User:Tony24644/Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church

The Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese is a dioceses of the Polish National Catholic Church, with its seat in Lancaster. The diocese also includes parishes in Italy. Since 2012, the bishop of the diocese has been Bishop John Mack. He succeeded Bishop Thaddeus Pepłowski, who had been the bishop ordinary since 1990. The diocese is divided into five seniorates (deaneries):

as well as the military ordinariate, led by Rev. Robert Pleczkowski.
 * Northern Seniorate – Rev. Sen. Franciszek Kadryna;
 * Texas Seniorate - Rev. Sen. Augustyn Sicard;
 * Central Seniorate – Rev. Sen. Jan Rencewicz;
 * Southern Seniorate – Rev. Sen. Ryszard Seiler Jr.;
 * Italian Seniorate - Rev. Sen. Claudio Bocca;

PRIME BISHOP OF THE POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH: THE MOST REV. ANTHONY MIKOVSKY ''' Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church (4 seniorates, 18 parishes) '''DIOCESAN BISHOP: RT. REV. JOHN MACK''' DIOCESAN CATHEDRAL: HOLY MOTHER OF THE ROSARY CATHEDRAL Texas Seniorate - Administrative Senior: Vacant Northern Seniorate - Administrative Senior: Very Rev. Francis M. Kadryna Central Seniorate - Administrative Senior: Very Rev. John A. Rencewicz, II Southern Seniorate - Administrative Senior: Very Rev. Robert Pleczkowski
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 * Holy Family Parish - North Java, NY
 * Holy Trinity Parish - Woodlawn, NY
 * St. Michael the Archangel Parish - Niagara Falls, NY
 * Parish of Our Lady - Brant, NY 14027
 * Holy Cross Parish - Portage, PA
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 * All Saints Parish - Carnegie, PA
 * Holy Family Parish - McKeesport, PA
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 * Transfiguration of Our Lord Parish - Mt. Pleasant, PA

History
The independent church center in Buffalo traces its origins to the disagreements among the numerous Poles who arrived in the city with Father Jan Pitass, who opposed the construction of a new church and the establishment of a second Polish parish. In 1880, under the influence of Father Piotr Chowańec, the faithful, without the permission of the Roman Catholic bishop, built a second church, which was soon destroyed during a storm. Due to the efforts of Father Antoni Klawiter and with the approval of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, a new church was built in 1866, and a second Polish parish dedicated to St. Adalbert, St. Adalbert's Basilica, was established. However, there was still resentment and bitterness among a large portion of the faithful, caused by the actions of Father Jan Pitass. Therefore, the faithful decided to organize an independent parish in Buffalo. On February 2, 1895, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, while on their way to the church with candles, they were dispersed by the police. In a relatively short time, on a plot of land purchased by the faithful, a brick building with a church upstairs and rooms downstairs for a parish school was erected. When this building proved too small, a second, wooden one was built. The first pastor of this parish was Father Antoni Klawiter, but he was forced to secretly leave the parish at night due to threats from the opposing side. In this situation, Father pl:Franciszek Kołaszewski from Cleveland advised the parish committee to bring in Father Stephen Kaminski from Freeland as their pastor. Father Stephen Kaminski took over the parish in April 1896, and already in September of the same year, representatives of independent parishes gathered in Buffalo for a congress attended by about 50 delegates. This assembly, sometimes called a synod by the Buffalo group, elected Father Stephen Kaminski as a bishop, forming another independent church center with its headquarters in Buffalo. Unable to obtain episcopal consecration from bishops of the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches, Bishop Stefan Kaminski accepted it from Bishop Rene Vilatte on March 20, 1898, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buffalo. Both mentioned bishops remained in communion with the Old Catholic bishops and the Churches represented by them. The church center in Buffalo, called the Polish Catholic Church in North America or the Independent Church in North America, could not formulate a constructive religious and social program and did not play a significant role in consolidating the independent movement. It yielded to the Chicago center also in quantitative terms. After the death of Bishop Stephen Kaminski in 1911, his parishes joined the center already formed in the Polish National Catholic Church headquartered in Scranton, PA. The parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buffalo, where the bishop's seat was located, did so later in 1915. In 1927, Father Jan Zenon Jasinski took over the position of pastor, and he was later elected bishop and consecrated in Scranton. From that date, the present Buffalo-Pittsburgh diocese came into being, which Bishop Jasiński led until his death in 1951.