I have to tell you, I am sick of them. They come here in great numbers looking for work. They make little or no effort to learn English which is the official language, you know. They are taking over our churches. Why, almost ever church I know has masses at least one if not more in their language rather than English. They even have some churches that are completely dedicated to them.
Further, they make little or no effort to learn the way that we do things here and frankly it bugs me. What is worse, they bring all of those old fashioned ways and silly superstitions with them. It is all just so unseemly and it makes me uncomfortable. Either do it our way or go back to where you came from.
No, no. I am not talking about Latin American immigrants. I am parroting (parodying?) the sentiments of none other Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster. These are essentially the Cardinals sentiments toward those overly pious Poles currently clogging up the formerly empty churches in the UK. From the UK Telegraph:
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, urged the Polish community to do more to learn English and integrate into local parishes, claiming the Catholic Church in the UK was in danger of dividing along ethnic lines as the number of Polish-speaking churches rose…
Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “I’m quite concerned that the Poles are creating a separate church in Britain. I would want them to be part of the Catholic life of this country.
“I would hope those responsible for the Polish church here, and the Poles themselves, will be aware that they should become a part of local parishes as soon as possible when they learn enough of the language.”
He is just the model of tolerance, eh? It is truly remarkable that the head of the Church in England after decades of decline in faith, morals, and consequently church attendance would insult the very people who are now filling his churches. Remarkable in a pathetic way. I guess the Cardinal hopes to inculturate these faithful Poles. Maybe after a few years of Anglicization they will stop believing and coming to Church too. Then they could really be part of the Catholic life of the country. The Cardinal should have this poem nailed to the front door of Westminster.
Don’t Give me your tired, your poor, |
Unless your huddled masses yearn to speak English, |
The wretched refuse filling the naves. |
Send these, pious, overtly religious, to me: |
And I will be sure to lock the door. |
December 31, 2007 at 1:57 pm
If I am to understand, the Cardinal is calling upon Polish Catholics in the UK to learn English, which is the native language of the UK. This is not unreasonable. Indeed, a culture without a common language is a divided culture. To expect this is not to show approval for the prudential judgment of the Cardinal in any other matters. Rather, it may be the singular opportunity for Polish Catholics to influence the life of the Church in the UK — for the better.
But only if they can talk to the rest of them.
December 31, 2007 at 2:00 pm
If Cormac had said these things in California he would have been run out of town for being politically incorrect. For example, in my small parish the Spanish mass is packed with people of all ages, including lots of kids. The English mass is about half full of gray heads. The preferred parish assignments go to priests who are bilingual. So it will be in England; just substitute Polish for Spanish.
December 31, 2007 at 3:23 pm
David,
I admit that I am reading between the lines a bit here, but I suspect there is more than just the language. Further, if an American Bishop had said the same thing about Latin immigrants, he would be drawn and quartered.
December 31, 2007 at 6:22 pm
This can be taken a number of ways, some positive – some negative.
The U.S. had it’s history of ethnic parishes and now Spanish and English Masses along with a smattering of other languages. I don’t see how this type of segregation is a good idea in the long run and if we are to have vernacular Masses it is best that they are in the language of the country they are in. There should be an emphasis for immigrants to learn the mother tongue of the countries they come in to so I think the Cardinal’s point on this is certainly valid.
Though considering this Cardinal you also get the idea that he doesn’t like the orthodoxy of these Polish Catholics and the fact that it shows if another Church has been created in England it is most likely the watered-down one and not the more authentic Catholicism of the Polish immigrants.
December 31, 2007 at 7:08 pm
“…but I suspect there is more than just the language.”
Maybe there is, but he doesn’t give himself away in this article. And I didn’t get the memo on him. Maybe others didn’t either. Point is, if he’s known to be responsible for the malaise you mention (and I believe it was there under his predecessor), that needs to be brought out.
Other than that, there is a point where diversity ceases to facilitate a united culture, and starts to work against it.
