The Mormon community is primarily centered in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr. The angel Moroni, from whom he had received the Book of Mormon, was to appear to him. Sam Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church, was shot in prison much later. The community has often come into conflict with the inhabitants of the areas where it has been, and even with the federal authorities of the United States. Nevertheless, it survived and is present today in most countries of the world. Let's get to know its history and the principles it follows. Some of them are certainly controversial. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a very large and powerful religious community, primarily in the United States. Its followers, although not so numerous, are also present in Poland. Even before the Second World War, it was possible to find their centers in the cities that were to fall to Poland after the war. Difficult beginnings in the early years of the People's Republic of Poland resulted in the liquidation of the community. However, it was reactivated and it began to develop.
The founder of the Mormon community was Joseph Smith, Jr., son of the then Presbyterian couple Lucy and Joseph Smith. The founding of this community was associated with two apparitions. When Joseph Smith Jr. was 14 years old, God and Jesus Christ were to appear to him in Palmyra (New York State) and told him not to join any of the churches because they were all wrong. This took place in the spring of 1820.
The next revelation was to take place on September 21-22, 1823. This time, Joseph Smith Jr. saw a prophet or angel named Moroni who gave Smith information about the location of the ancient Book of Mormon, which was written and hidden by Moroni's father Mormon. Joseph Smith Jr. was to translate this book from the Old Egyptian language, but he was to receive the original Book only 4 years later. He was also to receive from Moroni the command to restore the true Church because the followers of the Church founded by Christ's disciples departed from the principles of the true faith.
In addition to Smith himself, the witnesses of these apparitions were local farmers and his family, including his wife Emma. Mormons refer to the ancient Nephites in justifying their legitimacy as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They believe they are the heirs of this people, while other Churches descended from other Lehi sons have departed from the true faith.
The Book of Mormon was published in March 1830 in Palmyra. Soon after, Joseph Smith Jr. and his 5 companions founded a new Church in Fayette, New York. Gradually, the number of his followers began to increase. Partly due to the successive apparitions of Joseph Smith Jr, but mainly due to the lack of favor of the local population, the Church changed its location quite often. These were Kirtland and Cleveland, Ohio, and Independence, Missouri, respectively. Eventually, they were driven from that state to Illinois, where they built their new headquarters in Hancock County, named Nauvoo.
The community functioned there for several years, but in 1844 something happened that influenced its further fate. Sources give various reasons for this (destruction of the printing press "Nauvoo Expositor", critical of Smith Jra, the introduction of polygamy, tax fraud), but the fact is that the county authorities ordered the arrest of Joseph Smith Jr, who, in order to avoid bloodshed, decided to turn himself over to the authorities. He was imprisoned in Carthage. Although the governor himself was to ensure his safety, on June 27, 1844, a mob of Mormon opponents broke into the prison, and Joseph Smith Jr. was shot.
The community was expected to fall apart after the death of the leader, but otherwise. A successor was chosen, Brigham Young, who in 1847 proclaimed himself president of this Church. He relocated the headquarters of the Church: on July 24, 1847, he founded Salt Lake City. The fellowship grew, and church administration structures were established to exercise civil authority in the nascent Utah territory. Sam Young was appointed governor by US President Millard Fillmore in 1850. Later, due to difficulties faced by federal officials, it was decided to remove Young, and in 1857 a new governor came to Utah with the military. There was even a conflict (Utah War), but Young decided to step down and President James Buchanan pardoned him.
The Church, however, established itself in the United States and even began to carry out missionary activities. While Mormons are concentrated primarily in the aforementioned Church, there are also other factions. Today, there are estimated to be over 16.5 million followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide.
The most important books to which Mormons refer in the context of the principles of faith are the Bible, the aforementioned Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, published in 1833, and The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The Book of Mormon describes, first of all, the history of the Nephites, the Pearl contains the Book of Moses (including passages that are not in the Bible), the Book of Abraham, and the writings of Joseph Smith Jr himself, relating to, inter alia, to chapter XXIV of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. In contrast, the book of Doctrine and Covenants lists the prophecies of both Joseph Smith and his successors.
