(By Jaroslaw K. Radomski) Even the weather was a great help on Sunday afternoon, Oct.23, the day of a unique celebration commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the election of Polish cardinal Karol Jozef Wojtyla as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Students, parishioners of various Polish parishes, members of numerous Polonian organizations, veterans and representatives of local government filled St. Stanislaus Church – “Mother Church of Polonia in Buffalo.”

The song “Gaude Mater Polonia” echoed in the beautifully decorated church when the proud procession of students from Polish Saturday School, members of the Polish Heritage Dancers, dressed in amazing Polish regional costumes, members of the St. Stanislaus Parish Council and the Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo – Edward. U. Kmiec assisted by numerous priests followed the cross.

The main celebrant of the Mass – Bishop Kmiec welcomed all gathered with Polish words “Niech bedzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus.” He reminded the congregation of the great day of the elevation of Cardinal Wojtyla who became Pope John Paul II, “the shepherd for the world,” and the aim of the celebration: prayers for the Holy Father and all of Polonia.

Read full story at Am-Pol Eagle—>

(Kate Cline • 10/19/11) The copper domed peaks of Corpus Christi Church stand unassailable against Buffalo’s East Side. The commanding architecture combined with the church’s poignant history makes it a hauntingly magnificent Buffalo landmark. In an effort to preserve this beauty, Corpus Christi has recently become the scene of a major restoration project. Efforts to preserve the interior of the church began last March and phase two of the project has commenced this month, just in time for the National Preservation Conference taking place in Buffalo from Oct. 16 to Oct. 20.

Aside from architectural and structural repairs, Corpus Christi Church is restoring the rendering of Raphael Santi’s Disputa, the mural in the sanctuary apse. The mural, painted by Marion Rzeznik, in collaboration with Gonippo Raggi depicts the Church’s theologians and mystics trying to plumb the mysteries of the Eucharist.

The painting has suffered damages due to changes in the atmosphere. “It is the fact that the atmospheric conditions, the heat and cold and changes in climate in the building had really taken its toll,” said Henry Swiatek of Corpus Christi Church.

Read full story on AM-POL Eagle—>

(Michael Mroziak • Wed, Oct 05, 2011) Western New York is preparing to host thousands of visitors who will come to see some of the Buffalo area’s historic and cultural gems. Corpus Christi Church, one of local Polonia’s cherished sites, will be among those on the schedule.

Beginning Wed., Oct. 19, Buffalo is hosting the National Preservation Conference, sponsored by the Washington D.C. based National Trust for Historic Preservation. The four-day event is the organization’s 65th annual conference but the first to be hosted in Buffalo.

“I feel that this conference is like Buffalo’s debutante party,” said Chuck LaChiusa, chairman of the Sacred Spaces Reborn bus tour that will be conducted as part of the conference. “Buffalo is being introduced to the country in terms of its great Victorian and early 20th century architecture.”

Visitors will have a lot of local architectural beauty on which to feast their eyes. It’s not just about the beauty preserved at these sites. More importantly, visitors will learn lessons about how many of these buildings remain relevant.

Read full story at AM-POL Eagle—>

The spirit, prayers and faith of the parishioners and friends of St. Adalbert Basilica was evident on Sun., Sept. 18 during the celebration of the parish’s 125th anniversary. The faithful focused on the “beauty” of the service and the recollection of the long history of the East Side parish.

Afterwards over 300 people attended a reception at Millennium Airport, Cheektowaga. There they were greeted with an exhibit of old class photos and historic pictures from the parish’s past.

Lori Dinero, a parish trustee, said “It was beautiful. What was beautiful about it was the focus on love and faith the people of St. Adalbert have had through the years. And, it was a celebration of that.”

William and Alfreda Wasik, former parishioners married 70 years, attended the event. Their two children attended school at St. Adalbert’s.

Alfreda said of the anniversary Mass, “It was very beautiful, very sweet. The Chopin choir sang very beautifully. It’s a shame it’s going to close.” Alfreda was a member of the Mother’s Club and remembers the nuns as being “very nice.”

William said the anniversary celebration was “well planned.” He was a member of the Holy Name Society and was active in Boy Scouts at the parish. He remembered all the societies being very active. He also recalled Fr. Joseph Bialek as being “very helpful, active, and pleasant.” And, he added, “He was very outspoken.”

Irene Kupinski, an active parishioner, said, “The service was just beautiful and I think God heard us. He gave us a last hurrah.”

Her connection with the parish goes back to her grandmother who settled on Rother St. when there was just a wooden church at the site. She noted that a century ago her grandmother was there at the beginning of the parish and a century later she was there fighting to keep it open.

Read full story at AM-POL Eagle—>

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Michael Mroziak • Wed, Aug 24, 2011: Andy Golebiowski is not one to just sit back. If there’s a need or want in the local Polish community, and no one seems to be acting or leading, he might just take the reins. Not letting the many tales Polonia has to tell fade away is what motivates Golebiowski. He does not actively seek rewards for his work, but this year has earned the honor of Polish American of the Year by the Buffalo Bisons baseball team, which presented him with his award in a pregame ceremony at the Bisons’ annual Polish Festival Night earlier this month.

