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Father Kazimierz Grzymala, MIC
(01.26.1934 - 11.03.2003)
In Valencia, Spain, Father Kazimierz Grzymała, MIC, a long-time minister for Polonia in Great Britain, passed away.
He was born on January 26, 1934, in northeastern Poland, in the Kosów Lacki parish. Upon completing grammar school, as a 15-year old boy, he came to Warsaw and entered the Minor Seminary of the Marian Congregation. There he obtained his high-school education. After one year in the novitiate he made his first vows on August 15, 1952.
During the period of studies I had an opportunity to get to know Fr. Kazimierz. He was always kind and fraternal, full of enthusiasm and ideals, bringing spontaneous joy everywhere. There was no better companion for seminarian recreation and vacation trips. He knew by heart dozens of songs with which he was able to attract the young people attention during bonfires at the lakeside, as part of our common trips. These talents and characteristics served him well later on in his ministry to the young.
After his ordination, Fr. Kazimierz worked in Poland for one year only. In June of 1962 his superiors sent him to England, and he dedicated the rest of his life to this country. For several years he served as the youth educator in The Divine Mercy College in Fawley Court. Then for three years he worked at Slough, but the longest - 33 years - he served in Ealing, London. He got to know several generations of people and everyone knew him. It has been rightly said about him that a large part of the Marian history in Ealing and history of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, parish is closely united with his person.
From his vacation trip to Spain he sent greetings to many of his friends. No one suspected that these would be his last greetings. Quite unexpectedly he became very ill. Despite the solicitous medical attention, his state grew so bad, that it made his return home impossible. His superiors from Fawley Court, Fr. Wojciech Jasiński, M.I.C., and later Fr. Czesław Pisiak, M.I.C. stayed at his bedside, but he was not aware of it. He passed away on November 3, 2003, at night.
During the funeral Mass the Ealing church was filled, as usually happens on holidays. This was an expression of gratitude from parishioners for Fr. Kazimierz longtime pastoral service.
Father Vincas Inkratas, MIC
(12.22.1916 - 10.10.2003)
Father Dr. Vincas Inkratas, MIC, an Assistant Professor and altarist in St. Michael the Archangel Basilica in Mariample, passed away.
He was born on December 22, 1916, in the village of Skardupiai, at the then district of Keturvalakiai, in Vilkavi kis region. In 1923-27, he attended elementary school in Skardupiai, and in 1930 he entered the Marian gymnasium in Mariampole, which he finished in 1938. He was accepted into the Congregation of Marians in 1935. Upon his graduation from the gymnasium, for several years he studied philosophy in Kaunas.
In 1940, he began his studies on the first year at the Faculty of Theology of the Inter-Diocesan Seminary in Kaunas. On May 2, 1943, he was ordained to priesthood. A year later he obtained his licentiate in Theology, defending his work: "The meaning of the Eucharist in the Church." Serving at St. Gertrude's Church in Kaunas, and also being a chaplain for the local Red Cross hospital, he was also preparing his doctorate on dogmatic theology. He wrote four dissertations on the topic: "The Church according to St. Paul, the Apostle: and at the and of 1946 obtained this doctoral degree.
In 1946, he served as a vicar at St. Ignatius's in Vilnius, at Holy Trinity's in Panevezys, and at the parishes of Linkuv and Vabalnikas. In 1952, he was named administrator of the Karsaki kis parish, but a few years later transferred to Papile, where he worked for 13 years. During 1967-74 he served in Tauragnai. After the old church there burned down, he built a new one, which was quite a rare event in the Soviet times. Later he was a pastor in Vie intos for 16 years. In 1990, he came back to his native diocese of Vilkavi kis. From the start he was named altarist in the Mariampole parish of St. Vincent de Paul. In 1993, he was transferred to the same post in Mariampole Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel. He resided in the Marian monastery in Mariampole until his dying day.
By his knowledge of foreign languages he served the Church hierarchy and our Congregation. Shortly before dying, he translated from Latin into Lithuanian the entire collection of Decrees and decisions of the General Chapters and meetings of the Marian Congregation in 1702-1999.
The funeral Holy Mass for Fr. Vincas Inkratas was celebrated on October 13, 2003, at the Mariampole Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel. The Mass was led by Bishop Rimantas Norvila with 30 priests concelebrating. The homily was delivered by the Superior of the Lithuanian Province, Fr. Vytautas Brilius. The deceased was buried at the old Mariampole cemetery, in its Marian part.
