Slovak National Catholic Church

The Slovak National Catholic Church was[clarification needed] an American denomination affiliated with the Polish National Catholic Church.[1] In 1968 the church had "about 6000 members."[2] In February 1963, a synod was held that appointed Eugene Magyar as bishop.[3] In 2015 there were 7000 people affiliated with the church.[4]

Congregations

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There were a number of independent congregations. From 1909 to 1926 there was a parish in Masontown, Pennsylvania.[3] There were parishes in Cleveland (St. John the Baptist) in 1917 and in Youngstown, Ohio.[3]

A congregation was formed in Palmerton, Pennsylvania during World War I, as a result of ethnic tensions between Slovaks and Hungarians.[5]

In 1922 parishioners of St. Mary's Assumption Roman Catholic Parish in Passaic, New Jersey were upset when the Bishop of Newark, John J. O'Connor, decided to send their pastor, Imrich Jeczusko, back to Košice, Slovakia.[6] They decided to establish Holy Name of Jesus Slovak National Parish.[3][7] In 1927 the parish joined the Polish National Catholic Church.[3][8] The parish celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1972.[9] The parish church was eventually made a cathedral.[10] In 2005 the parish membership was "about 160 people from 95 families".[11]

From the 1930s to the 1950s there were Slovak National parishes in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Kordalski, Frank J.; Kordalski, Michael R. (2015). Old Versailles Township. Arcadia Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9781439652893. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Bishop Eugene Magyar". The New York Times. October 21, 1968. p. 47.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Glazer, Michael; Shetley, Thomas J. (1997). The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical. p. 1256. ISBN 9780814659199.
  4. ^ Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, "United States", World Christian Encyclopedia Online (Brill, 2019).
  5. ^ Jenkins, Philip (1996). ""Spy Mad"? Investigating Subversion in Pennsylvania, 1917-1918". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 63 (2): 220. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  6. ^ Kopanic, Michael J. (June 2012). "Slovaks in New Jersey: An Overview". Naše Rodina. 24 (2).
  7. ^ A Short Life Long Remembered: The Late Rev. Emery A. Jecusko. Passaic, NJ. 1988.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Kupke, Raymond J. (1987–1988). "The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey, and the Jeczusko Affair". Slovakia. 33 (60–61): 63–86.
  9. ^ Roe, Robert A. (October 18, 1972). "Our Nation Salutes Catholic Cathedral upon the Celebration of Its 50th Anniversary". Congressional Record. 118: 37388–37389.
  10. ^ Rencewicz, Margaret J. (2009). "The Polish National Catholic Church: The Founding of an American Schism" (PDF). University of Pittsburgh. p. 13. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. ^ Travers, Suzanne (December 5, 2005). "Shrinking Slovak Parish Renews Fight to Survive: Holds Fund-Raiser Dinner to Pay Utility Bills". The Record (North Jersey). Passaic, NJ.

Further reading

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  • Alexander, June Granatir. "The Laity in the Church: Slovaks and the Catholic Church in pre-World War I Pittsburgh". Church History 53 (no. 3, September 1984): 363–378.
  • Tanzone, Daniel F. "A History of the Slovak Catholic Federation". The Good Shepherd - Dobry Pastier (2011): 93-130. Mentions accusations of schismatic intentions on the part of Father Joseph Murgaš.
  • Zecker, Robert. "Where Everyone Goes to Meet Everyone Else: The Translocal Creation of a Slovak Immigrant Community". Journal of Social History 38 (no. 2, Winter 2004): 423-454.