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           We, the Catholic clergy of Polish heritage in the United States, in union with the Holy See, desire to be ever-faithful to the millenial faith and tradition handed down by our ancestors, in which there resounds, in a vibrant way, the Pascal Mystery of Christ: His Passion, Death and Resurrection. We are aware of the evangelizing task that has been set before us to build the kingdom of God by proclaiming Christ in Word and Sacrament. We desire to unite and strengthen those fraternal bonds which as Polish-Americans we acknowledge and affirm, and thus work more efficaciously in the Catholic Church on the individual, local, regional, and national levels. We therefore establish a national organization of clergy who are united in these common goals and objectives in service to the People of God.

           In our desire to better respond to the unique needs of the spiritual and cultural dimensions of the Catholic Church in the United States, we hereby establish ourselves as the Polish American Priests’ Association under the patronage of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

           The mission of the Polish American Priests Association will be that of a religious, educational and non-profit association of clergy who share a common ethnic heritage and/or support our goals, purpose and objectives.

          Through communication, networking, national conventions, and mutual encouragement, this association will promote the pastoral, spiritual and cultural identity of its members, fulfilling the hope of Pope John Paul II for “a constant fidelity and a new responsiveness to the needs of today’s Church and of Polonia as it exists in the world today.” We also desire “to unite Polonia in the United States so that it may play the full role of which it is capable in both religious and spiritual spheres.”

           The association desires to be of service to the entire Church by seeking to make existing faith communities, served by Polish-American clergy, more viable and by responding more effectively to issues which are pertinent to the spiritual well-being not only of the Polish-American community but the entire Church in its obedience to the Master’s command: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation.”

 

[Adopted in Convention, Chicago, Illinois, April 10-11, 1991;

Amended at the Albany, New York Convention, 2001]