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Post by Bonobo on Apr 4, 2008 12:35:21 GMT 1
Priest shortage in the USA? Do you mean Polish priests exclusively or all in general? Don`t you have priests from Mexico and other Latin countries? I mean a shortage of priests in general. There are some priests who come from other countries to minister to the growing immigrant communities (i.e. Hispanic, Asian, etc), but for the most part there is a serious shortage of priests. In my area of the country many parishes have had to merge/consolidate with others or be closed for lack of priests. Not so many years ago each town had at least one Catholic Church, cities had many, and most parishes were served by more than one priest. Now many churches have to share priests. In my town, our country parish always had it's own priest, but last year, due to shortage, we have merged with a large parish in the small city next to us. There are two priests there, with two retired priests that help out. The church in our town is no longer a separate parish, but a 'worship site' of the larger parish. The problem seems to come from secular society not valuing the spiritual life and young men who may have a vocation opting not to pursue that way of life either from lack of encouragement or from the lure of materialism. The church has undertaken an effort to emphasize the positive side of the priesthood in hopes of encouraging young men to look into the possibility. Many later-life vocations are happening (older men;including some widowed). And a positive side effect is that the men who are in the seminaries now are of the highest quality, so that bodes well for the future. Hmm, I wonder whether you take into account the influence of celibacy. In my opinion it s a major obstacle to more vocations. If priests could marry, I would have become one long ago. hahahaha I have always dreamt of giving a service! There are still many in Poland but the influx of young men into seminars is decreasing. In 10, 15 years we will be coping with the shortage of priests ourselves. |
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Post by jeanne on Apr 4, 2008 23:58:25 GMT 1
Hmm, I wonder whether you take into account the influence of celibacy. In my opinion it s a major obstacle to more vocations. Undoubtably the requirement of celibacy is of some influence in the declining number of priests. For centuries giving up the 'good' of a wife and children for the 'greater good' of serving God alone was understood as a noble thing to do. Modern society with its emphasis on self-gratification, sensual pleasure, and materialism has largely lost sight of this value of self-sacrifice for others. Don't despair, Bonobo! Some of the 'Eastern Rite' churches of the Roman Catholic Church do allow priests to marry. It is our 'Roman Rite' that does not. You could become a priest in an Eastern Rite church and keep your wife and children. And...I, for one, would love to hear your homilies! |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 28, 2008 21:05:30 GMT 1
Undoubtably the requirement of celibacy is of some influence in the declining number of priests. For me, it is the main deterrent! Because of this cruel rule, the Church lost one invaluable priest! Me! hahahahaha Priests should have wives. A normally built man with a sound psyche can`t live without sex. It is impossible. They suffer too much, I suppose. The suffering may turn into a deviation of some sort and the resulting wrongdoing damages the Church more than the absense of celibacy. Yes, I could teach people in the church too. The only possible concern is what I would do seeing how my preaching proves futile and senseless, because people tend to disregard priests` moral education and have their way. |
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Post by jkustelski on Apr 29, 2008 4:10:04 GMT 1
It seems most of the priests here in Texas are either Irish or Polish....
I had thought when I was younger of being a priest, when I found out they couldn't have girlfriends- I bailed out on that idea!
Jim
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 6, 2008 19:56:29 GMT 1
Priest guarded by parishioners
Ananova, UK
9/03/08
Parishioners have formed a human chain around a vicarage to stop bishops from sacking their priest who has been accused of drunkenness.
People in Janiszewo, north-central Poland, are standing outside the vicarage where Father Edmund Pluskota, 69, lives and monitoring anyone who arrives to see him.
They claim he's unpopular with church authorities because he doesn't twist churchgoers arms for collections and donations.
Parishioner Jan Karbowy, 60, said: "I know the priest. This talk of an alcohol problem is rubbish.
"We think it is all because he doesn't force anyone to pay up."