Father Antoni Papużyński, MIC
(08.08.1940 - 07.13.2003)
Father Antoni Papużyński, MIC, was born on August 8, 1940, in Kazakhstan, where his parents were in exile. In 1946, his mother brought him and his three brothers back from exile. His father and the oldest brother returned to the homeland as soldiers of the Polish Army. The family took up residence in the Głogów administrative district: first, in Kotla, and since 1950 - in Brzostów. On December 27, 1947, in Kotla Antoni was baptized and later went to the First Communion. In 1947-54, he attended elementary school, and in 1954-57, completed three years of secondary school in Głogów. In 1957 he was accepted to the Skórzec novitiate as a candidate for priesthood in our Congregation. Antoni made his first religious vows on August 15, 1958, at the novitiate house.
In 1959 he completed the 4th grade of secondary school in Głuchołazy. In 1959-60 he served at our religious house in Licheń, and in 1960-62 studied philosophy at the Marian Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Warsaw. He took his four-year course of theology (1962-66) at the Major Seminary in Włocławek. His perpetual profession of vows came on August 15, 1964. After graduating from the seminary he asked for prolonging the time of his service as a deacon. In 1966-69 he worked as a catechist in Licheń. He was ordained a priest in Włocławek, on February 2, 1967. In 1969-72 he made his post-graduate studies at the Department of Christian Philosophy (Section of Philosophy and Psychology) at the CUL. Upon completing his Master's thesis entitled: "Psychological and pedagogical basis of the Founder of the Marians, Fr. Stanislaus Papczyński's system of education", he obtained his Master's degree in psychology. In 1973-79 he served as the Provincial Vocations Director, and in the school year of 1979/80 - he ministered at Marymont borough in Warsaw. In 1980 he went to do pastoral work in England.
In 1980-82 Fr. Papużyński served in Fawley Court as a chaplain of the Divine Mercy College, and then he ministered in Slough (1982-85), and in the last year he served as the Vocations Minister. In 1985 he was transferred again to Fawley Court, where he was the chaplain of the College and Vocations Minister for a year, becoming later (since 1986) a House Superior, Treasurer, and Vocations Minister, and since 1987 also the Vice Provincial. In 1993-97, residing in Hereford, he was the 3rd Provincial Councilor.
From mid-1997, on account of special treatment that he was undergoing in Warsaw, Fr. Antoni resided at his nephew Sławomir's house in Malbork, Poland. In response to his persistent requests, granted him in 1998 the indult of ex-claustration for three years. After the indult's expiration, Fr. Papużyński remained outside the community life without his superiors' permission. In March of 2003, he petitioned again for permission to reside outside the religious house on account of his health problems. He received such permission on May 23, 2003. At that time he resided in Warsaw.
Fr. Antoni died unexpectedly Sunday, July 13, 2003, in Gdańsk. The news of his demise just reached the Provincial Superior on July 17, 2003.
Our Associate Brother
Bishop Roman Andrzejewski
(02.19.1938 - 07.07.2003)
Noon, on July 7, 2003, Bishop Roman Andrzejewski, Vir Aggregatus of the Congregation of Marian Fathers unexpectedly passed away.
He was born on February 19, 1938, in Morzyczyn, Poland. In 1961, he graduated from the Major Seminary in Włocławek, and on May 21st of the same year was ordained a priest. Next, he studied classical philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1973, he defended his Doctoral thesis at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. In 1974-75, he studied at the Pontifical Institute Altioris Latinitatis at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome.
During the years of his service for the Church he held, among others, the office of an assistant at CUL (1966-74), Prefect of Education at the Seminary in Włocławek (1968-70), Professor of Latin and Patrology at the Major Seminary in Włocławek (1972-83), Speaker at the Polish Section of Radio Vatican (1974-75), confessor for religious sisters (1978-81), Professor of Church Latin and Latin Literature at CUL (1974-82).
He was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Jan Zaręba and erceived from him a domination to Vicare General of the Włocławek Diocese on December 20, 1981. In 1988-96, Bishop Roman Andrzejewski presided over a Committee of the National Conference of Bishops in Poland for the Ministry among Farmers. As a national minister for farmers, he showed great care for the future of Polish agriculture and the destiny of the village residents.
As a bishop, he decided to associate more closely with the Congregation of Marian Fathers. With a letter of November 16, 1992, written by hand on the commemoration of Our Lady of Mercy, Bishop Roman addressed the Provincial Superior, Fr. Stanisław Kurlandzki, M.I.C., with a request to be admitted into the Congregation as an "Associate Member". In this letter he gave the following reasons for his request: 1. Devotion to Mary; 2. Care for priests serving all over the world, particularly, in the East; 3. Devotion to Poor Souls; 4. A desire to be buried at the Licheń Shrine, should he not make other provisions or impassable circumstances arise. Formulated in such a way, his motivation showed a deep concurrence of his spirituality with the main characteristics of our Congregation's charism.
