He returned from the USA five years ago, managing a parish in Detroit’s suburbs for nineteen years. He talks about the community of English-speaking believers he attends in Bratislava. He relates the story of an Anglican convert he accepted into the Catholic Church and confirmed.
He also explains how he came to serve the so-called Tridentine Masses, why he continues to do it even after returning from America, and what leads him to promote missions and support missionaries. Priest Benjamín Kosnáč.
Why did you wear such an unusual shirt for today’s interview?
I took it because we recently had a mission Sunday. I thought the tasks should also be expressed by a globe printed on the shirt. (Laughs.)
So it’s a mission shirt?
Somehow. I originally bought it when I went to school to represent a catechist in religion. I also went with a priest’s cassock, but also in this shirt. I thought to myself that sometimes it is necessary to change it.
You returned to Slovakia from the USA five years ago. We also interviewed you then. Are you already used to working with us?
I used to get used to it. After all, this is where I come from, and I returned to the system I knew and grew up in. Anyone in America for a long time will get used to a particular way of woparticularhere. Probably the most significant difference between parishes in the USA and those here is the presence of lay people and their involvement. In America, the church can respond more flexibly to the challenges of the laity.
In the US, many things in the parish would only work if lay people were willing to put their time and talents into it. But I can’t say that I miss anything.
Even your service in Slovakia is somewhat atypical at the moment.
I am not a priest in a parish; I am an auxiliary priest in a “tram parish” and a spiritual administrator for the English-speaking community, i.e., unofficially its priest.
Within this community, I got lay people for some simple services, such as the usher service, in Slovak for an usher. The benefit of lecturers has also settled down nicely, and some people help me teach religion.
We have a Sunday school model. We divided all children interested in religious education into four groups that have religion simultaneously.
As a priest, I could not teach all four groups. That’s why I used what I know from America. Adults I know who have experience teaching their children or in parish structures or are capable help me in this way.
We have groups of Burmese, first-time adopters, pre-first-time adopters, and kids in between. I have two adults for each group.
You mentioned the usher service. What is it?
The service of an usher is that two people come to church early. In the case of the English Mass, many people do not know the English Mass texts by heart. It is a mass for foreigners, and apart from the English, Americans, and Irish, we have all possible nationalities there – Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Germans, and Africans.
More than half would only know how to respond to mass if they had the texts. We use the English missal at the gathering, where there are Sunday mass texts, biblical readings, and chants. And the ushers come earlier, spread the books, and prepare some things for the altar.
So they are like churchgoers?
Not. This person stands inside the church entrance, greets people, and eventually seats them. Their service can be seen before mass when the back pews fill up faster, and empty seats remain in the front or the middle of the benches. Usher sees how many people are coming, knows where there is still room, and when someone arrives, he asks if they want to sit down and shows them a seat.
I experienced something similar in Sweden and was very surprised at the time.
Yes, Sweden is a protestant country, and they have this refined. There is welcome value. When you asked me what I brought from America, and I practice it in Slovakia as well, at the end of the Holy Mass, after the final blessing, I go to the front of the church and shake people’s hands. I do this after the Sunday English mass in the Church of St. Ladislav and Blumentál. Older people are incredibly grateful for it.
You have already outlined that several nationalities go to English masses.
Yes, I have yet to mention Koreans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese.
Who exactly are these people?
Most work in international companies and corporations, and some work in the automotive sector, such as Koreans. Filipinos mainly work in the restaurant industry, Italians are primarily from the IT field, and some have found a Slovak husband or wife.
What about people from the diplomatic service?
They go to mass very little and occasionally. I don’t know why that is. Maybe they are non-practicing. They sometimes appear on significant holidays. But most ordinary people come.
For people coming from English-speaking countries, it is the only option to attend Mass in their native language. Foreigners who have Holy Mass in their language in Bratislava sometimes go to the English Mass and sometimes to the Mass in their usage. It is such a Bratislava principle that you go to a mass where you feel good.
“I am convinced I can help the missionaries more from here – through sermons, videos on YouTube, or personal contacts.”
People at the English masses are also taught to react more. It’s not so “poker face” that I’m not allowed to laugh or react. During the sermon at English Masses, I also notice the body language of the believers, and eventually, they reach; there is active listening. I am slowly getting better at the morning mass in Blumentál.
What does it mean to lead an English-speaking community? Are we talking about something other than mass and teaching religion on Sunday?
They all have my phone number. They need to talk, confess, and solve something to know they can come. If I don’t know something, I will direct them. I try to give them the basic service of presence and pastoral care.
Is there time for leisure activities?
I cannot organize it. But since Good Friday, a fantastic Dubai Indian layman has come into the community. He helped me improve the catechetical program.
