Antoni Klawiter, the Roman Catholic and, afterward, independent Polish Catholic priest, was born in Chojnice, in modern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, on November 12, 1836. The scholarly consensus is that he was the son of Polonized Germans; 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
Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...
, and became four years afterward one of many Polish priests who were involved with the
Polish Insurrection of 1863
The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
. 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
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
parishes. In October 1873 he became the first pastor of
Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Stanisław Kostka S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka (as distinct from his namesake, the 11th-century Bishop of Kraków S ...
in Pittsburgh, which he established in a former Presbyterian church on Penn Avenue; a parish school was established in the church basement. However, inter-parish strife forced Bishop John Tuigg of Pittsburgh to remove Klawiter from his position in 1877. As Stanley L. Cuba well observes, Klawiter's problems at his first pastorate "characterize practically all of his subsequent assignments in both Polish Roman and National Catholic Churches." Such was the case at Saint Anthony's Parish, which Klawiter founded at New Poznan, (now Farwell), Nebraska in 1878. He left New Poznan in December 1878 to help found Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church in
Saint Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...
, returning to New Poznan for just enough time to alienate the parishioners at Saint Anthony and to be forced to leave. Klawiter then moved to New York State, where he pastored Saint Hyacinth's Parish in
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Saint Adalbert's Parish in Buffalo (1886-1890). After various intrigues forced Klawiter from the
Diocese of Buffalo
The Diocese of Buffalo is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Buffalo, New York, United States. It is a suffragan diocese within the metropolitan province of the Archdiocese of New York. The Diocese of Buffalo includ ...
, he pastored Saint Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Saint Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in
Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Stanisław Kostka S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka (as distinct from his namesake, the 11th-century Bishop of Kraków S ...
in Winona, Minnesota, which was becoming known by now as the "Kashubian Capital of America." 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
Hieronim Derdowski (March 9, 1852, Wiele, Pomeranian Voivodeship, German Empire – August 13, 1902, Winona, Minnesota, America) ( Kashubian ''Hieronim Derdowsczi'' or ''Jarosz Derdowsczi''), Kashubian-Polish intellectual and activist, was bor ...
, to leave Winona in the Spring of 1894.
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,
Stephen V. Ryan
Stephen Vincent Ryan, Congregation of the Mission, C.M. (January 1, 1825 – April 10, 1896) was a Canadian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Congregation of the Mission, he served as Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffal ...
. However, he fell afoul of a dispute between his parishioners over which independent Catholic church the parish would affiliate itself with, and left in 1896. He then pursued opportunities with Polish-speaking Roman Catholic parishes in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and near
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. These failing, Klawiter associated himself in 1897 with Bishop
Franciszek Hodur
Bishop Franciszek "Francis" Hodur (1 April 1866 – 16 February 1953) was the founder and first Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC). Ordained by the Roman Catholic church in 1893, Hodur served two parishes in the Scranton d ...
of the newly formed
Polish National Catholic Church
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.http://www.saplv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/ ...
. He held several pastorates in the National Catholic Church before he left it in 1901 for the independent Catholic church overseen by Reverend of Chicago. In 1906, Klawiter relocated to Manitoba, where he became pastor of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
's independent Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in 1907. He left, however, when it decided to affiliate with the National Catholic Church of Bishop Hodur. Afterward, Klawiter served as a mission priest in Mikado, Saskatchewan until his death on September 30, 1913. In the words of the Roman Catholic priest and chronicler of American Polonia, Father Waclaw Kruszka, it was easier to say where Klawiter ''had not'' served than where he actually ''had'' served.Rev. Waclaw Kruszka, ''Historia Polska w Ameryce'', volume II, p. 675.