At that time the Bishop was 54 years of age, of which 31 years of priesthood and 11 years of bishopric service. On November 19, 1992, the Government of the Polish Province of our Congregation agreed to grant the Bishop the status of an "Associate Member". In his letter of December 3, 1992, to the Provincial Superior, Bishop Andrzejewski warmly thanked for the grace of being aggregated in the Congregation and obtaining of appropriate privileges. He also expressed his willingness to fulfill all duties related to membership in the Marian community and his desire to serve the Congregation in his capacity of a bishop. On December 8, 1992, he was formally aggregated in the Congregation.
In 1992-2003, Bishop Roman consecrated to the priesthood several Marian Deacons, led the Holy Mass and delivered a homily on several occasions during Marian Chapters or Provincial Conventions; celebrated a Mass at church fairs and gave ardent sermons before pilgrims in the Licheń Shrine. He visited with pleasure different Marian communities in Poland and abroad, particularly the Licheń Shrine and the Provincial House in Warsaw. He stayed in close touch with the Provincial Superior in order to give reports on his "Marian way of life". It can be said that he remained faithful to undertaking the responsibilities of an Associated Member.
On May 31, 2003, he consecrated to priesthood in the Licheń two Marian Deacons. A month later, sudden death took him away. Funeral solemnities were performed on July 10, 2003, at the Włocławek cathedral and on July 11, 2003, at the Licheń Shrine, where the Bishop was buried next to other persons of merit. The funeral Mass was led by the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, Archbishop Józef Kowalczyk.
Father Witold Nieciecki, MIC
(03.01.1925 - 06.28.2003)
On June 28, 2003, on the commemoration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Witold Nieciecki,MIC, passed to the Lord. He faithfully served Christ and Mary Immaculate. He lived for 78 years, of which 59 as a religious and 53 - a priest.
Fr. Witold Nieciecki was born on March 1, 1925 in Vilnius. Since 1933 he resided with his parents in Warsaw, where, in 1937-39 he completed 2 years at the St. Staszic State Gymnasium. WW II caught him there. In 1940-42, he took two years of schooling at the so-called "preparative courses for trade schools of 2nd degree."
Inspired by the good example of his older friend, later a Marian, Fr. Włodzimierz Okoński, he conceived a desire of joining the Congregation of Marians and becoming a priest. In 1943-44 he made his novitiate at Skórzec. Upon completing his high school education (interrupted by war) at clandestine courses, he passed the final exams in 1945. In 1947, he professed his perpetual vows. During 1945-51 he attended classes at the Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Bielany, Warsaw. Also, in 1948-52, he studied at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the Warsaw University, obtaining a degree in Moral Theology. Witold Nieciecki was ordained a priest on December 17, 1950, by the Primate of Poland, Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński, at the Church of Our Lord in Warsaw.
Fr. Witold Nieciecki fulfilled many important offices in our Congregation. In 1951-57, he was the Prefect of seminarians; in 1957-63 - Polish Provincial Vice-Superior; and on the turn of 1957-58 - a pastor of the Bielany church. The next year he stayed at Nowa Wieś near Michalin, regaining his health. In 1960-63, Fr. Witold Nieciecki completed his studies for licentiate degree at the Warsaw University, and in 1964 he defended his thesis "Main characteristics of the Congregation of Marians' spirituality in the light of Marian Constitutions of 1930." The thesis was published in Rome in 1965. During 1963-66 he served as a spiritual director of Marian seminarians in Włocławek, while in 1966-69 - the Provincial Spiritual Director with his residence in Skórzec.
Fr. Witold Nieciecki held the office of Polish Province Superior twice - from 1969-81. After the General Chapter of 1981 in Rome he was nominated President of the Constitutions and Directory Editorial Committee, because of which nomination in 1981-83 he spent most of his time in Rome, still formally belonging to the house on Wileńska Street in Warsaw. The opinion is that it was he who made an essential contribution to adapting Marian Constitutions to the directives of the Vatican II. In 1983-93 Fr. Witold Nieciecki was the spiritual director of our Major Seminary in Lublin. Since 1993 he became a resident of our Marymont house where he actively participated in parish ministry, mostly hearing confessions and being part of the neo-catechumen communities' life. Fr. Witold also became known as a good retreat leader. He realized the importance of cooperation with the laity and he supported the creation of the Association of Marian Helpers in Poland. From the beginning he served as a consultant for the AMH's magazine Z Niepokalaną.
Fr. Witold Nieciecki's funeral solemnity took place on July 1, 2003, at the Marymont church, after which the body of the deceased was deposed at the Marian cemetery in Warsaw.