I have yet to make a roast all the time I’ve been here. Now, also on his initiative, we will meet at one event.
Are there several priests working in Bratislava who are devoted to foreigners?
They are like that. I dare say that the younger the priest, the more he is exposed to English. And then some priests studied abroad. Verbs, for example, have strangers in the community as well. When English-speaking believers come to them, they know how to solve things with him there, and they don’t even send them to me.
Do the opinions that are present in the church manifest themselves among foreigners? For example, traditionalists?
Not. I think most people do not follow the liturgical-theological wars in detail. They live their lives, raise children, and are happy to have access to the English Holy Mass. I can count those that deal with the mentioned topics on the one hand.
He is an Englishman who comes to us from an Anglican Pentecostal back; hend, hands became a Catholic partly because of his wife. And suddenly, he discovered tradition and Latin, which the charismatics did not have. It pushes a little too much; it needs to be balanced. (Smile.)
At one Mass in Bratislava, you said that you had baptized and accepted an Anglican into the Catholic Church. Is it common?
I didn’t baptize him. With the Anglicans, we recognize baptism, and as long as there is certainty about its validity, it is not repeated. I received the faculty to grant him the sacrament of confirmation and receive him into the Catholic Church. However, I caution that if someone is from Africa, it is a good idea to ask what baptism they use specifically.
In Africa and Anglicanism, charismatic Pentecostal elements are prevalent; they often baptize by sprinkling water or dipping a finger.
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An interview with priest Benjamín Kosnáč, who managed a parish in the suburbs of Detroit, USA, for 19 years.
I digress, but there was a case in Detroit where a priest who had been ordained for two years was watching a video of his baptism during the pandemic. He found they baptized him in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and, Sanctifier. The deacon spoke the words, and the godparents poured water.
So all invalid?
All sacraments were invalid. The archdiocese had to give an explicit communiqué to the parish where he baptized, confessed, and so on, and people had to repeat the sacraments. And this was not an isolated example.
Therefore, when we were sitting with the convert, as mentioned above, who is Nigerian and is marrying a Catholic girl from Nigeria, he called my mother and asked if she remembered how he was baptized. And mom confirmed that he was baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
He verified it, and then I wrote to the archbishop asking the faculty to grant confirmation and admission to the Catholic Church. The archbishop could also confirm him in Slovak since he knows Slovak well. But he chose Burmese in English in our English community.
How long did the preparation take?
He was preparing for two years. Almost the entire preparation took place in Istanbul, where he worked before coming to Slovakia. In a Muslim country, he was preparing to accept the Catholic faith. I got in touch with a Spanish Salesian dedicated to him in Turkey. The last thing he missed was a conversation with the bishop.
In Turkey, they have set it up so that anyone who wants to become a Catholic must attend such a meeting. Then the pandemic happened, the panel did not occur, and in the meantime, he came to Slovakia to our community and told me all this.
What does such a process of acceptance into the Catholic Church look like?
A confession of faith precedes it as on Easter. There is a supplement where we ask: “Do you believe all that the Holy Catholic Church teaches as revealed by God?” When he says “I believe,” there follows the formula of acceptance into the church, then the celebration of confirmation, and, as part of the mass, he goes to the first Holy Communion.
Sometimes you also serve the so-called Trident Masses. How did you get there?
It has its history; it is related to my work in America. I see myself as a spiritual son of Saints Cyril and Methodius; for me, a language understandable to people and the service’s intelligibility is impoessentialme. In Detroit, where I worked, I met several people who went to lefeleftistseven sedevacantists. Lefebrists formally recognize the current pope as natural, while sedevacantists claim no real pope exists.
Coincidentally, one of my parishioners was married to such a sedevacantist. And once, an exciting debate started between their bishop and a professor of dogmatics in the Detroit seminary, who is of Slovak origin. Thanks to that, I got to know him a little more.
The three public theological debates resulted in some people saying, “if you have a Tridentine Mass that is important to us, then we will come.” Some h.”e understood that they are not to follow these currents. But at that time, there was,s no general permission given by Benedict XVI. When he released it, I thought I would fulfill my promise. And since we had many masses on Sunday, we introduced the Trident Mass on Saturday evening.
It is unusual for them, but we used the new liturgical norms so that they could have the old form of the Holy Mass. It was the only Trident Mass on Saturday with Sunday validity. (Laughs.)
This is how I learned how to celebrate her. As a person born after the Second Vatican Council, I am free from bad habits. It was something new for me, and when I learned how to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, I understood better why some believers are attracted to it.
Why?
The course and dynamics of the old form of mass are different in most of our churches,s there is ichurcheseragel standard mass. But when charismatics or neocatechumens call you to Mass, the dynamics of the liturgy will be different. In the case of the Tridentine Mass, one can speak of a kind of opposite pole.
