Tuesday, December 27, 2005
TAKING ON THE POLES
Polish people can be stubborn. I should know. I married one.
Mostly what I know about the history of Poland comes from James A. Michener's book. The reason there is still a Poland despite the attempts of other nations to own the territory is that very Polish stubborness, and their nationalistic pride. They take pride in their traditions, too; and that pride is infective. My Christmas dinner--even more, my daughter's Christmas dinner can't be eaten without perogi as she demonstrated this year by making it, along with the Polish sweet bread and nutroll she made as well. She likes Polish tradition as much as her father and grandmother do. She's teaching the traditions to her boyfriend, who has not a single drop of Polish blood in his veins; and he likes what he's learning. You can take the Pole out of Poland a lot more easily than you can take Poland out of the Pole.
Poles don't like to be told they are wrong. Convincing the Pole to take his feet off the coffee table requires the diplomacy of a Vatican ambassador to China, or a very loud voice. Convincing a polish grandmother that she needs to change her ways because she is reducing her granddaughter to tears by her behavior is an exercise in futility. But that's another story.
Poles are loyal to a fault. The Polish personality is written all over the dust-up at St. Stans in St. Louis. Fr. John Sistare over at 'Not So Quiet' Catholic Corner links several stories on the history of this dust-up, including this one on the developments at Christmas Eve Mass.
I'd love to know the composition of the crowd. How many were Poles? How many were drawn in merely by the headlines? How many simply wanted to attend Mass?
The article indicates these combatants have adopted John Paul II as their patron. But of course. I wonder how he would have felt about what they are doing? He was Polish, afterall, and loyal to his nation. He was mystical by temperment and might have seen some greater good in the activities in the parish. He would have noted that people who were not practicing Catholics have been drawn in and might be persuaded to stay, especially if they are Polish. I suspect that if he could have come down from heaven, assuming he is there, and stood in their midst, he would have played the "solidarity" card; and they would keep coming back.
An interesting point turned up in the story. The priest denies that there was any evidence of his homosexuality at his former seminary. He does not deny his homosexuality, however. And there is the fact that he seems to be on the fast track here in America. Until, I suppose, he did the Polish thing and butted heads with the archbishop.
Is that parish a Polish National Catholic Church parish in the formative stages, one wonders? Is it perhaps a Mariavite Church developing? Or perhaps it's future lies with the Ecumenical Catholic Church? If I were a betting woman, my money'd be on the first.
Whatever course the parish is destined to take, you can bet it wouldn't get there without the Polish ingredient.
Interestingly, at Christmas dinner the subject of Pope Benedict came up. Well, to be specific, it didn't "come up". My mother-in-law brought it up. And what prompted her to do so was a news clip she had seen about his financial extravagence. She is convinced that he is a spendthrift, and longs for the ways of the frugal John Paul II. Who, of course, was Polish like she is, though she didn't mention it. And who didn't waste money on red shoes, which she did mention. When I pointed out that those frugal ways involved constant international travel and expensive mega-productions, she lapsed into silence unconvinced but lacking a counter argument. The bottom line is that our new pope has committed the ultimate offense of not being Polish, which is something she not only didn't articulate, it is something that I suspect she has not even considered. Her reaction comes from the gut level--from the chromosomes.
Archbishop Burke vs. the Polish grandmother. I know from years of experience who is not going to win.