There are a number of dogmas in the Church. Some of them seem obvious from the point of view of the functioning of the Church, such as the dogma about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon or about the mission of Joseph Smith, who restored the true Church. On the other hand, dogmas such as that concerning the material nature of God and the denial of original sin are noteworthy. The latter was included in one of the 13 articles of faith. The second one says that people will be punished for their own sins, and not for original sin.
In line with article 6, Mormons recognize that the early Church of Jesus Christ was correct. Article 8 says that the Bible is the word of God as long as it is translated correctly. Under article 11, Mormons claim the privilege of worshiping God as their conscience tells them, and at the same time grant that privilege to other people. In turn, Article 12 expresses faith in obedience to rulers, presidents and governments and in respect for the law.
Certain principles recognized by Mormons are in conflict with, for example, Catholicism. Mormons recognize baptism by immersion, which can already be given to infants as young as 8 years old. Moreover, the possibility of baptism per procura with ancestors is also recognized to ensure their place in Christ's kingdom. In 2001, it was announced that the Catholic Church would not recognize Mormon baptisms.
What brought Mormons into conflict with US federal law was the polygamy they originally recognized. It was officially banned by Congress in 1862. It was not until September 24, 1890, that the then Church leader Wilford Woodruff announced a manifesto by which only the first marriage was to be recognized. As not everyone followed this principle, Woodruff backed it on November 11, 1891, announcing at a conference that he had a revelation in which God showed him the tragic consequences of continuing to practice polygamy.
Traditionally, the Mormon community has been patriarchal. Already in their teens, boys could take up church functions and administer the sacraments. As for women: they could not perform such functions at all, and their role was primarily to be a wife and motherhood. In Utah, women were not granted suffrage until 1970. And every man should have as many children as possible. One of the functions of the family, however, was to instill obedience to those in charge of the Church. The latter has the following structure: it is headed by the President, who together with the 2 Apostles forms the Presidential Council. The specific Senate of the Church is the Council of the Twelve Apostles. In addition to this, the Quorum of the Seventy also plays an important role. It carries out activities the directions of which have been set out by the President and the Council. All these bodies are known as General Authorities.
The first records of units in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in cities in today's Poland date back to the late nineteenth century. Of course, these were not Polish lands then, and some of them did not even later become part of the Second Polish Republic. Such units existed in Żary in 1892, as well as in Szczecin and Wrocław in 1897. In 1908, a Mormon commune was established in Wrocław. As the number of the faithful grew fairly quickly, it became necessary to divide it into three communes: Center, West, and South. It happened in 1921.
A year later, missionary activity in Masuria was started by Fritz Fischer, who came into contact with Mormons during his stay in Berlin, to which his then-fiancée was supposed to convince him. The place of Fischer's activity was the village of Zełwągi, located 5 km from Mikołajki because it was his family village. However, it should be remembered that in the interwar period, these areas belonged to East Prussia, and the Zelwągi itself was then called Selbongen. However, the official Mormon mission did not appear in the village until 1926. However, three years later, on July 14, the first chapel was consecrated.
Wojciech Jakubowski states that until the outbreak of World War II, the Masurian community numbered about 200 believers, while Anna Kucharska recalls that the vast majority of the inhabitants of the village declared their affiliation at that time. You can also find information about the existence of Mormon centers in Kostrzyn, Gdańsk, and Stargard in 1924 and in Gorzów Wielkopolski and Piła in 1930. The number of believers in individual centers varied from 500 to 700. It is extremely important that all these centers were subordinate to the Swiss-German Mission until 1924, and from 1925 to the German-Austrian Mission. This partially affected the situation of Mormons in Poland after World War II.
After the war, the number of Mormons in Poland dropped significantly. In and around Zełwągi, they were mainly the native inhabitants of Masuria and the German population who left the Evangelical-Augsburg Church. In 1947 it was estimated that there were about 130 people. The first attempts to register the community were made. In 1946, Ezra Taft Benson, who later became the Secretary for Agriculture in the administration of Dwight Eisenhower, who later became President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met with the then Minister of Justice, but also with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland in Exile, Stanisław Mikołajczyk.
