Franciszek Hodur

Bishop Franciszek Hodur was the founder and the first, and longtime,www.pncc.org Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church.
Hodur was born on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1866, to Jan and Maria Hodur in the village of Zarki, 35 miles from Krakow, Poland. He enrolled as a seminarian in Krakow and studied at Jagiellonian University. He left Europe in December 1892 for the United States of America, where he hoped to serve Polish immigrants. Hodur made his way to the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was sent to the seminary at St. Vincent's Benedictine Archabbey in Latrobe. On August 19, 1893, he was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church by Bishop William O'Hara.Kuliczkowski, Czeslaw, Father Franciszek Hodur, The Bishop Hodur History and Archives Commission, Central Diocese, Polish National Catholic Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 2002.
== Break with Rome ==
When issues of contention arose between Polish Catholic immigrants in Scranton, Nanticoke, Wilkes-Barre, Plymouth, Duryea, and Dickson City, and their Irish-American bishop, Father Hodur traveled to Rome in January 1898 to seek redress from the Holy See. Without finding satisfaction, he returned to the United States. After meeting with the parishioners he represented on that voyage, he made known his decision not to remain under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church.Fox, Paul, The Polish National Catholic Church, School of Christian Living, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 24-26.
== Episcopate ==
Franciszek Hodur was consecrated a bishop on September 29, 1907, by Gerardus Gul, the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland, assisted by Bishop Jan Van Thiel of Haarlem and Bishop Peter Spitz of Deventer.http://www.pncc.org/content/apostolic_succession.pdf He then served as the first Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church and consecrated other bishops, ensuring the maintenance of apostolic succession.http://www.pncc.org/who_founder.htm Prime Bishop Hodur died on February 16, 1953, in Scranton.Kuliczkowski, Czeslaw, Father Franciszek Hodur, The Bishop Hodur History and Archives Commission, Central Diocese, Polish National Catholic Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 2002.
==Notes==
Category:Prime Bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church
Category:Old Catholicism
Category:Polish Americans
Category:Polish Catholics
Category:Polish American history
Category:Catholic bishops not in communion with Rome
Category:American bishops
pl:Franciszek Hodur