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Old-Catholic Church of the Mariavites Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe Volume 8 Issue 3 Article 5 7-1988 Old-Catholic Church of the Mariavites Unknown Authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Eastern European Studies Commons Recommended Citation Authors, Unknown (1988) "Old-Catholic Church of the Mariavites," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 8 : Iss. 3 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol8/iss3/5 This Article, Exploration, or Report is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OLD-CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE MARIAVITES :Z.tariavitism appeared in the Polish lands at the end of the 19th century as a religious movement aiming at the reform of Po lish Cath• olicism. Th is striving found its manifestation in numerous meetings and conventions of the clergy taking place in all dioceses of the 1 Pol ish Kingdom. The main topic of these conventions was the problem of theological and pastoral formation of the clergy. Postulated was un iversal upgrading of know ledge , starting with the reform of seminary studies and pastoral activity. In 1893, personal reve lations of Maria Franciszka Kozlowska (1862- 1921), mother superior of one of the monas­ tic orders in Plock, founded at the initiative of Father Honorat 2 Kozminski, became a spiritual basis of the budding movement. Inspired by the reve lations Kozlowska decided to counteract the "m oral fall of priests" through prayer to the Holy Sacrament and the worship of Our Lady of Permanent Assistance. She also founded an as sociation of priests--Mariavites (Mary : mother of Jesus; vita: life), which gradually turned into a new, independent religious move­ ment. Mariavitism, intia lly formed in Plock diocese, gradually spread to other dioceses of the Polish Kingdom. From the very beginning of Koz lowska's activity two matters aroused basic reservations of the Catholic Church hierarchy: her reve lations and the organization of priest_s. Th e description of the reve lations sent by Kozlowska to the Warsaw archb ishop, as we ll as Plock and Lublin bishops, failed to meet their approva l. In its original form the association of the Mariavites was far from any insubordinat ion towards the Catholic Church hierarchy. It even tried to get formal legalization of its activity within the Catholic Chu rch. In view of the critical stance of the Polish hierarchy, Koz lowska and seventeen priest�, her fol lowers, went to Rome. At that time Pope Leo XIII died. Awaiting the result of the conclave , the Mariavites elected the Reverend Jan Michal Kowalski genera l of their association. Received at an audience by Pius X in 1903, the delegat ion managed to ge t only a blessing. For the second time the Mariavites got a ponti­ fical audience in 1904, but the Congrega tion of the Sacred Office re jected Koz lowska's reve lations and , by the decree of Sep tember 4, l904, ordered the dissolution of the association and excommunication of its members in case they fai 1 to follow the order. The same was re iterated in the decree of Pope Pius X of April 5, 1906. 44 Establishment of a new Church After the issuance of the decree by the Sacred Office, beginning 1906, bishops in Poland started to suspend Na riavite priests. That year also marked the complete break of the Nariavites with the Catho­ lic Ch urch. The exc lusion of the Mariavites from the Church community gave rise to tensions and violent actions. Having no legal personality the Church of the Mariavites was forced to give up churches and presby­ teries to the Cathol ics. How�ver, already the same year 1906, the Tzarist authorities recognized the Mariavites as a religious group enjoying protection by the state. They were allowed to hold pub lic services, construct churches, erect cemeteries. The document providing for legal recogni­ tion of the new religious union stipulated that all places of cult once be longing to the Catholic Church should be returned to the Catho­ lics in those parishes which declared themselves to support Maria­ vitism. The Mariavites acquiesced to those decisions and started to organize their own network of pastoral centers. That marked an end of hitherto local conflicts. After the formal break · with the Catholic Church and recognition by the Russian authorities, the Mariavites ventured to establish their own hierarchy. Oil October 5, 1909, the Reverend Jan Michal Kowalski was consecrated bishop by Old-Catholic Archbishop Gerard Gu ll in the church of St. Gertrude in Utrecht. Next year, Bishop Kowalski, with co-participation of two Old-Catholic bishops from the Netherlands, consecrated two Mariavite priests: Maria Jakub Prochniewski