From the Citizens Voice: Growth, ethnic conflict plagued Hoban’s time as head of diocese
At 8 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, 1921, more than a thousand Catholics packed St. Peter’s Cathedral to celebrate the Jubilee anniversary of Bishop Michael J. Hoban, who presided over the Diocese of Scranton. It was a well-deserved honor.
Hoban’s tenure was marked by both tremendous growth and ethnic conflict. The Diocese of Scranton, founded in 1868 when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was officially divided, comprised the 11 counties of Northeastern Pennsylvania and represented Catholics from nearly every country in Eastern and Western Europe.
While Hoban presided over the dramatic growth of parishes and the quality of parochial education in the diocese, he was also subject to a series of lawsuits brought against him by dissident parishioners in both Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. These conflicts resulted in the creation of the Polish National Catholic Church, but without Hoban’s wisdom, mediation and humility, the schism would have reached even greater proportions…
This is a well meaning article that takes a positive view of Bishop Hoban while acknowledging that he acted behind the scenes to push the aging and feeble Bishop O’Hara to excommunicate then Fr. Hodur and those who were seeking redress of their grievances.
Certainly lessons learned. I would also wonder how much wisdom, mediation and humility played a role over damage control. It is well acknowledged that the American Roman Catholic hierarchy and Rome did not take serious action to meet the needs of Polish immigrants until after the Polish National schism presented a serious challenge.
From CNS via the Catholic Sentinel: God’s dream is for people of faith to be united, says archbishop
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond urged delegates attending an ecumenical conference to embrace a longing toward unity.
“God’s dream for us is to be a united people, and we must pursue it … and pledge together to do this,” he said.
He made the comments at a prayer service at St. Louis Cathedral that opened the 2010 Centennial Ecumenical Gathering of the National Council of Churches in Christ, which had as its theme “Witnesses of These Things: Ecumenical Engagement in a New Era.”
The Nov. 9-11 conference drew more than 400 Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Mennonites, Unitarian Universalists, Orthodox and those of other faiths.
It marked the 100th anniversary of the 1910 World Mission Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, an event many church historians regard as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.
The prayer service included a review of the gathering from its humble beginnings, but along with the history was conveyed the sentiment that while celebration was warranted for the strides toward Christian unity over the past century, the failure to fully receive God’s gift of unity remains challenging and lamentable.
In his remarks, Archbishop Aymond told the attendees that the choice of New Orleans for their gathering was appropriate because it is a city of people of faith.
…
Archbishop Aymond suggested that as a unified body “and as a Christian church, we must help our world, our country, our society realize that there are strangers among us, but as Christians we must create a true unity.”
He said even as Christians, sometimes we struggle to see the face of Christ in those who are different, the strangers among us. But Christ seeks unity in the diversity.
“We must show the rest of society that it is possible for us to be united,” Archbishop Aymond said. “We come here to ask God’s strength because more has to be done. … If we, as a (national) council of churches (of Christ in the U.S.) …. don’t take the lead, who will?'”
The gathering offered many opportunities for people of different faiths to explore ways in which they could find common ground.
“We come together as a church and speak with a common voice to a lot of the issues facing our society and world,” said Father Robert Nemkovich Jr., a delegate from Fall River, Mass., representing the Polish National Catholic Church.
Those participating explored a diversity of issues facing the church and world today including social justice, interfaith issues, race and ethnicity, the need to engage young adults, and Muslim and Jewish relationships.
Speakers and preachers ran the gamut from the Rev. Lois M. Wilson of the United Church of Canada; the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches; Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances for the Islamic Society of North America; and Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Greek Orthodox Archbishop Demetrios also led a Bible study.
…
The hope is “we can do something together whether as Christians or believers,” Father Anthony Mikovsky
Actually, Prime Bishop Anthony Mikovsky of the Polish National Catholic Church. of Scranton, Pa., said. “It’s part of discernment, to see what we can do together.”
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Stowe – Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, 200 Grace St., Mc Kees Rocks, PA will host a concert by “One Voice” at 2 p.m. Sunday, December 5th. A freewill offering will be taken and a reception will follow. Information: 412-760-4558.