A family had a problem to convince a priest to organize a Catholic funeral for their deceased relative. The latter had not led a pious life - he had cut church Sunday service, had lived with a partner without marriage etc. Eventually the priest agreed, but didn`t allow to bring the coffin into the church. Later, during the burying ceremony, he started admonishing the dead one. The family shouted back and the priest left the cemetery, leaving the dead unburied. The family looked for another priest, in vain, because none agreed. Finally, they decided to bury the man without a priest. But they threaten to sue the Church. www.tvn24.pl/-1,1542706,wiadomosc.html Was the priest`s behaviour illegal or improper??? No. He was just consequent and that`s what I like. I believe we must be consequent in what we do and we shouldn`t expect special treatment if we are not. And it doesn`t only refer to Catholic faith and funerals but to everything we do in life.
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Post by valpomike on Sept 6, 2008 23:04:31 GMT 1
If a priest has a drinking problem, he, like all, need special help. How can someone tell the priest to ask for more money? And Why would they?
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 6, 2008 23:44:35 GMT 1
If a priest has a drinking problem, he, like all, need special help. How can someone tell the priest to ask for more money? And Why would they? Mike I am trying to understand it too. In the Polish article I have just read bishop`s pressure on him is not mentioned. The priest`s retirement came in August and hence the whole affair. www.tvn24.pl/12690,1563213,0,1,bedziemy-bronic-proboszcza-do-skutku,wiadomosc.html Parishioners chained the gate leading to the priest`s house and keep a constant guard around the property. |
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 27, 2008 22:52:28 GMT 1
Poll affirms Poland's Catholicism
thenews.pl
25.09.2008
Over 90 percent of Poles believe in God and only 6 percent are
atheists, according to a newly-released opinion poll by CBOS.
CBOS highlights the fact that Poles are generally "believers" in
God. Eleven percent of those polled consider them to be "deep
believers."
Fifty-two percent of Poles polled are considered active Church-
goers, meaning that they attend mass once a week.
Religious tendency depends upon sex (more females claim to be
religious), age (people over age 54 claimed to be more religious),
education (those who had mandatory religious education tend to be
more religious) and location (the poll claims that those from
smaller villages, end especially farmers, claim more religious
tendencies).
The CBOS poll took place from the 1-4 September and 1,076 adult
Polish citizens participated.
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 14, 2008 21:26:41 GMT 1
Priests in Poland can get quite eccentric
Priest strikes over empty collection plate
Ananova, UK
10/9/08
A fed-up Polish priest has gone on strike because his parishioners
don't leave enough on the collection plate.
Father Piotr Lenart, parish priest at Deszkowice in south east
Poland, refuses to talk during mass.
Instead he stands in silence in front of the congregation for 15
minutes.
"At first we thought there was something wrong with him. It was only after a while we worked out that he had gone quiet because he was angry with us," said one elderly parishioner.
The fall out began two years ago when the priest asked for donations to rebuild the church car park.
Parishioner Jozef Duglosz, 75, said: "I'm not paying because I
haven't got any money.
"I've only just enough to make ends meet. The priest should
understand this and stop behaving like that. It's an embarrassment. "
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Post by jeanne on Oct 15, 2008 2:16:32 GMT 1
Getting back to the original subject of this thread, the shortage of priests...the Archdiocise of Boston, which was at the heart of the sexual abuse scandal has seen an increase in men entering the seminary this year. The largest number of men in many years has entered this fall, boding well for the future of the Church here. Many of them are older men, some widowed, many with established careers that they are abandoning for the priesthood. And from the parish I attend, a young man has also entered the seminary, the first vocation from that parish in many, many years.
