Bishop Edward U. Kmiec named to Buffalo diocese

Pope John Paul II has named Bishop Edward U. Kmiec as the 13th
bishop of Buffalo.

A priest for 42 years, Bishop Kmiec has been Bishop of Nashville,
Tennessee, since December 1992. He will replace Archbishop Henry J. Mansell who was installed last December as the Archbishop of Hartford.

Upon learning of his appointment, Bishop Kmiec said, "I am very grateful to the Holy Father for the confidence and trust shown by virtue of His Holiness choosing me to serve as shepherd of the Diocese of Buffalo. With hope and trust in God, I look forward to serving this faith community and sharing with them the Apostolic work of building God's kingdom in this vineyard of the Church."

A native of Trenton, New Jersey, Bishop Kmiec, 68, arrived in Buffalo Wednesday afternoon. He will meet with many of the priests, men and women religious and laity of the Diocese of Buffalo Thursday and Friday.

Bishop Kmiec was born in Trenton, New Jersey (June 4, 1936), the fifth of five children born to Thecla Czupta Kmiec and John Kmiec. His parents immigrated to the United States from Poland before the start of World War I. All of the Kmiec children, the bishop's sister Helen and brothers Joseph, John and Henry, were born in the United States.

He attended St. Hedwig's parochial school and Trenton Catholic Boys High School, both in Trenton, St. Charles' College in Catonsville, Maryland, and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore where he received his B.A. degree in 1958. Bishop Kmiec received a degree in theological studies from the Gregorian University in Rome.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1961, he served as an associate pastor of St. Rose Parish in Belmar, New Jersey. In 1965, he was appointed Secretary and Master of Ceremonies to Bishop George W. Ahr in the Diocese of Trenton, a position he held through 1980. Bishop Kmiec served in a number of capacities in his home diocese, including Moderator of the Curia, Vicar General, Vice-Chancellor, the Diocesan Priests' Council, the Diocesan Budget Committee and the Diocesan Board of Consultors.

Bishop Kmiec was named Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by Pope John
Paul II in 1977. On November 3, 1982, he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Trenton. Ten years later, the Pope appointed him the 10th Bishop of
Nashville. Bishop Edward M. Grosz, diocesan administrator of the Diocese of Buffalo, said, "I am truly elated by the appointment of Bishop Edward Kmiec by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo.

"I have known Bishop Kmiec for 14 years. As a brother bishop, he brings with him many outstanding leadership qualities as well as a tremendous love for the people of God. I look forward to working closely with him."

Bishop Kmiec has served on the on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations and the
Secretariat for Catholic-Orthodox Relations. Among serving on several other committees of the USCCB, the bishop also served as chairman of the Committee on the Permanent Diaconate and the Committee on the Laity. He currently serves on the Roman Catholic and Polish National Catholic Church Dialogue.

He is also a member of the Canon Law Society of America, the Catholic League for religious assistance to Poland and the American Center for Polish Culture.

Bishop Kmiec is a Fourth degree Knight of Columbus and Knight Commander of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. A graduate of the North American College in Rome, the bishop is one of the regional representatives to the Board of Governors of the seminary.

The date for Bishop Kmiec's installation has not been set, but it is expected he will be installed as the next Bishop of Buffalo within the next few months.

