Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites

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Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites
Parafie KSM.PNG
Basic data
Area : approx. 312,700 km² (excluding the province of France)
Membership : Union of Utrecht ( dormant since 1924,
resumption decided on April 1, 2014 )
Leading Bishop : Marek Maria Karol Babi
Dioceses : Warsaw - Płock
Silesia - Łódź
Lublin - Podlaska
affiliated:
Province of France
Priest : 27 (in Poland, as of 2018) ( including 20 in active service )
Parishes : 32
Subsidiary communities : 23
Believers: 22,849 (in Poland, as of 2018)
Diocese of Warsaw-Plock
Bishop : Marek Maria Karol Babi
Pastor : 5
Parishes: 9
Subsidiary communities: 6th
Diocese of Silesia-Łódź
Bishop: Zdzisław Maria Włodzimierz Jaworski
Auxiliary bishop: Piotr Maria Bernard Kubicki
Pastor: 8th
Parishes: 14th
Subsidiary communities: 5
Diocese of Lublin-Podlaska
Bishop: Michał Maria Ludwik Jabłoński
Former Bishop: Antoni Maria Roman Nowak
Pastor: 7th
Parishes: 9
Subsidiary communities: 12
Cathedral : Temple of Mercy & Love
Official Website: www.mariawita.pl

The Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites ( Kościół Starokatolicki Mariawitów w RP ) is an independent Old Catholic Church in Poland .

history

The congregation of the Mariavites was legalized by the Duma from November 1906 as a "tolerated sect" and later recognized in 1909 as an independent church . In 1906 the Mariavites had 50,000–60,000 members, in 1907 forty priests and about 100,000 believers. The mass conversion is a result of the struggle with Rome . Every member of the Mariavites had rights of co-determination.

To alleviate the worst misery in their homeland, the Mariavites founded several hundred soup kitchens, libraries, printing works, shops, hospices, kindergartens, schools, orphanages, even savings banks and weaving mills. They also built churches. In 1911 she completed the construction of the main church in Plock , which of them Temple of love and mercy called cathedral .

Its first Minister General Jan Maria Michał Kowalski , later called "Father Michael", was ordained bishop in Utrecht in 1909 by the Old Catholic Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht . In 1921 the founder of the order died, who was affectionately called Mateczka ( little mother) by the faithful .

The introduction of so-called “mystical marriages” between priests and nuns in 1924 led to the suspension of membership rights in the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches . By opening the priesthood to women in 1929, she moved even further away from the Catholic consensus of the time; There was also a split within the Mariavites . In October 1934, many officials called for the changes to be withdrawn. In the general assembly of January 29, 1935, the unity of the Mariavites ended with the deselection of Kowalski. This step, which was justified by 1 Cor 7:23  EU , led to the withdrawal of all innovations that Kowalski had introduced, which were considered enthusiastic . For his part, Kowalski gathered his following in the village of Felicjanów and founded the Catholic Church of the Mariavites .

present

The Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites is one of the founding members of the Polish Ecumenical Council and has been a member of the World Council of Churches since the 1960s . It has also been in dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church since 1997 through a bilateral commission .

In the field of theology, especially the theology of the sacraments , it has preserved Roman Catholic doctrine - with the exception of the dogmas of the First Vatican Council . As is customary in Poland to this day, its forms of piety are traditionally Catholic. H. the adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and the veneration of the Blessed Mother Mary , received without original sin, are at the center of her faith. Since 1906, Holy Mass has been celebrated in the vernacular; its shape is still " Tridentine " today .

In France there is the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites with its seat in Paris . It has about 5000 members in three parishes (2 in Paris, one in Toulouse ), who are cared for by four priests. Bishop for the faithful living in France is André Le Bec.

Since 2008 she has been holding talks with the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht to resume membership. However, the demand to merge with the Polish Catholic Church into the Union of Utrecht is faced with various obstacles. Last but not least, it is the pride of more than a hundred years of history and of the privations and willingness to make sacrifices of its believers and martyrs , who suffered both under the National Socialist terror and under the communist dictatorship, while the Polish Catholic Church also had phases during the time of communism received state funding, so that this historically grown mistrust has not been completely dispelled to this day. On the other hand, there are various forms of cooperation, e.g. B. in the form of mutual sporadic help in pastoral care or participation in Holy Communion . Since 2009 the leading bishop of the Mariavites has been invited as a guest to the meetings of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference for five years. During this time the dialogue was intensified in order to be able to ask the question of membership.

On April 1, 2014, it was decided to re-admit the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites to the Union of Utrecht, although membership will only come into force when the Mariavite bishops sign the agreement, which includes certain voluntary commitments on the part of the Mariavites.

  • Mariavite priest with acolyte

  • Cathedral Church in Płock (exterior view)

  • Cathedral Church in Płock (view of the high altar )

  • Parish Church of the AKK of the Mariavites in Warsaw

  • Parish church of the AKK of the Mariavites in Wierzbica

  • Parish Church of St. Anna and Martin in Stryków

  • Parish Church of St. John the Baptist in Cegłów

  • Parish Church of St. Francis in Łódź

Senior Bishops of the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites in Poland

All Mariavites have the additional first name "Maria".

literature

  • Konrad Algermissen: Denominational Studies. Giesel, 7th edition, Celle 1957, pp. 746, 752, 759.
  • Karol Karski: Art. Mariaviten. In: Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon . 3rd edition, Volume 3, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1992; ISBN 3-525-50137-4 , col. 282 f.
  • Arthur Rhode : With the Mariavites. Impressions of a new Roman-free Catholic Church. Runge, Lichterfelde-Berlin 1911.

Web links

Commons : Churches of the Mariavites  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Główny Urząd Statystyczny: Mały Rocznik Statystyczny Polski 2018 , p. 114, accessed on June 28, 2018 (PDF, Polish and English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Oficjalna strona KOŚCIOŁA STAROKATOLICKIEGO MARIAWITÓW w RP. Retrieved May 23, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites: Wykaz Parafii
  4. ^ Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites: Diecezja śląsko-łódzka
  5. ^ Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites: Diecezja lubelsko-podlaska
  6. ↑ Altkatholisches Kirchenblatt, 12/72, p. 91, Pastor Hans A. Frei (Bern). According to a publication by the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) , the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites had an estimated 24,158 members in 37 parishes with 27 clergy in 2005. Cf. Cyrus Salimi-Asl, Eric Wrasse, Gereon Schuch (eds.): The Transformation of National Politics: Processes of Europeanization in Central Europe ( Memento of February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), DGAP , p. 242 (pdf; 2.2 MB)
  7. ↑ News of the Union of Utrecht: Conversations with the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites in Poland (PDF) , notification from December 5, 2008.
  8. ^ Communiqué of the meeting of the International Old Catholic Bishops 'Conference in Karlik / CZ 2009 International Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht, April 2009, accessed on June 1, 2017
  9. ↑ Internet site of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, report from April 2nd: reports
  10. ^ Official church gazette of the German Old Catholic Church. Volume 9, Bonn, November 15, 1942, No. 8.