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Oct 15, 2008 17:30:02 GMT 1
Getting back to the original subject of this thread, the shortage of priests...the Archdiocise of Boston, which was at the heart of the sexual abuse scandal has seen an increase in men entering the seminary this year. The largest number of men in many years has entered this fall, boding well for the future of the Church here. Many of them are older men, some widowed, many with established careers that they are abandoning for the priesthood. And from the parish I attend, a young man has also entered the seminary, the first vocation from that parish in many, many years. Jeanne, That is good news, indeed. The sexual abuse scandal caused a lot of negative feelings towards the Catholic Church. We hear stories about sexual abuse so frequently, and yet we don't expect to hear such stories where the perpetrator is a priest. It adds an extra layer of horror to an already horrible crime. |
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Post by jeanne on Oct 15, 2008 22:27:45 GMT 1
Jeanne, That is good news, indeed. The sexual abuse scandal caused a lot of negative feelings towards the Catholic Church. We hear stories about sexual abuse so frequently, and yet we don't expect to hear such stories where the perpetrator is a priest. It adds an extra layer of horror to an already horrible crime. gigi, Agreed. And an additional downside was the way the scandal disheartened the many, many wonderful, dedicated priests who quietly go about doing their good work. They felt they were being judged and found guilty just by association. I hope the Church and society as a whole have put this scandal behind them, have learned lessons on how to prevent it from happening again, and can move forward. |
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 27, 2008 22:53:55 GMT 1
Cardinal Dziwisz most popular religious figure in Poland
thenews.pl
26.10.2008
Metropolitan of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz is the most
popular religious figure to lead the Polish Catholic church, reveals
a new opinion poll.
The survey, conducted by SMG/KRC found that Cardinal Dziwisz - a long time aid to John Paul II - has the support of 65 percent of Poles, followed by former archbishop of Warsaw, Jozef Glemp with 29 percent.
Other names mentioned in the poll were Józef Michalik (8 pereent),
Henryk Muszyński (6 percent) and Józef Życiński (6 percent).
Founder of Radio Maryja, Tadeusz Rydzyk, was mentioned by just 3 percent of those polled.
The survey comes a week after the premier of Testimony, which tells
the take of Cardinal Dziwisz's time assisting John Paul II in Krakow
and Rome.
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Post by jeanne on Oct 29, 2008 1:53:50 GMT 1
Cardinal Dziwisz's book has finally been released here in English, and I am looking forward to reading it...
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 23, 2008 22:42:50 GMT 1
I have engaged in a very heated debate in polishforums about religion in Poland. Some guys are against too active presence of the Church in Poles` lives. I argue there is nothing wrong with religion, especially in schools, because it helps people develop certain morality for themselves. My part in discussion starts somewhere here: www.polishforums.com/roman_catholic_church_poland-4_29730_4.html#msg575785 |
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 21, 2008 16:04:59 GMT 1
Polish priests not welcome in Belarus
Polish Radio
17.12.2008
Three Polish priests from the Grodno diocese in Belarus have not
received permission for extending their religious mission.
Belarusian authorities claim the decision arises from the fact that the priests in question do not have command of the official languages used in administration contacts, namely Russian and Belarusian. Independent commentators point to the reason for the authorities' dissatisfaction being the celebration of mass in Polish.
There are currently 56 priests from Poland working in the Grodno
diocese. Apart from the three who will have to leave Belarus by January 1st the remaining have resident permits valid for only six months. A similar situation concerns Polish priests and sisters in the Minsk diocese.
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 29, 2008 23:53:25 GMT 1
Walk-in confessional for Christmas shoppers
Polish Radio
22.12.2008
In the run up to Christmas, many Catholic church goers go to
Confession. With shopping in full swing in time for Wigilia, or
Christmas Eve, not everyone adheres to this religious tradition.
One priest in Kraków, southern Poland, had another idea though. Instead of people going to church, he brought the church to them.
Over the weekend, Father Jacek Stryczek, an academic chaplain, erected a confessional in one of the city's main shopping malls, with a sign saying "There exists another world".
The action was to make people aware that Christmas is a time of meeting with the true God. In this vain the priest reminded shoppers that this time of Advent is for preparations for Christmas, not just for buying presents for loved ones.
