US Records · Polish National Catholic Church
The Polish National Catholic Church is the only large church founded by Polish Americans. If your family’s parish records seem to stop suddenly, or a relative was married by a priest the Roman Catholic diocese has no record of, the PNCC may be the answer.
How the PNCC began
In the 1890s several Polish parishes clashed with American bishops over who owned parish property and whether Polish priests would serve Polish congregations. In Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1897, parishioners of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary broke away and formed an independent parish under Father Franciszek Hodur. Other parishes joined, and in 1904 a synod organized the Polish National Catholic Church, with Hodur later consecrated as its first bishop and St. Stanislaus in Scranton as its cathedral.
How it differs from the Roman Catholic Church
The PNCC kept Catholic sacraments and traditions but did not recognize the authority of the Pope. It introduced the Polish language into the Mass early, gave parishioners ownership of parish property and, from 1921, allowed priests to marry. At its height it had parishes in most of the industrial towns where Poles lived, especially in Pennsylvania, New York, New England, New Jersey and the Midwest, and a mission in Poland.
Genealogy records
- Parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, kept in the same way as Roman Catholic ones and usually in Polish
- Diocesan records of the PNCC’s American dioceses for closed parishes
- PNCC cemeteries, separate from the Roman Catholic ones in many towns
- Fraternal records of the church’s insurance society, and the church press
Families in both churches
Membership moved in both directions. A family might have its older children baptized in the Roman Catholic parish and the younger ones in the national parish, or return to the Roman Catholic church a generation later. If a run of baptisms stops, check the PNCC parish in the same town.
PNCC registers are held by the parishes and the church, not by the Roman Catholic diocese. A diocesan archive will not have them, even for a town where both churches stood on the same street.
How we can help
Immigration & Passenger Records searches both Roman Catholic and Polish National Catholic registers when a family’s American church records are incomplete.
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