Kościół, etniczność, demokratyzacja – parafie polonijne w USA (1854–1930)

In America, in a new multiethnic, multilingual and strongly Protestant environment migrants had to redefine the borders of their identity and find their safe haven. Life in the US intensified and transformed ethno-religious engagement. Changes occurred amazingly fast but were often made in an atmosphere of tensions and conflicts. In the American Catholic Church a so-called „Polish problem” arose. Interestingly, it resulted from the migrants’ fervency, not from their indifference. The essay talks about some of the tensions which existed back then and tries to answer the question what were their causes, sources and how participants of these dramas (clergy, lay and American hierarchy) viewed and interpreted the events. What was happening in various parishes and towns throughout the US was a reaction to the new reality in which migrants found themselves upon their arrival in America. A rational but often dramatic reaction. The essay tries to take a bottom-up approach and in some parts uses previously undisclosed archival materials from the Secret Vatican Archives.