Watch the news report uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xNb8s3nP794
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tomek
Nursery kid
Posts: 256 
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Post by tomek on Dec 30, 2008 10:00:51 GMT 1
Walk-in confessional for Christmas shoppers
Polish Radio
22.12.2008
In the run up to Christmas, many Catholic church goers go to
Confession. With shopping in full swing in time for Wigilia, or
Christmas Eve, not everyone adheres to this religious tradition.
One priest in Kraków, southern Poland, had another idea though. Instead of people going to church, he brought the church to them.
Over the weekend, Father Jacek Stryczek, an academic chaplain, erected a confessional in one of the city's main shopping malls, with a sign saying "There exists another world".
The action was to make people aware that Christmas is a time of meeting with the true God. In this vain the priest reminded shoppers that this time of Advent is for preparations for Christmas, not just for buying presents for loved ones.
This priest is know in Krakow. He takes bike to church, and start cycling. I mean bike which stands on ground, of course, isn`t driving on the floor. SOme people are offended, some like this. The priest is a showmane and he think showing such amusing plays bring people to church and to God too. He know better then I. If he think this all right, let him be so. |
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Post by valpomike on Dec 30, 2008 15:01:32 GMT 1
Some time you have to break some eggs to make a omelet.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 7, 2009 20:53:50 GMT 1
Celibacy is no longer sacrosanct in Poland
by Thijs Papot
Radio Netherlands
04-02-2009
More than half of Polish priests say they would like to marry, while
more than a third are said to secretly violate their vows of
celibacy. Is it realistic to expect Catholic priests to abstain from
sex in today's world?
"I was happy as a young priest, but at a certain moment loneliness
began to eat away at me," says Jozef Strezynski (58). He found
himself facing a dilemma when he met a woman who he felt strongly
about. After sixteen years as a priest Strezynski left the church and
married.
"I thought about it for four years before making a decision," says
Strezynski, who is now father of two children. "I came to the
conclusion that it did not make any sense to remain an unhappy
priest."
Jozef Strezynski is not the only one who wrestled with the demands of
the priesthood. A Polish sociologist who spoke to more than 800
active priests came to the conclusion that nearly 54 percent of them
wanted to live with a woman. More than a third admitted having a
sexual relationship with a woman and 12 percent said they had a
permanent relationship. Wieslaw Dawidowski, an Augustinian priest in Warsaw, is not surprised by the figures.
"I know a lot of former priests who have left the church. I wouldn't
be surprised if bishops had relationships as well. It is only human.
So let him who is without sin, cast the first stone."
Father Davidovsky says that celibacy can no longer be taken for
granted in the Polish Catholic Church. The need for a relationship
reflects changes in a society which has grown more free and secular
since the fall of communism.
"Being celibate is no picnic. Which is why I always tell young men
that they should think it over carefully. They have been raised to
believe that being a priest is something beautiful which requires
sacrifices. However, nowadays the priesthood isn't that cool anymore."
Married life
Sexual abstention by priests is an inseparable aspect of the Catholic teachings. Having a married life could be in the way of the union between the priest or pastor and God. Furthermore, a fear of nepotism and hereditary functions within the church have cited as arguments to introduce and uphold celibacy.
Celibacy is not an original doctrine and was not introduced until the
Middle Ages, journalist and church scholar Adam Szostkiewicz
emphasises. He is expecting that the falling interest in becoming a
priest will make the debate flare up again:
"It is an absurd idea to continue with the celibate for the Catholic
church, when even in Poland, possibly the most Catholic country in
Europe, seminaries are getting emptier and emptier. I'm not expecting any changes under the current Pope, Benedict XVI, but something will have to change after him."
For the foreseeable future, married priests will remain a taboo
within the Polish Catholic Church.
"It is a mistaken belief that a priest who founds a family and lets
go of the celibate would be committing treason to God. I think it is
the other way around: someone who refuses to live a double life, but who is honest towards the one he loves and towards god, is taking a heavy burden, but at least he's honest."