He likens getting involved with Polish related projects to jumping into a fast moving river and going along with the flow. Born in Buffalo’s East Side to two Polish immigrants who arrived in the United States after World War II, Golebiowski’s lifestyle as an active community participant is just as much a part of his blood as his Polish background.

“My mother has been an organizer of Polish things in Buffalo for a long time,” said Golebiowski. “She was a very active person, was involved with running the Polish Saturday School, and always running some kind of campaign or event or something like that, so I think I picked that up.”

Read full story in AM-POL Eagle—>

Michael Mroziak • Thu, Aug 18, 2011: Buffalo’s Common Council President says there’s one person who is to blame for the Broadway Market’s continued operation without a dedicated full-time director. That person, says David Franczyk, is Mayor Byron Brown.

“We’ve given him every opportunity to move forward on the Broadway Market and he’s doing absolutely nothing, dragging his feet,” said Franczyk in a telephone interview with the Am-Pol Eagle.

Last week, the Am-Pol Eagle published a story featuring comments from vendors concerned about the continued lack of an executive director. Franczyk was contacted for an interview but after several traded phone messages, both sides were finally able to correspond but not until after last week’s press deadline.

“I think that’s the biggest problem right now because the Common Council has no authority to pick an executive director. For some reason, he doesn’t think it’s a priority. Everything else to him is a priority,” said Franczyk. “Even when we got the million dollars two years ago for the Market, I got it out of him kicking and screaming. He wanted to trade it for another project in the Masten District which I was going to support anyway.”

Read full story on Am-Pol Eagle—>

(Michael Mroziak • Wed, Aug 10, 2011) When Tom Kerr’s role as the Broadway Market’s executive director ended late last year, the City of Buffalo was reportedly reviewing a short list of candidates to take over leadership at the Buffalo landmark. Months later, the Market is still under the care of a pair of city employees while no official director is in place. Some of the full-time merchants inside the Market say they can’t wait much longer.

“It’s a big-time worry. There’s no leadership, no direction, there’s no one to basically manage it all,” said Peter Cichocki, president of Camellia Foods. “You need someone that’s a manager of retail operations like that to handle the situations down there.”

The situations include building maintenance problems, some of which have been left unfixed for an extended period of time, according to merchants.

“The front doors are still broken and they haven’t been repaired,” said Irena Woszczak of Broadway Opticians. “There are times when some basic toiletries are not supplied because we don’t have a budget. Basic cleaning supplies aren’t being provided regularly. Equipment that we do have isn’t being maintained and if it’s broken it’s not being fixed.”

Kerr had taken the role as executive director at the Broadway Market in January 2010, leaving the position that November. His contract with the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation (BERC), which managed the Market, had expired that autumn. Kerr agreed to stay on for an extension but the City of Buffalo then dissolved BERC and with it Kerr’s position.

Read full story on AmPolEagle.com—>

(By Alfred Karney • Wed, Jul 27, 2011) Father Thaddeus Bocianowski, pastor at St. Stanislaus Church, has said that he has procured the services of two interim organists to play at weekend Masses following the unexpected passing last month of long-time organist, Thomas Borowski.

Valerian Ruminski of the Nickel City Opera and Peter Gonciarz, an organ student at Villa Maria College about to begin his senior year, will be playing probably until the end of the calendar year.

Both men are already well known in the local Polish-American community. Many have attended Ruminski’s opera performances and a large number attended Gonciarz’s organ recital last Advent Sunday at St. John Gualbert.

Ruminski told the Am-Pol Eagle that he can stay at St. Stan’s only until the end of December because he will be leaving Buffalo to take the lead role in “Don Pasquale” at the Hawaii Opera Theater. But he said that until then he will be “looking around for Polish songs…songs that people haven’t heard” to sing at the noon radio Mass. He added that he has already sung a Moniuszko work, “O Matko Moja”, as a post-Communion motet.

Read full story @ AMPOLEAGLE.COM—->

I loved this letter to the editor published in the AM-POL Eagle recently.  It is from a priest in Rootstown, Ohio.

From the letter:

My diocese is doing the same nonsense that Buffalo did a few years ago. They are closing too many churches, and naturally most of the ethnic churches are being targeted. My bishop, however, is trying to be sensitive to the people, by leaving one Polish Church, one Slovak, etc., so if the people still want their traditions, they can go to these churches.

I never have believed in closing churches, but we can’t keep churches open without anybody in them. Corpus Christi was spared, at least for now. They have a devoted group that works for the parish. The best thing one can do, is to go there, and if you can’t go weekly, renew your ties with the old neighborhood and rejoin the parish anyway. The same goes with any of your old parishes on the East Side, or elsewhere.

The best thing anyone who doesn’t want to see these incredible churches in B-F fade away is by supporting them regularly or by taking the plunge by becoming a parishioner.

It is not only about Corpus Christi…Saint Stan’s, Saint John Kanty, Saint Adalbert Basilica and Saint Ann’s all deserve the support and attention of the larger WNY community.

ALIVE!

[read the full letter in the AM-POL Eagle--->]