Poland Sends First Team to Little League Baseball World Series

WILLIAMSPORT, PA ? In 1989, Poland became the first former Soviet-bloc country to obtain a Little League charter. Fifteen years later, a team from Kutno, Poland, has become the sixth to earn a berth in the 2004 Little League Baseball World Series by winning the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region Tournament on Monday in Kutno.
The Kutno Little League defeated Vilnius Little League, from Lithuania, 7-0, in the championship game. Kutno Little League finished the 11-team tournament with a 6-0 record, outscoring its opponents, 79-10.
Lithuania was also vying for its first trip to the Little League Baseball World Series. The Vilnius Little League finished the EMEA tournament as runner-up with a 5-2 record. Both of its losses came against Poland.
Kutno is the site of the Little League European Leadership Training Center. There are more than 40 chartered Little League programs in Poland.
Kutno Little League joins Curundu Little League of Panama City Panama, Shou Tien Little League from Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, Saipan Little League from Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and Linda Vista Little League of Guadalupe, Mexico, as a participant in the 2004 Little League Baseball World Series. The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport, Aug. 20-29. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.
ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series can be seen live on ABC at 6:30 p.m., on Aug. 29. Twenty-five other World Series games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 for a total of 27 games on national television.
The next team to earn a berth in the 2004 Little League Baseball World Series will come from the Southeast Region Tournament in St. Petersburg, Fla. That tournament is due to end on Saturday and will determine the first of eight U.S. region champions.
The U.S. region finals, all of which will be televised live on ESPN2, are: Southeast (St. Petersburg, Fla., Aug. 7, 7 p.m.); Midwest (Indianapolis, Aug. 8, 7 p.m.); Great Lakes (Indianapolis, Aug. 9, 8 p.m.); Southwest (Waco, Texas, Aug. 10, 8 p.m.); Northwest (San Bernardino, Calif., Aug. 11, 8 p.m.); West (San Bernardino, Calif., Aug. 12, 8 p.m.); New England (Bristol, Conn., Aug. 14, 8 p.m.); Mid-Atlantic (Bristol, Conn., Aug. 15, 5 p.m.). All game times are Eastern U.S. time.
Little League Baseball is the largest organized youth sports program in the world, with 2.7 million participants in all 50 states and more than 70 other countries.

What's cooking on their grill?

While it certainly has been a wet summer, that hasn't stopped Western New Yorkers from firing up their grills and cooking outdoors. The Am-Pol Eagle contacted a few local sausage makers to ask them what they cook and how they grill it. Here's their comments:

Renee Baczynski & Christine DiFonzo - Baczynski Meats
Christine: "Boil it (Polish or Italian sausage) first to make it a little more solid and then put it on the grill. Plus it will cook faster. If you parboil it, you can get whatever excess grease out, and then you put it on the grill."
Renee: "It's ready to eat after boiling but some people like it with more flavor from the grill."

Skip Wardynski - Wardynski Sausage
"Every single day at work we have a smokeless electric grill downstairs. That thing is full from 6 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. All day long its grilling, it's literally like grilling outside. This morning there was Italian sausage patties which are handmade (So there's a lot of air in it, it's not all press out. They are one of the best tasting things you can have.), that was on the grill this morning along with pieces of bologna, hot dogs, Polish sausage. When breakfast comes along at 9 o'clock everyone has their fill. To me that's even better than my grill at home. It's cooking all day long. A bologna steak, to me it's better than a steak."

John V. Kudla
Avenue Smokehouse Boys
"I don't know if I have a favorite. I really enjoy sausages on the grill. Actually, in my family we grill all year long. That's one of my favorite methods of cooking anything - from meats to vegetables to fish even desserts. ( I made a really nice grilled pineapple slices with a sweet sauce that went over them. It was outstanding.)
"We do a lot of sausages because of the store here and we enjoy all the different ones. I try and develop new recipes all the time so I certainly try them out on my family. We do a lot of sausages. Not only in the casing, but also making patties out of them so you can have them as a burger type if you wanted to put cheese on them or things like that. I like taking a small pork butt roast on the grill, on an indirect flame. Season and brown it on the direct flame then transfer it over to the side and close the grill and let it go for several hours.
"In the grill you might want to put a few pieces of fruit wood or a hardwood to give it a little smokiness.
"We do vegetables on the grill as well. Potatoes in tin foil, chop up onions, slice the potatoes put some butter and olive oil. Seal it up good and put it on a slow fire."