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Feb 7, 2009 21:11:02 GMT 1
So which is more controversial...Catholic priests being allowed to marry, or women being allowed into the priesthood???
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Post by jeanne on Feb 8, 2009 0:43:15 GMT 1
So which is more controversial...Catholic priests being allowed to marry, or women being allowed into the priesthood??? Probably women being allowed into the priesthood, as that is seen as doctrine, which is unchangable. Celibacy is a discipline, which can change, like meatless Fridays did. Some rites in the Catholic Church do have married priests; it is the Roman Rite which we are most familiar with in the West that does not.  |
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 8, 2009 8:53:27 GMT 1
So which is more controversial...Catholic priests being allowed to marry, or women being allowed into the priesthood??? Neither is controvercial. Priests should be allowed to marry. It would be beneficial for them.
Priest with ties to Manville church gets year in prison for fondling
teen on plane
New Brunswick Home News Tribune, NJ
1/27/09
A Polish priest with ties to a borough church was sentenced Tuesday to a year in federal prison for fondling a 16-year-old girl on a plane bound for Newark Liberty International Airport, authorities
said.
Tomasz Adam Zielinski, 33, was immediately detained to begin serving the sentence, according to an order issued by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares.
Zielinski, a Polish national who was in America on a religious visa,
pleaded guilty last October to a felony charge of abusive sexual
contact for the encounter with the teenager, who was sitting next to him on a flight from Warsaw, Poland, to Newark.
Zielinski had surrendered to federal authorities on July 11 after an
investigation of his actions on the flight, which arrived in New
Jersey six days earlier.
He first was charged with misdemeanor simple assault but later was
indicted on the felony charge of abusive sexual contact aboard a
flight bound for the United States, according to prosecutors.
Zielinski, who had been associated with Christ the King Church in
Manville, will likely face deportation after he completes his
sentence, authorities said. He was removed from his position at the
church after he was charged.
Authorities said Zielinski was seated next to the girl when he began
touching her inappropriately. The girl responded by having her seat
changed by the flight crew.
Later in the flight, Zielinski approached her again, apologized and
asked for forgiveness, authorities said. The flight crew directed
him back to his seat.
During his guilty plea, Zielinski admitted to touching the victim's
inner thigh, lower abdomen and groin area through her clothing,
prosecutors said.
In determining Zielinski's sentence, Linares consulted guidelines
that consider the severity and characteristics of the offense, any
criminal history and other factors.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Judson Welle
in Newark.
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 19, 2009 10:08:12 GMT 1
www.tvn24.pl/-1,1587058,0,1,wiekszosc-ksiezy-chce-zniesienia-celibatu,wiadomosc.html Recent poll shows that Polish priests want to marry. 53% of them  12% live with a woman. Currently, there are 8 priests in my parish church.
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Post by locopolaco on Feb 19, 2009 15:16:23 GMT 1
www.tvn24.pl/-1,1587058,0,1,wiekszosc-ksiezy-chce-zniesienia-celibatu,wiadomosc.html Recent poll shows that Polish priests want to marry. 53% of them 12% live with a woman. Currently, there are 8 priests in my parish church. the other statistics are pretty darn shocking to me. 30% have had string free sex. that's messed up. |
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 29, 2009 20:47:36 GMT 1
Poland's Catholic church gears up for Euro 2012
3/26/09
WARSAW (AFP) — Poland's influential Roman Catholic church is gearing up for the UEFA Euro-2012 football championships slated to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, the Polish Episcopate confirmed Thursday.
"It is the vocation of the church to accompany man everywhere, including sport, the physical dimension of which must have a spiritual dimension also," Father Edward Plen, a priest serving Poland's sports community, told AFP.
"If we want these championships to make history, we must all react together. It is not just a matter of building stadiums and highways, but also of creating a great team, a big family of supporters," he said.