“Sometimes there is an elevation of style: I pray in tongues, so I am more, or on the other hand: I receive the Eucharist on my knees, so I am better.”
I notice that the old form of mass attracts not only older adults out of nostalgia but also young people. For some who are more theologically sophisticated, it is the mass of Thomas Aquinas. Others seek it out because they need to be more comfortable with the interactive new form of thggroupshey appreciate the quieter, anmore d meditative dimdimensione so-called Trident.
So in the USA, you started serving the old form of mass for the groups mentioned above of believers; why do you continue to do so in Slovakia?
When I returned to Slovakia, I did not offer myself to anyone, but they learned that I knew how to serve this form of mass, and they called me. Although I admit that I preach somewhat gesturally, even at the Tridentine Mass, it may irritate some. (Smiles) For me, this service is a pastoral decision. I am glad to help.
How do you feel about the controversies associated with the traditionalist community, such as questioning the Second Vatican Council, the current Pope, and so on?
A lot of flings are closely tied to who leads a particular community. And this does not only apply to the traditionalist trend. Indeed, I wouldn’t say I like the phenomena you mentioned in the question because it speaks of the spirit of the promotion.
Why does this manifest itself in a group of people who are looking for an older form of liturgy?
In my opinion, it is also a reaction to certain uncertainties in our church world. Some twenty or thirty years ago, the truths of faith were clearly defined. When they started talking about homosexuals, for example, everything was immediately a sin. Today we learn to differentiate and o perceive things comprehensively. In this case, we classify the actions as immoral but do not condemn the person.
Moreover, Pope Francis is not dogmatic but pastoral. It leads us to perceive a person as human and then helps him gradually understand doctrine, morality, and the like.
So, I am still trying to figure out a clear answer: in traditional circles, people desire more certainty. In America, it was called castle mentality, a castle mentality – I have security, and I don’t want anyone to break it – but the church is more missionary than a castle.
In your opinion, is respect for the old form of the Mass compatible with relaxed attitudes?
Certainly yes. I experience that few who go to the Tridentine mass are open to, for example, charismatics. Charismatics are more open to traditional forms than vice versa.
At the same time, I consider both currents to be charismatic forms; only one is charismatic in an expressive way, and the other in a more meditative, calm manner. Mother Church has arms big enough to embrace both.
I’m just sorry that people, whether from one or the other side of the arms, don’t always perceive this. And sometimes there is an elevation of style: I pray in tongues, so I am more, or on the other hand: I receive the Eucharist on my knees, so I am better, and so on.
The Bratislava crematorium falls under the Blumentál parish. Does this mean you bury a lot?
In our parish, we register between eight hundred and a thousand Catholic funerals per year. Fortunately, ninety percent of the funerals are handled by our permanent deacon. The funeral does not require the presence of a priest.
Thirty years ago, I was a deacon here in Blumenthal and had eight funerals daily. That was horse riding. At that time, however, there was a trick that Blumentál was on duty one week, St. Cathedral the next. Martina.
How do you prepare for a funeral when you don’t know the deceased or their family?
In our parish, but probably not only here, we also have a habit of asking the family to provide at least a brief biography of the deceased. Or let them write about their life’s unique moments for them. The one conducting the funeral rites has a better picture and can prepare a speech.
You post videos with missionaries on Youtube. Some of them show that you are traveling to the mission sites; in some cases, the apostles send the video. How did you end up promoting missions like this?
Missions have fascinated me since childhood. I thought that one day I would be a missionary. I have been to America, but that is different from the developing world. And it was during my time in the USA we adopted a parish in Africa, where we went several times with diffotherups. This way of support lives on in his life, but after returning to Slovakia, I didn’t stop thinking about missions.
I now have two classmates on missions – one in Madagascar and the other in Russia. For me, the church is not only what is here. Some support projects are one-time, others longer-term.
Which one do you like the most?
Tanzania, I’ve been going there almost every year for fourteen years. There has been an Italian missionary there since 2008; we know each other, understand each other, and when I give him money, he always does what he wants.
When a person regularly goes to the place of missions, he can perceive how things are changing there; for example, in a place where there was only a bush, suddenly there is a well or a school.
Are you thinking about going to work as a missionary?
Yes, but to a certain extent, I confirm that I can help missionaries more from here – through sermons, videos on YouTub,e or personal contacts. They mostly need money, and people are more likely to support specific projects or missionaries. They need to have a “clutch” at home.
If you could go, where would it be?
Since I know English, an English-speaking country would suit me. I want to go and see Australia again, but that is more of a curiosity. I thought about Tanzania above for some time, which grew close to my heart.
Well, the fact is that our archdiocese does not have extra priests, so I am here and will support missionaries from Slovakia for the time being.
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