Antoni Klawiter

The Reverend

Antoni Klawiter
The Reverend; Antoni Klawiter
	Portrait of Antoni Klawiter
Church	Catholic Church
Orders
Ordination	1859
Personal details
Born	November 12, 1836; Chojnice, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	September 30, 1913 (aged 76); Mikado, Saskatchewan
Nationality	American
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Antoni Klawiter, the Roman Catholic and, afterward, independent Polish Catholic priest, was born in Chojnice, in modern Poland, on November 12, 1836. The scholarly consensus is that he was the son of Polonized Germans;^[1] by virtue of his Kashubian birthplace and his later experience pastoring Kashubians in Winona, Minnesota, he will not have been unfamiliar with the Kashubian culture. In 1859, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Włocławek, and became four years afterward one of many Polish priests who were involved with the Polish Insurrection of 1863. In late 1873 or early 1874, Father Klawiter emigrated to the United States.

As Roman Catholic priest

Upon reaching America, Klawiter served as an assistant in various

Saint Stanislaus Kostka in Winona, Minnesota, which was becoming known by now as the "Kashubian Capital of America."^[5] There he began the building of a huge new church but was forced, at least partially, by a feud with the Kashubian poet turned American newspaper editor, Hieronim Derdowski, to leave Winona in the Spring of 1894.^[6]

As Independent Catholic priest

In 1895, Klawiter became pastor of Mother of the Holy Rosary, an independent Catholic church formed in Buffalo by dissident members of Saint Adalbert's. For this he was excommunicated by the bishop of Buffalo,

Waclaw Kruszka, it was easier to say where Klawiter had not served than where he actually had served.^[8]

References

^ Stanley L. Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter: Polish Roman and National Catholic Builder-Priest," Polish American Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 61-62.
^ Saint Patrick-Saint Stanislaus Parish History Archived 2012-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, saintsinthestrip.org
^ Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter," p. 67.
^ Founding Nebraska's Polish Communities in Central Nebraska Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Polish Heritage Center (Ashton, Nebraska), polishheritagecenter.com
^ "Kashubian Capital of America – Bambenek.org". bambenek.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
^ This is the interpretation of Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter," pp. 75-76. But see also William L. Crozier, Gathering a People: The Diocese of Winona (Winona, 1989), pp. 189-192.
^ Charles R. Kacynzki, Bands of Brothers: The Negotiation of Identity in the Congregation of the Mission’s Polish Vice-Province in the United States, 1903—1975 (dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2010), p. 142.
^ Rev. Waclaw Kruszka, Historia Polska w Ameryce, volume II, p. 675.

[1] Stanley L. Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter: Polish Roman and National Catholic Builder-Priest," Polish American Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 61-62.

[2] Saint Patrick-Saint Stanislaus Parish History Archived 2012-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, saintsinthestrip.org

[3] Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter," p. 67.

[4] Founding Nebraska's Polish Communities in Central Nebraska Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Polish Heritage Center (Ashton, Nebraska), polishheritagecenter.com

[5] "Kashubian Capital of America – Bambenek.org". bambenek.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.

[6] This is the interpretation of Cuba, "Rev. Anthony Klawiter," pp. 75-76. But see also William L. Crozier, Gathering a People: The Diocese of Winona (Winona, 1989), pp. 189-192.

[7] Charles R. Kacynzki, Bands of Brothers: The Negotiation of Identity in the Congregation of the Mission’s Polish Vice-Province in the United States, 1903—1975 (dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2010), p. 142.

[8] Rev. Waclaw Kruszka, Historia Polska w Ameryce, volume II, p. 675.

[1]

[5]

[6]

[8]