Dec 14, 2003 2 min read

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) – After years of talks, the Roman Catholic and Polish National Catholic churches say in a new report that they are at a crossroads over such issues as allowing priests to marry and Pope John Paul II’s proclamation of the Roman Catholic Church as “the one true church.” Leaders said they have reached agreement on numerous issues since the two churches began an interfaith dialogue 20 years ago. But now they are getting to the most difficult issues.

“Invariably, we talked about the things we can agree on first, then we started talking about the things we disagree on,” said the Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, a Polish National Catholic priest and a commission member.

A former Scranton diocesan priest established the PNCC in 1897 after feuding with the local bishop over property and authority. The PNCC now has more than 25,000 members in the United States, Canada and Poland.

After decades of bad feelings, the two sides started to find common ground in the 1980s and met formally about twice a year. The commission recently issued a report on the talks, the first formal public document since 1990.

In the report, edited by the Most Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich, Prime Bishop of the PNCC, and the Most Rev. James C. Timlin, Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, commission members told clergy and parishioners that the talks had reached a stalemate.

The main difficulties are that the PNCC does not accept the infallibility of the pope, while it also wants more autonomy over its operations. The Roman Catholic church also rejects the PNCC’s positions that bishops should be allowed to marry. “It is apparent that there are still many difficult roads ahead,” Bishops Nemkovich and Timlin wrote. “We must now make the choice to continue to discuss these difficult matters in hopes of bringing understanding and agreement.”

The 123-page report follows the work of the Joint Commission since 1989; the first report summarized the dialogue between 1984-89.

A joint service took place several years ago at St. Stanislaus Cathedral in South Scranton. At that time, the pope sent a message urging ongoing dialogue.

Over the years, the groups agreed that both churches celebrate the sacraments and that Polish National Catholic members can receive full communion in the Roman Catholic Church.

“We have made tremendous strides and were very close to full agreement. We have no doctrinal problems, except those that concern the pope,” Timlin said.