News

November 15, 2009

Bitter dispute gave rise to split among faithful

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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The mortal feud that resulted in the formation of Holy Mother of Sorrows Polish National Catholic Church began 94 years ago, when Bishop Michael J. Hoban decided to appoint a new pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church.

A faction of the congregation wanted to keep the Rev. Edward Gucwa, the assistant pastor. But the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton said Gucwa was not a priest and had been made assistant pastor due to an identity mistake.

Here’s the rest of the story, according to news articles from the time:

As an uprising brewed; the court was asked to get involved. A judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting interference with the bishop’s decision.

Gucwa allegedly agreed to leave but did not.

Motivated by loyalty to Gucwa, a mob of hundreds marched to the church rectory and removed the new priest, the Rev. Narcissus Sosnowski, by force.

When Sosnowski returned to celebrate Mass on Dec. 19, 1915, some parishioners wouldn’t let him enter.

He tried again on Christmas Day but was greeted by parishioners surrounding the church and blocking the entrance. Some of Sosnowski’s supporters, acting as bodyguards, were assaulted with stones and clubs.

When Sosnowski retreated, the mob attacked the homes of his supporters. After stones were hurled through her window, Mrs. Nicholas Draus attacked the rioters with a pail of scalding water, burning the faces and hands of some men.

The crowd dispersed when state troopers arrived.

Hoban then assigned the Rev. Francis Kurkowski to the parish.

But as Kurkowski prepared to celebrate Mass on Jan. 1, a crowd that had been meeting with Gucwa “rushed from the basement of the church and viciously assaulted the said the Rev. Francis Kurkowski, necessitating the services of a physician," a news report said.

Sheriff George F. Buss decided to get state troopers involved, believing their uniforms would "carry weight" with the people.

The turmoil came to a head on Jan. 16, 1916.

A crowd of 200 confronted Buss when he arrived with Kurkowski, chaperoned by state police troopers. Buss, shaking hands with people he knew, approached the protesters who were gathered along the church fence.

He asked them to leave but they refused.

Buss returned to the gate on foot, along with a constable captain and four state police troopers. A platoon of eight men on horses was behind them.

As the unmounted officers reached the fence, women in the front of the group reached into their aprons and showered them with red pepper and mustard, aiming for the officers’ eyes. People on the church steps threw stones as women and men armed with clubs and other weapons stepped forward.

The crowd swelled to more than 1,000.

Some men squeezed into the church belfry, wildly tolling the church bell.

When reinforcements arrived, the troopers fought the men who had blocked the church.

Shots were fired, and 50-year-old George Greizor was killed after he was hit in the abdomen and thigh, severing an artery.

Several other law enforcement officers and rioters were injured; one rioter was shot in the lung.

The exchange lasted hours until law enforcement got control. The constabulary from Troop B at Wyoming declared that the "fighting was the hottest scrimmage that they have ever been in around here."

Bishop Hoban said at the time that he had repeatedly urged Gucwa to return to his own diocese in Duluth, Minn.

But Gucwa’s supporters said they believed they had the right to reject the bishop’s selection of a priest.

Parishioner Matewzy Fils testified in court that he and others were upset because they liked Gucwa and the bishop was taking him away. He and others said they paid for the church and considered it their property.

These parishioners went on to form Holy Mother of Sorrows.

On Saturday the two parishes will hold a joint Thanksgiving celebration.

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