{"id":234924,"date":"2026-07-03T19:35:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/234924\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T19:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T19:35:15","slug":"july-4-a-special-date-for-the-polish-national-catholic-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/234924\/","title":{"rendered":"July 4 a special date for the Polish National Catholic Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Polish National Catholic Church, July 4 isn\u2019t just the day Americans celebrate the country\u2019s independence. It\u2019s a day that holds special significance in the history of a church with American roots.<\/p>\n

On that day in 1897, the Rev. Franciszek \u201cFrancis\u201d Hodur, the church\u2019s founder, blessed and dedicated St. Stanislaus Church in South Scranton. Then, in 1929, he blessed and dedicated Spojnia Farm, now the Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center, in Waymart.\n<\/p>\n

To commemorate that day\u2019s importance, the church will celebrate a Holy Mass at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center in Wayne County on Saturday. This year\u2019s Mass will be celebrated by the Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, prime bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, at 11 a.m. at the center, followed by a picnic that will feature traditional Polish and picnic foods, games and activities.<\/p>\n

Mikovsky said this year\u2019s Mass won\u2019t be too different from previous years, with hymns and prayers having a patriotic theme, but with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year, he did invite local veterans groups to participate. With July 4 falling on a Saturday and the 250th anniversary, he expects more people will attend this year\u2019s Mass.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a special Mass written for Independence Day, very much focused on the prayers, very much focused on praying for our country,\u201d Mikovsky said. \u201cWe really pray for the people of the country to embrace the freedom that they have, cherish it, but then also embrace the responsibility that goes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mass has been celebrated every year since 1929, even livestreamed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is done at the same time as Camp KURS, a summer camp for children ages 7 to 17 from around the country run by the Young Men\u2019s Society of the Resurrection. The camp, which began as a way to train young men being drafted to serve during World War I in 1914, starts Saturday and runs through July 11.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s camp will be themed around citizenship, which society President Nick Kazinetz said is important in the life of the church, and the country\u2019s semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n

\u201cBishop Hodur was a big believer in democracy,\u201d he said. \u201cOur people have a big say in who our bishops are and they have a right to the property, which is kind of unique. Bishop Hodur and the people, the Polish National Catholic Church have a very unique tie to not only our Polish heritage, but also moving forward with our American heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rev.<\/p>\n

Rev. Francis Hodur, the first prime bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, presides over the first Holy Mass at Spojnia Farm in Waymart in 1929. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo, Courtesy of Polish National Catholic Church)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, shows archived newspaper articles about the church. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The committee that formed St. Stanislaus Church in Scranton asked the the Rev. Franciszek \u201cFrancis\u201d Hodur to serve as pastor in 1897.\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 3<\/p>\n

Rev. Francis Hodur, the first prime bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, presides over the first Holy Mass at Spojnia Farm in Waymart in 1929. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo, Courtesy of Polish National Catholic Church)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nA church founded on freedom<\/p>\n

St. Stanislaus Church, now St. Stanislaus Cathedral, was blessed four months after the church was founded in March 1897 by a group of Scranton faithful who split from the Roman Catholic Church over the lack of Polish clergy locally and Polish participation in the local parish, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in South Scranton. Mikovsky said the parish had tried for months after its construction to have the Rev. Michael Hoban, bishop of Scranton, come to bless the church, but he refused unless the parish turned over its property deed to him, which it refused to do.<\/p>\n

July 4 was chosen as the dedication date of the new church, located on East Locust Street in South Scranton, to highlight religious independence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very much chosen on the purpose of understanding, again, embracing the freedom that should be part of religious life,\u201d Mikovsky said.<\/p>\n

The farm was initially used as a summer retreat and camp facility for the young and included a place for the elderly, Spojnia Manor, which closed in 2012. The Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center was built in 1990, Mikovsky said.<\/p>\n

The older people at Spojnia Manor helped tend to the farm and to one another, but state regulations on assisted-living facilities meant they had to discontinue the manor.<\/p>\n

Embracing responsibility<\/p>\n

Mikovsky said for the church, freedom is about responsibility, meaning people having a say in their religious life and caring for others, both of which drove the dedication of the church and the Waymart property and are at the foundation of the church. The inclusion of \u201cnational\u201d in the church\u2019s name reflects the people who make up the church and have a role in its governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s both the freedom as well as the responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about embracing the freedoms that the church has always believed should be in the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

July 4 is a way to celebrate the idea of embracing the responsibilities of freedom, which means getting involved in one\u2019s community, Mikovsky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason July 4th was picked in both of these (dedications) is still very much something to be embraced today \u2026 the two ideals of embracing your freedom and therefore embracing your responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the Polish National Catholic Church, July 4 isn\u2019t just the day Americans celebrate the country\u2019s independence. It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,12441,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-234924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-religion","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}