Toward God in a Polish Way on the Canadian. Land on the History of Pastoral Care of Our Lady of Częstochowa Parish in London, Ontario

Abstract

Polish settlement in Canadian London reaches back to the end of the 19^th century, but it reached a large scale in the inter-war period and directly after the Second World War. Polish immigrants, firmly linked with the Church, could not carry out their religious expectations in the English-speaking parishes, hence they took decisive steps to establish a Polish ethnic parish. They managed to make this come true in 1953, when the then London Bishop John C. Cody established such a post and nominated Rev. Franciszek Pluta as its first parish priest. The latter went down in history not only as the builder of Our Lady of Częstochowa church in London, but also as the organiser of Polish pastoral care in this town. Its basic element was (and is) the missal liturgy and the sacraments. This paper presents a complete documentation of this process, including changes, priorities, and improvements over the period of fifty years. The text is based on rich sources from London archives. Moreover, the author shows the place and role of the most essential aspects of pastoral care in the formation of the Polish immigrant's identity.