Polish National Catholic Church
| Polish National Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Leader | Anthony Mikovsky |
| Associations | Union of Scranton |
| Region | United States, Canada |
| Founder | Franciszek Hodur |
| Origin | March 1897 Scranton, Pennsylvania, US |
| Separated from | Union of Utrecht |
| Branched from | Roman Catholic Church |
| Congregations | 127 |
| Members | c. 26,000 |
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is a Christian church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans who were Roman Catholic. The PNCC is not in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church; it seeks full communion with the Holy See, although it differs theologically in several important respects. A sister church in Poland, the Polish Catholic Church, is a member of the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht and is also not in communion with the Holy See; at the same time, the PNCC is neither in communion with the Union of Utrecht, but rather the Union of Scranton. The Polish National Catholic Church welcomes people of all ethnic, racial, and social backgrounds.
The church has around 26,000 members in five dioceses in the United States and Canada. The five dioceses are: Buffalo-Pittsburgh, Central, Eastern, Western and Canada.
The Mass of the Polish National Catholic Church uses one of three liturgies: the Contemporary Rite, the Traditional Rite, and the Rite of Prime Bishop Hodur. The Contemporary is the shortest of the Mass types and the most used in PNCC parishes. It is similar to the current Roman Rite Mass except some parts are from the other two Masses. The Traditional is longer and is still widely used. It is the older Mass used at the time when the PNCC formed. The Prime Bishop Hodur Mass is the longest and filled with additional prayers and litanies, as well as parts of the Traditional Mass.
Following the PNCC's first synod in 1904, the vernacular (first Polish, then English) gradually replaced Latin as the language of the liturgy.
...
Wikipedia