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March 24, 2021The bizarre story of Father Adam Oraczewski is one of the most intriguing tales of the Church in Oklahoma. In desperate need of clergy, and especially Polish-speaking priests to lead the predominately Polish parish in Harrah, Bishop Meerschaert was the perfect mark for the complex and odd charlatan that was Father Oraczewski.
Arriving in Oklahoma in 1919, with the War to End All Wars (World War I) coming to a close in 1918, Father Adam with papers in hand and recommendations from a seminary in Poland convinced Bishop Meershaert that he should be ordained. The bishop took his paperwork at face value and since Europe was in general disarray verifying said records was virtually impossible.
Upon his ordination in 1919, Father Adam was assigned to Bartlesville as an assistant until he became pastor of Harrah in 1920. His stint there was short-lived as the parish very astutely noticed serious irregularities almost immediately. Extra collections became commonplace as well as the fact that the parish account was in his name only. The parish reported their misgivings to Bishop Meershaert who promptly removed him after only six months.
At this juncture, Father Adam fled to New York and was on a leave of absence. His whereabouts were hard to trace for approximately three years. He reappeared with the death of Bishop Meerschaert in 1924 as he forged a document stating that the logical successor would be Adam Oraczewski and sent it to Rome. He signed the name of the vicar general of the Diocese of Oklahoma, Monsignor Depreitere and the chancellor, Monsignor McGuire.
An investigation was launched and, in the process, found that his documents from a seminary in Poland were forged as well. Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Plock, Poland, did not exist. In fact, he was not in Poland during the war as he professed but a seminarian in Michigan who had been expelled twice.
Incensed, the new bishop, Francis Kelley petitioned the Holy See to suspend Father Adam, and with the request granted, sent him to Sacred Heart Abbey to do penance. During this year, he concocted his next project that would give cause to question his sanity. Whereas his previous forays could be seen as sinful actions for which he showed little regret, his newest grift had higher aspirations.
Leaving in disgust from Sacred Heart and with Bishop Kelley refusing to assign him, Father Adam ended up in Kansas City, Mo., in 1927 with a decidedly outlandish conclusion. Making the YMCA his headquarters, he declared through a press release that he was Pope Adam II (another mystery was who Pope Adam I was) with the intention of raising $100 million for a new Vatican outside Washington, D.C.
To prove his claim, he circulated his photo as pope (see above). The Catholic Register of Kansas City could not resist taking pot shots at the absurdity of it all: “On the first glance, Oraczewski’s picture in papal garments makes him a pretty distinguished looking pope. With a little closer scrutiny, however, reveals that the chain of his pectoral cross appears to be a piece of curtain cord. His skull cap covers nearly his whole head. His white cassock with cape is noticeably longer on the right side than the left. And best of all his feet are encased in tennis shoes!”
Not surprisingly, “Pope Adam’s” pontificate was short-lived, and his delusions of grandeur led to him being declared “insane” and was consequently institutionalized in 1932. After a year, he was released and deemed “cured.”
Adam Oraczewski disappeared until he resurfaced in the 1960s in Cleveland, Ohio, being befriended by a compassionate priest who sought to bring him back to the Church. During the time he had been off the radar, he became a successful landowner. He lived the life of a pauper in the attic of one of his properties revealing that his mental illness had not left him entirely.
Refusing to be laicized, he met with the Apostolic Delegate in Washington who removed his suspension, allowing him to wear clerical garb (not the papal cassock!) but not celebrate Mass. Retiring to a Catholic nursing home, he left this life reconciled with the Church in 1973.