Patrick and Peter Cichocki
Camellia Meats
Patrick: "In the summertime, we grill up tenderloins. We do up a mean tenderloin that we marinate. A big ticket item that we like to grill is our hot dogs and our cheddarpino sausage which is a good grilling item that everyone likes.
Peter: "My favorite thing to grill is pork back ribs. Take some barbecue sauce. Marinate them overnight, make up your own sauce or buy sauce, put them on the grill. Just had some last night. That's my favorite thing to grill.
Patrick: "My father does a great beef tenderloin that he marinates and then cooks it slow. That's delicious. Actually I marinate a boneless pork loin and I use a teriyaki sauce or cajun spice and I put it in a tin foil and let it simmer on the grill and get a nice temperature on it. It's excellent.
"It all depends, if you're having a big party and you want to feed the people quick then you're grilling hot dogs and hamburgers and smoked Polish sausage...if it's just a family function, I've done a shish-kabob with nice cuts of New York strip with a shrimp on them. Marinated them in a terriyaki sauce then a lemon terriyaki sauce and I fried up vegetables in a soy sauce. That's a nice slow thing to do. Take your time and it will come out moist and people will love it."

Restoration of church windows underway at St. Stanislaus

Stained glass is unique among the arts of the world because of the relationship that exists between glass and light. People see color on a painted surface through the reflection of light; the color they see in a stained-glass window is from the light refracted through it. The colors of the glass are deadened by reflected light, and when darkness falls, a stained-glass window cannot be brought to life.
Essentially a dynamic, daylight art, stained glass is energized through its relationship with light and changes according to the time of day, the seasons and the weather. All affect - sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically - the image that is perceived, for stained glass is the most ancient and cunning form of kinetic art.
With the change in the weather, season, and time it has taken a toll on the magnificent windows of the Mother Church of Polonia, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Parish, in Buffalo. Because of this, tremendous restoration work has begun to take place on the historic church.
Much of the wooden frames outside the Church have rotted, the stained glass on some windows has started to buckle meaning the sections will need to be removed and re-leaded, and some of the seals on the windows have also been broken.
At this point about half of the church's vent windows have been replaced and parishioners are waiting for the balance of vents to be delivered and installed. Protective shatter proof glass will be installed on the outside of the windows.

Resolution commemorates Warsaw Uprising

Washington, DC - A U.S. Senate resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation during World War II (S. Con. Res, 125), introduced by U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), unanimously was passed by the Senate July 21.
Sen. Mikulski said: "I am proud to join with Senator Smith in introducing this resolution to commemorate the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation.
"The Polish and American people have stood up against oppression and fought for liberty through the centuries. During our Revolutionary War, Polish patriots fought alongside American patriots to help secure our independence. During the Second World War, Polish mathematicians helped us break the enigma codes, and American troops and the Polish Army in exile fought side by side to liberate Europe.
"Within Poland, the Polish people fought for their own freedom against the occupying armies of Nazi Germany. Two of the most dramatic battles took place in Poland's capital; the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Jews in 1943, and the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
"In the summer of 1944, the German army was in retreat and the Red Army of the Soviet Union was approaching Warsaw. The Poles knew from the Katyn Forest Massacre what brutal treatment they could expect under Soviet occupation. So they took charge of their own liberation, hoping to allow the Polish Government in exile to return to Warsaw.
"On August 1, 1944, the Polish Home Army rose up against the Nazi German occupation. They took control of most of Warsaw within days. But the German Army was determined to crush the resistance, and the Soviet Union hampered U.S. and British efforts to support the Warsaw Uprising from the air. The Poles fought bravely to liberate and protect their capitol and their nation. But after 63 days of bitter fighting, German tanks, planes and artillery overcame the valiant but poorly-armed Polish resistance.
"Nazi Germany was not satisfied with mere victory. Heinrich Himmler ordered the people of Warsaw killed and the city razed to the ground as an example for all of Europe. Eighty-five percent of Warsaw was leveled by German forces and hundreds of thousands of Poles were killed.
"The Poles were right to fight for their freedom in 1944, because Soviet domination lasted for nearly half a century. The Solidarity Movement later took up the banner of Polish freedom, and we are now proud to have Poland as a friend and NATO ally.
"This year, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, we should remember and honor the Poles who fought so bravely for freedom against such heavy odds. That is what the resolution Senator Smith and I are offering today, and a companion resolution introduced in the House by Representatives Emanuel and Hyde, will do. I urge my colleagues to join us in commemorating the Warsaw Uprising."