and Maria Andrzej Golebiowski. In 1909, the Tzarist gove rnment recognized the Mariavites as an independent religious sect and approved its parish statute, and in 1910 it appointed archbishop Kowalski administrator of all Mariavite parishes. Three years later they obtained a Tzarist ukase "On fo llowers of the }f ariavite teaching," being a full act of recognition . The Mariavites were organized after the Catholic Church. There were three dioceses in the Congress Kingdom , divided into parishes, with the central au thority of archbishop. The Mariavite doctrine was similar to th Catholic one. In certain matters they could be even considered precursors of later re forms carried ou t in the Ca tholic Church. For example, they propagated frequent Holy Communion, early Communion of children, introduced the nationa l language to liturgy, perceived rel igious problems of worker communities. According to the official data, at the moment the new denomination was legalized at the beginning of 1907, there were 58,859 Mariavi tes. Accord ing to Maria­ vite sources this number was much bigger and topped 200 thousand. 45 According to the same sources there were 63 pastoral centers in the Polish kingdom. The Mariavites were also active in the eastern Polish lands and in Russia, even among the Russian Orthodox. They organ ized pastoral centers in Vilna (about 300 fo l lowers), in Kiev (some 200 followers), and they also reached Petersburg. According to bishop Jan Michal Kowalski, the Mariavites wanted to form a pan-realized: they remained a rel igious community linked exclusively with Poland. .In the 1920s, after. the death of Mother Kozlowska in 1921, new tendencies arose in the Mariavite movement. Transformation ----and the ---Break Still during Mother Koz1owska's lifetime, the re ins of the Maria- vite Chu rch were taken over by bishop Jan Michal Kowalski. After Kozlowska's death, he assumed the title of archbishop of the Old­ Catholic Church of the Mariavites and introduced a number of changes wh ich, as regards doctrine, started gradually to remove the Church of the Mariavites away from other Christian Churches. Kowalski intro­ duced Commun ion in two forms, Commun ion of infants, and liquidated whispered confessions. Already in 1929 nuns started to be ordained as priests. The cult of Mother Koz lowska also started to be a serious problem. In 1924, the Utrecht Un ion of Old-Catholic Churches excluded the Mariavites from its group. The initially uniform Mariavite community started to experience a serious ideological and organizational crisis. After thirteen years of absolute reign, in 1935, the resolution of .the general chapter of the Church deprived Kowalski of his title and power, and eliminated all innovations introduced by the former superior. Th ere wa s a break and two Mariavite groups were formed: of Plock and of Fe licjanow. The former retained the name of the Old­ Catholic Church of the Mariavites seated in Plock, while the latter, the Catholic Church of the Mariavites seated in Fe licjanow (Plock province). Advocates of female priesthood, who also believed Mother Ko zlowska to be Christ's Bride and t·h e fourth person of the Holy Trinity, found themselves in Felicjanow. Nine priests, some of the nuns, and about 20 percent of the congrega tions followed archbishop Kowa lski, the leader of the Felic­ janow group. After the outbreak of World War II, Kowalski addressed a letter to Hitler, calling him to convert to Mariavitism. Arrested and taken away to the Dachau concentration camp, he perished in May 1942. In the inter-war period , the Mariavite Church cont inued to operate on the basis of old Tzarist legislation, but exclusively in the area of the former Russ ian partition zone (central and eastern 46 • Poland). It was not permitted to conquct missionary activity in the remaining territories of Poland, reborn in 1918. Old-Catholic Church of the Mariavites The lega l status of the Mariavite Churches was finally settled in 1947. Under the decree of October 5 both Mariavite groups--of Plock 3 and of Felicjanow--were recognized. The Old-Catholic Church of the Mariavites is based on the Old­ Catholic principles of the faith. It does not recognize the primacy of any bishop i"n the universal Church, nor the infallibility of human­ ity in matters of faith and morality. Liturgy is celebrated exc lu­ sively in Polish. All re l igiou s services in the Church are free of charge. Priests are allowed to accept only voluntary contributions for rel igious serv ices. The Church is. a member of the Polish Ecumeni­ cal Council, the World Council of Churches; it is also making efforts to be re-accepted in the Utrecht Union of Old-Catholic Churches.
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