The church intends to create a network of young, competent English-speaking volunteers to help fans who will arrive in Poland for the Euro 2012 play-offs.
It is also planning special meetings and seminars for Polish fans in parishes across Poland as well as special catechism classes in schools "to recall the ten commandments" in order to eliminate violence, racism and anti-Semitism from football, Plen said.
During the championships, churches in close proximity to stadia will keep their doors open to fans who may want to congregate there, he added.
UEFA chief Michel Platini will visit Poland and Ukraine April 15-16 on a reconnaissance mission to gauge the progress of preparations for the Euro-2012 finals.
In Poznań, another school within days has gone into street to protest against demands of a higher rent from the owner of the school building, the Catholic Church. Students of the music school went out and played their instruments in the street in front of their school. The local bishops want to increase the annual rent to 1.200.000 zlotys. The education authorities turn it down. www.tvn24.pl/-1,1593180,0,1,muzyczny-protest-przeciw-roszczeniom-kosciola,wiadomosc.html
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 4, 2009 20:31:57 GMT 1
Though churches are still ful of people, and many of them are young, it seems the inevitable has started happening in Poland.
Young Poles are turning their back on Catholic values, a survey has found, as Poland commemorates the fourth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw
Telegraph.co. uk
01 Apr 2009
Only 3 per cent of Poles aged 24 to 34 want to live their lives as Catholics while 51 per cent placed the pursuit of love as the most important aspect of their lives.
Living a life of luxury was the second most desirable goal at 34 per cent, the poll carried out by the Polish market research company SMG/KRC discovered.
Despite some 95 per cent of Poles describing themselves as Catholic, the survey also concluded that in Poland's flourishing urban areas only 21 per cent of the selected ago group attended mass on a regular basis, with the majority only going to church for weddings, christenings and funerals.
Such information will deal a blow to the belief that the age group would become a bastion of Catholic values. Sometimes called the "John-Paul generation" because their formative years coincided with the papacy of the former Archbishop of Kraków, many in Poland thought that they would adhere to the values and morality promoted by the Polish Pope.
But while the late Pontiff, who died on April 2, 2005, remains a deeply revered and respected figure in his homeland, his influence, and that of the Catholic Church, has waned.
Younger Poles, benefiting from a wealth freedoms that communism denied the older generations, have embraced many of Western Europe's more liberal and secular values.
Although the survey is the latest to suggest the influence the Catholic Church has in Poland is slowly being chipped away, Father Wieslaw Dawidowski, a priest in Warsaw, while conceding that "the
Church is still redefining its role" in post-communist society, said that people should not read too much into numbers.
"Statistics are relative, and sometimes they have little meaning, and what matters to me is what people have in their hearts," he said. "Pope John Paul II did not say that churches should open their doors, but people should open the doors of their hearts to Christ, and that is a substantial difference."
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Post by jeanne on Apr 5, 2009 12:08:12 GMT 1
Only 3 per cent of Poles aged 24 to 34 want to live their lives as Catholics while 51 per cent placed the pursuit of love as the most important aspect of their lives. This is ironic as living one's life as a Catholic means, in the broad sense, the pursuit of love...the love of God and the love of neighbor. |
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tomek
Nursery kid
Posts: 256
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Post by tomek on Apr 7, 2009 10:21:44 GMT 1
Only 3 per cent of Poles aged 24 to 34 want to live their lives as Catholics while 51 per cent placed the pursuit of love as the most important aspect of their lives. This is ironic as living one's life as a Catholic means, in the broad sense, the pursuit of love...the love of God and the love of neighbor. Love for god is results in hardships and sakrifays. For neigbor also. This peoples dreaming for love for them - find a relashenship and live happy as a star in magazin with famous peoples or TV serial. When I see my frends, religion is not so popular. Not many thinks deep about it. I sometayms think that I not deep in religion also. May be this is normal in young men? |
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