Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Boston

Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish
Coordinates: 42°19′40″N 71°03′26″W / 42.32778°N 71.05722°W / 42.32778; -71.05722
Location	655 Dorchester Avenue Boston, Massachusetts
Country	United States
Denomination	Catholic Church
Membership	about 200 families (2000)
Weekly attendance	about 400
Website	Parish website
History
Founded	October 2, 1893 (1893-10-02)
Founder(s)	Polish immigrants
Dedication	Black Madonna of Częstochowa
Dedicated	November 18, 1894 (1894-11-18)
Administration
Parish	Conventual Franciscans from Poland Prowincja Matki Bożej Niepokalanej in Warszawa, Poland
Archdiocese	Boston
Province	Boston
District	Central Pastoral Region
Division	Vicariate II
Clergy
Archbishop	Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley OFM Conv
Vicar(s)	Fr. Wiesław Ciemięga OFM Conv
Pastor(s)	Fr. Andrzej Urbaniak OFM Conv

Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish - designated for Polish immigrants at Dorchester Ave Dorchester, Massachusetts, was founded in 1893.

This is one of Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in New England in the Archdiocese of Boston.

History

Among the immigrants of many ethnic groups, who come to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century, there was a significant number of Poles, who for various reasons left their homeland. Relatively many of them settled in Boston, especially in the southern part of the town of Dorchester. In 1893 to the Italian Sacred Heart Parish in Boston, arrived Polish priest, Fr. Jan M. Chmieliński

Polish immigrants are selected from among their representatives, who went to Archbishop John J. Williams, with the reequest that he authorize Fr. Chmieliński to organize a Polish congregation. Archbishop John J. Williams has appointed Fr. Chmieliński, to attend the Polish Catholics of Boston, Salem and elsewhere.

In the meantime, a number of parish-related organizations were formed such as:

• Polish National Alliance (pol. Związek Narodowy Polski w USA),
• Polish Women's Alliance of American - PWAA (pol. Związek Polek W Ameryce),
• Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (pol. Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko-Katolickie),
• Polish Falcons (pol. Polskie Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne "Sokół"'),
• (pol.) Macierz Polska,
• (pol.) Towarzystwo Bratniej Pomocy Studentów (pot. Bratniak,
• St. Anne's Society (pol. Towarzystwo św. Anny),
• Polish American Citizen Club (pol. Polsko-Amerykański Klub Obywatelski),
• Polish Army Veterans Association in America (pol. Stowarzyszenie Weteranów Armii Polskiej w Ameryce (SWAP)),
• (pol.) Koło Dramatu i Śpiewu

The architect for the 1903 building was T. Edward Sheehan of Dorchester, MA.

In 1986, Cardinal Bernard Law during pilgrimage to the shrine in Kraków-Łagiewniki Poland, asked the Mother General of The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (pol. Zgromadzenie Sióstr Matki Bożej Miłosierdzia), Sr. Paulina Słomka, about the several sisters in Boston to establish a community of The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The three sisters came to Boston on September 15 1988, where they set up temporarily at the Convent in the Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish. It was the first international house founded outside of Poland. On October 10 1993, the sisters moved to the current convent near St. Ann's Parish at the Neponset Ave. in Dorchester.

Pastors

• Fr. Jan M. Chmieliński (1893-1934)
• Fr. Peter Bartula (1935-1938),
• Fr. Edward B. Naguszewski (1936-1940).

In 1940 Cardinal William Henry O'Connell entrusted the parish to the care od the Conventual Franciscans Fathers:

• Fr. Michael Cieślik OFM Conv (1940-1942)
• Fr. Stephen Musielak OFM Conv (1942-1957)
• Fr. Angelus Zator OFM Conv (1957-1966)
• Fr. Alfred Stopyra OFM Conv (1966-1967)
• Fr. Edwin Agonis OFM Conv (1967-1973)
• Fr. Manual Wolkanowski OFM Conv (1973-1979)
• Fr. John Bambol OFM Conv (1979-1985)
• Fr. Andrew Skiba OFM Conv (1985-1991)
• Fr. Paul Miśkiewicz OFM Conv (1991-1994)

In 1994 the parish was taken over by Conventual Franciscans from Polish Prowincja Matki Bożej Niepokalanej in Warszawa, Poland:

• Fr. Andrzej Sujka^[1] OFM Conv (1994-2000)
• Fr. Miroslaw Podymniak OFM Conv (2001-2006)
• Fr. Jerzy Auguścik OFM Conv (2006-2008)
• Fr. Andrzej Urbaniak OFM Conv (2008 - )

References

1. ^ Forced to return to Poland in connection with the scandal of sexual abuse Bishop-Accountability.org

Bibliography

• Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish; Sophie Kulik, Stanley Sadowski (1993). Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish - Centennial 1893-1993. Boston, Massachusetts: Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish. 
• Kruszka, Waclaw (1998). A History of the Poles in America to 1908; Part III: Poles in the Eastern and Southern States. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press. 

• The Official Catholic Directory in USA

External links

• Our Lady Of Czestochowa - Diocesan information
• Our Lady Of Czestochowa - ParishesOnline.com
• Archdiocese of Boston

See also

• School closing in DotNews (2008)
• The Polish Triangle in DotNews (2008)
• The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Boston, Massachusetts