December 31, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I live in an area with a couple of ethnic Polish parishes. The Polish Masses are a way for Polish immigrants to preserve their culture, including their religious devotions and their traditional hymns. It’s kind of funny — at one parish the Polish Mass is very traditional while the English Mass is the typical modern American English Mass with modern hymns. Polish immigrants might feel if they’re “mainstreamed” in England then all of their carefully preserved Catholic culture will be lost. I don’t blame them.
December 31, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Wasn’t there some similarities in the states at the turn of the 20th century? Isn’t that where the schism of the Polish National Church (PNCC) came from? Unwelcoming, brusque, English-speaking bishops having no sensitivity to Polish immigrants moving in to their Dioceses here in the USA, causing them, out of exasperation to break away to form their own church?
Can somebody send this Bishop a page from this old playbook?
January 3, 2008 at 1:43 pm
My wife is Pennsylvania German and her family has been in the country since the 1700’s. Her grandparents spoke German almost exclusively. I imagine that they are feeling left out with no one making a fuss about them. Interestingly, that generation made a stink about Spanish language ballots because no one had ever made German ballots for them.
January 3, 2008 at 1:54 pm
…”it may be the singular opportunity for Polish Catholics to influence the life of the Church”
Amen, brother. In a much smaller role, that’s what Converts to Catholicisim do; add salt to a chuch that has lost its saltiness (IMHO).
December 22, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I am a Pole living (permanently) in Canada and visit both the UK and Poland semi-regularly. I have also been on a research contract in Scotland last year. Some context might be useful here :
1) Poland became part of the EU in 2004, which opened the opportunity for visa-less work in western Europe. Since Poland does not yet have the Euro, the exchange rate is very good (4 to 5 PLN = 1 GBP), while un(der)employment in Poland has been very high (this is changing quickly though). Out of 38+M Poles, ~5M are in the UK+Ireland working: clearly a very big phenomenon, both for UK+I and Poland. Very cheap flights are offered between most major cities in UK+I and Poland.
2) Most Poles in UK+I are not there to stay. They do not ‘live’ there, merely ‘work’ there (in stores, as plumbers, nannies, in construction…). Many are students taking a break to get some cash, or fathers trying to support a family back home. They live 10 to an apartment and live on grilled cheese and ketchup. They fly home regularly (cheap). In a few years, most of them might be gone.
3) Polish religion is a very complex creature and very different from its UK counterpart – it is not natural for Poles to attend ‘UK’-style masses. I remember in Scotland: catastrophic liturgy, doubtful teachings from the pulpit – even the architecture of the church smacks of protestantism. A lot of this is very shocking to our religious sensibilities.
4) Speaking of religious sensibilities, I must say I dislike Mr. Archbold’s tone here, partucularly as a Pole – we usually have much respect for our clergy (sometimes to a fault). I think he presumes too much out of Cardinal’s much more moderate comments, and that a minimum of justice (not to mention charity) might be valuable here:
a) He is the local religious authority. I can’t say I am overjoyed by his comments, but I need to take them seriously – religion is not about always having it my way. As an immigrant myself, I totally understand the want/need for a ghetto mentality – there might not be an easy solution to this dilemma.
b) I assume bishops communicate with each other. As someone pointed out, there are strong schismatic movements in Poland – you have your sedevacantists, we have our ‘chosen people’ syndrome – perhaps due to 1000 years of often heroic Catholic history, martyrs, great saints, and of course a Polish Pope for 25+ years. As Chesterton pointed out, the post dangerous pride is the pride of those who have something to be proud of. A Pole going to the UK might very well be tempted (see 3) ) to consider his nation as religiously superior.
Cardinal’s fears of ‘two churches’ might not be unfounded – this is a delicate situation that I am sure even he finds challenging to resolve well. I don’t know who of us is in a position to judge him on his performance.
5) So how will Poles in the UK react to this? Well I don’t know. I think because most feel that they are only there for a while, thier real diocese is back home anyway. Perhaps in a few years, the economic and working situations will change, most will go back home, and the problem will disappear. Either way, I pray that whatever happens, the Universal Church migh be better for it.