In the late 1940s, there was a change in the attitude of the authorities towards non-Roman Catholic denominations, which was unfavorable for Mormons. It is true that in 1949 the law on associations was adopted, but the lack of proper dissemination of this information contributed to the fact that only a dozen or so different religious communities took advantage of the new possibility (Kucharska, pp. 119-120). However, the Mormon community was finally registered by the Department of Denominations of the Provincial National Council in Olsztyn, it was called the Reorganized Church of Latter-day Saints. It happened only in 1961. The number of followers of the Church in Zełwągi was then 46 people, and the head of the Church was Fritz Fischer's brother-in-law, Adolf Krusche. After his departure to West Germany, this function was taken over by Erich Paweł Konietz.
Importantly, in those years there was still no strictly Polish Mormon mission, and the community existing in Poland was the first subject to the German mission in West Berlin, and then (from 1962) to the Swiss mission. This change was related to difficulties in communication between the Polish community and the mission in Berlin. However, in those years there was also an exodus of believers, which was related to the persecution by Poles and Russians. Mormons were often associated with "German invaders" (Kucharska, pp. 118-119). The year 1958 was significant when the authorities of the People's Republic of Poland allowed all Germans who voluntarily settled in Poland after the war to leave it. Already in 1967, the number of Mormons in Zełwągi fell to just 24 people.
There is a specific legend connected with the post-war years and the difficult functioning of the Mormons in Zełwągi, which were invented by local residents, convinced that the members of the community sunk some treasures in the nearby lake Inulec. But the truth was much more… tragic? Grotesque? Mormons dipped… chickens in the lake at night in some kind of diving bells. This was due to the fact that they were constantly exposed to thefts (Pruchniewicz). For several years, the Mormon Church in Poland did not officially exist at all. Most of the followers, following Erich Konietz, decided to leave for the Federal Republic of Germany, which was approved by the authorities in 1971 (Jakubowski, 343). The aforementioned Department of Denominations formally dissolved this Church in Poland, and the last Mormons left these areas in the early 1980s.
The community was reactivated, but in a completely different formula, after a few years. In 1976, Henryk Burkhard, the president of the Mormons, visited the GDR. In 1977 the community was re-registered, this time as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A positive decision in this matter was issued on May 30, 1977. This time, Szczecin was initially chosen as the seat of the Church in Poland. The name of the Church obviously refers to the dogmatic and ideological unity with the Salt Lake City headquarters.
In the same year, on August 22-24, Poland was visited by the then President of the Church, Spencer Wooley Kimball, who then even met with Kazimierz Kąkol, the Head of the Office for Religious Affairs, who approved the formal recognition of the functioning of the Church in Poland. Spencer Wooley Kimball even then had the opportunity to say a prayer during the ceremony organized in the Saxon Garden. At that time, Fryderyk Cherwiński, who was active in the Polish underground during World War II, became the leader of the Polish Church.
However, the Church encountered a number of internal and personal problems which led to a decline in the number of the faithful. On March 31, 1980, the Poznań commune was liquidated, and six months earlier, on September 30, 1979, the Szczecin office was liquidated. The Polish headquarters was moved to Warsaw. In the 1980s, the Salt Lake City headquarters delegated several missionaries to manage the Polish community. They were Stanley and Gwendellyn Mazur, Juliusz and Dorota Fussek as well as Brigham Young University professor Dr. Walter Whipple. Later this function was performed by Richard Ordyna.
The change in the policy of the PRL authorities at the end of the 1980s gave the Church additional opportunities. On May 30 - June 3, 1986, two future Presidents of the Church visited Poland: Russell Marion Nelson and Thomas Spencer Monson, who was then the President's Second Adviser. In 1988, talks were started with the authorities on the construction of a meetinghouse in Wola. In June 1989, the cornerstone ceremony took place. The already mentioned Russell Marion Nelson, who was then on the Council of the Twelve Apostles, participated in it.
On May 17, 1989, the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religion was adopted. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself was formally entered on January 11, 1990, in the Register of Churches and Other Religious Associations. building a missionary and cultural center. The mission in Warsaw was officially opened in July 1990.
Currently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Poland has 1,813 followers. There are 3 districts and 14 congregations in our country. There is also one mission of the Church in Poland, which is located in Warsaw, in Wola. Municipalities, on the other hand, are located in larger cities throughout Poland: in Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań, Wrocław, Katowice, Lublin, Kraków, Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, and also in Białystok.
No comments:
Post a Comment