Report on the Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic Dialogue

Report on the Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic Dialogue

May 20, 2013

The 2013 session of the Polish National Catholic (PNCC) – Roman Catholic Dialogue took place at the PNCC’s National Church Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on May 20 and 21. The meeting was chaired jointly by Auxiliary Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Bishop John Mack of the PNCC Buffalo-Pittsburgh diocese.

During the course of the meeting, the members examined a number of ecumenical developments and major events in the lives of their churches. These included:

• The Special PNCC General Synod that was held on June 22, 2012 in Scranton, Pennsylvania that elected two new bishops
• Cardinal Walter Kasper’s 2009 book, Harvesting the Fruits: Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue.
• The Union of Scranton and the Nordic Catholic Church
• Documents of the international Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue: “Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority (The 2007 Ravenna Document), and the 2008 draft text, “The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium” (the Crete Document).
• PNCC Reactions to Anglicanorum Coetibus
• The 2010 “Vision Statement” of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, “Steps Towards a Reunited Church: A Sketch of an Orthodox-Catholic Vision for the Future.”
• The 2003 US Faith and Order Commission’s response to Ut Unum Sint on Petrine Ministry

All these texts and developments were discussed at some length. The members were particularly grateful for the “Vision Statement” of the North American Orthodox-Catholic dialogue because it offered creative ideas regarding the ministry of the Bishop of Rome in the event of a full reconciliation among our churches.

Bishop Rozanski announced that Bishop Matthew Ustrzycki, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, Ontario, had resigned from the dialogue. Bishop Rozanski expressed his gratitude for Bishop Ustrzycki’s service, and looked forward to the nomination of a new representative of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in time for the 2014 meeting.

In addition to the co-chairmen, additional PNCC members of the dialogue include The Very Rev. John Z. Kaus of West Allis, Wisconsin; The Right Rev. Paul Sobiechowski of Manchester, New Hampshire; The Most Rev. John Swantek of Scranton, Pennsylvania; The Very Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich, Jr., of Fall River, Massachusetts; and The Right Rev. Bernard Nowicki of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, the Prime Bishop of the PNCC, also attended the meeting.

Additional Roman Catholic members include the Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski of Miami; the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton; the Rev. Msgr. John Strynkowski of Brooklyn, New York; the Rev. Msgr. Thomas Green of the School of Canon Law at the Catholic University of America; the Rev. Philip Altavilla, Ecumenical Officer of the Diocese of Scranton; and the Rev. Ronald G. Roberson, CSP, Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (SEIA) of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. Rev. John Crossin, Executive Director of the SEIA, also attended the meeting.

The next meeting of the dialogue is scheduled to take place on February 24 and 25, 2014, hosted by Archbishop Wenski in Miami.