Catholic Church over traditionalism versus liberalism. The American Church tends to exist in the liberal camp. While there are exceptions, the vast majority of Bishops do not care for traditionally minded Catholics who find great inspiration in beautiful liturgies and certainties of faith. The faith handed on from generation to generation via language and tradition is denigrated. It should be noted that in American circles Pope John Paul II was often viewed as a traditionalist, old-world leader —“ and as such was irrelevant.
As noted above, one of the basic tenets of Catholic faith is that faith is handed on from generation to generation. Faith starts with mom and dad in the family. There is a —Communion of Saints— and a progression of life and faith. Tradition, language, and customs are more than quaint side shows that are brought out at Christmas and Easter. These things create a continuity of faith through our ancestors, back to the Apostles. They are especially founded upon their realization within the family unit —“ and not just the nuclear or modern disconnected family —“ but in the extended, tribal family.
Per the Catholic News Service, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany called Jan. 6, 2005 for a commitment to revitalization of the parish despite the sex scandals, vocation crisis, pressures of secularism and other challenges facing the church. He stated, “We have a beloved pope who is melting away before our eyes, as a recalcitrant Curia seeks to steer the bark of Peter back to the 19th century.” Bishop Hubbard made the opening presentation to the annual Diocesan Leadership Symposium sponsored by the National Pastoral Life Center in New York.
Perhaps the Bishop should be reminded that just because something existed in the 19th century does not in and of itself make it evil. What existed in the 19th century were his grandparents and the seeds of faith that established his family. In addition, it would seem highly uncharitable to paint the Roman Curia with such a broad brush. Maybe a better approach would be found by a simple reference from the Bible: —Test all things; hold fast to the good, but abstain from every false coinage.— (1 Thess 5:21-22).
American R.C. clergy (not all) and its leadership (not all) seem to be looking forward to a revival of the new openness. Newness and openness are more important and in fact vital to them and are opposed to the old and the traditional. Those ethnics that hold on to and publicly represent tradition must be repressed.
The best way to do this is to destroy centers of tradition, divide, conquer, and integrate. The problem is that you cannot ethnically cleanse someone’s soul, spirit, and memories. But, you can do it to future generations. Our children and grandchildren will not have a connection to the past. They will only look sadly on their poor parents and grandparents who have had the wind knocked out of their sails and who have had their faith damaged. Why doesn’t grandma go to church anymore? they will ask.
What’s really sad is that the children will not pray for the dead. The dead are old news, part of a tradition that is not relevant. What is old and dead is dead. Their connection to that Corporal Work of Mercy, burying the dead, will be lost. Their connection to the communion of saints will be a one liner from the Nicene Creed.
Literal or Spiritual?
What I find most odd, especially as illustrated in the case of St. Stanislaus in St. Louis, MO is the difference between the Roman Catholic Church’s views the interpretation of scripture and how it views the interpretation of Church made laws.
The Roman Catholic Church has not purported to be literalist in terms of Biblical understanding, at least within the past hundred years. The Roman Catholic Church is founded on Scripture and (oddly enough) tradition. The Church classifies Biblical books in different, figurative, ways as stories, poetry, and mythology. Each book has a message and an interpretation, but must be viewed based upon its historical milieu and based solely on the judgment of the Church. Who was the book written for, what were the circumstances, what was the message? While the Bible is treated with such careful interpretation, re-interpretation, study, and message-crafting, the laws of the Church, namely Canon Law and the Catechism, are interpreted literally (although conceptually they should be interpreted broadly and charitably).
If this were not true it might be a funny irony. Instead it becomes a Machiavellian reality show. Legalists tend to apply the law more harshly toward others than toward themselves. The legalist concentrates on his own strengths and the weaknesses of others. He refuses to pull the plank out of his own eye before he searches for the particle in someone else’s eye.
By way of additional Biblical reference, the scribes and Pharisees were ready to stone the woman guilty of adultery (John 8:2-11), yet they were insensitive to their breach of the law by taking advantage of the helpless (Mark 12:40; cp. Jas. 1:27), the neglect of their responsibilities to their own families (Mark 7:10-13), or their persecution of the righteous (Matt. 23:29-39).
Legalism has no interest in reducing burdens or assisting those in need (even if the need would assist people on their way to heaven). Instead, this continual reliance on the codes and laws of the Church produces burdens and refuses to assist anyone upon whom they are imposed.
Jesus contrasted Himself with the scribes and Pharisees with respect to burdens:
—And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger— (Matt. 23:4).
—Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light— (Matt. 11:28-30).
Peter criticized the Jewish Christians of his day when they sought to place the burdens of Mosaic Law on others. Peter said, —Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?— (Acts 15:10).
Perhaps treating people as people, and looking at the complexities of the human heart would serve the Church better. Unfortunately, the ethnics may be too complex and deep. Perhaps they cannot be easily herded.
Those who are attached to their ethnic parishes and their heritage are in need of a shepherd, not the shepherd’s dog. The dog acts on instinct, the shepherd acts with forethought —“ —Will I hurt the sheep if I yank them by their neck?— In St. Louis, the reliance on legalism is directly challenged by a people who fought for over a thousand years for freedom. The Polish people who emigrated for freedom, who withstood communism, fascism, and imperialism all in the cause of human freedom, are to the legalists and minimalists a threat, and must be repressed.
In the end it is a choice of focus. What is essential is that in spiritual matters we remain united. That we accept the spiritual heritage handed down to us, by Christ first and foremost, by the Fathers of the Church, and by the catholic synods of the first 1,000 years of Christianity. The enrichment of our spirits through our knowledge of Christ and His salvific sacrifice trumps mere legalism and minimalism.
Accommodation versus Absolutism
—There seemed to be a consensus among us that the best way to accommodate immigrants to the United States is to integrate them into existing parishes rather than the previous pattern of establishing national parishes.— — Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY writing on the topics discussed by New York State Bishops during their 2004 ad limina visit with Pope John Paul II.
Absolutists, dictators and such create absolute laws that serve their own purposes. It is the perpetuation of power for the sake of power. They act like the child who, when he does not get his way, picks up his toy and goes home. The Archbishop of St. Louis did exactly that. He picked up his priests and went home. He then placed a personal and interdict on the leaders of the St. Stanislaus parishioners. I would urge those reading this article to do a Google search on —interdict.—
It’s another not so funny irony that a medieval remedy is being used by those so intent on purging tradition.
When the Polish immigrants of Scranton and other U.S. cities sought Christ and their faith traditions, they were met with the same absolutism. They were met with strictures that were self serving in the perpetuation of power and class. They were met by nativist philosophies that trumped Christian love and charity. In the New York Times of August 24, 1901, James Cardinal Gibbons, prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States was quoted as having said: “The country, it seems to me, is overrun with immigrants, and a word of caution should be spoken to them.”
The bishops it would seem have perpetuated this line of thinking right through today. Don’t let ethnics establish anything of theirs, integrate them.
When Bishop Francis Hodur sought a just hearing from the Vatican he was redirected. He petitioned Rome for a Polish-American bishop or Apostolic Delegate, for the suppression of “games” and “lotteries” directed by priests in the name of the Church” and for lay influence in parish affairs. He sought democracy so that his ethnics could find a clear way to God. They sought accommodation, not of evil, but of slight variances in the manner of leadership and management of the civil affairs of the Church. —Please give us someone who understands our culture and language, so we can learn more about the Catholic way to God.— —Please let us have a voice and a vote over the civil business of the Church.—
Of course this was met by excommunication.
So…
In the end we all have choices to make. How do we preserve our heritage, our traditions, and our path to God. How do we seek God in a true way, unencumbered by onerous discipline meted out by self appointed keepers of the business? I found it in the Polish National Catholic Church. It is a place where I can feel secure in faith, tradition, and identity. It is a place where no one will close my church. Best of all, it is a place where the Eucharist, the role of Mary, and the centrality of the Holy Mass keep me connected to the communion of saints.
My kiszka is safe and my kiszki are feeling fine…