The Marian community, under the leadership of Superior General, Fr. Mark Garrow and Polish Province Superior, Fr. Andrzej Pakuła, attended the solemnity in great numbers along with members of the Deceased's family, friends, parishioners, and members of the AMH. They bid farewell to Fr. Witold Nieciecki, confident of his faithful love for Christ and people, of his attitude of a great, and yet very humble, man of prayer known for his good deeds.
Brother Stanisław Nowaczkiewicz, MIC
(02.23.1925 - 06.02.2003)
On November 4, 1954, the Marian Novice Master in England, Father Edward Rytko, MIC, wrote in his letter to the Provincial that Stanisław Nowaczkiewicz came to the religious house in Lower Billingham, Hereford, "bringing with him all necessary documents and a petition to be admitted to the postulancy as a religious brother." In the "certificate of morality" issued by Fr. J.L. Dryżałowski of Huddersfield, he said about the candidate: "From the time of his coming to this parish until the present day, he fulfilled well his religious duties and was always regarded as a quiet, controlled person and a good Catholic. For two years he actively and exemplarily participated in the Polish Parish Choir - Varsovia in Huddersfield."
The candidate wrote in his autobiography: "I was born in Warsaw on February 23rd, and baptized on March 8, 1925, at the Nativity of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Church. My father was a tailor by trade; he had already passed away, but my mother is alive and still resides in Warsaw. I also have two brothers and a sister. My mother, my brother and my sister were taken to the concentration camp in Auschwitz; thanks to the Lord our God they came out of it luckily. In my seventh year of life I went to school, which I completed in 1940. At the beginning of 1943, as the oldest son, I started to work to support my family. After the failure of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Germans took me to Germany as a laborer. I worked in quarries and also on railroads. After being set free by the allies, I was placed in a camp in Erfurt, where I stayed for several months. Later, I was transferred west, to another camp in Raine, where I stayed until my departure to England in 1948. In England I worked as a coal-miner in Barnslay until 1952. Then I changed jobs and moved to Huddersfield. In July of 1954, I made a pilgrimage to Holywell and Pantasaph, during which I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to God and spend it in the Congregation of Marian Fathers as a religious brother."
Those few lines of Br. Stanisław's biography reflect the history of an entire generation of Poles who experienced tragic war consequences. Although forcibly torn away from family and native land, a young man of 19 was able to organize his life according to principles of faith rooted in him by his family even in exile.
In his request for being accepted into the Marian community he wrote: "I ask Very Reverend Father Superior fervently and whole-heartedly to kindly accept me into the ranks of his Congregation, where, as I have hope in God, I would be able to work for God's glory and the good of the order, as well as to strive for my own holiness and perfection under the direction of Superiors of the Order, which has as its goal to promote the devotion to Mary and lead to eternity as many souls as possible." Signing this document, he added: "humble servant in Christ."
Having completed a one-year novitiate, Br. Stanisław made his first vows on August 15, 1956. He pronounced his perpetual vows on August 15, 1963, after a seven-year period, upon receiving permission from the Holy See. In his religious life he fulfilled duties assigned to him by his superiors in religious houses of Hereford, Fawley Court, Rome, and the longest - for 30 years - in Ealing, London, as a parish sacristan. When Br. Stanisław's health became worse, he was transferred in February of 2002 to our religious house in Fawley Court, in order to ascertain that good care is given to him. He died at that house on June 2, 2003. Br. Stanisław was buried at the Marian cemetery in Henley-on-Thames. The solemnity of burial was presided over by Fr. Provincial Andrzej Pakuła. The sister and brother of the departed participated in the ceremony along with Sisters of the name of Jesus, employees of the Fawley Court House, and the Marian community in England.
In his petition of April 20, 1963, requesting admission to making perpetual vows, Br. Stanisław wrote: "With assistance of God's grace, I want to faithfully serve the Lord and the Most Blessed Mother in the Congregation of Marian Fathers until my death." His petition was answered. May the Merciful Lord accept him to His glory.
Father Viktoras Šauklys, MIC
(01.13.1908 - 04.14.2003)
Father Viktoras Šauklys, MIC, the oldest of the Lithuanian Marians, died on April 14, 2003, in the rectory of Girdžiai parish in the Archdiocese of Kaunas, where he was pastor for 25 years and retired since 1996. Last January he celebrated his 95th birthday.
He was born on January 13, 1908, in the village Gudziunai (Lithuania), as the youngest of the nine children of Peter and Aniela Šauklys. For six years he attended high school in Raseiniai. Then he learned accidentally about the possibility of continuing his studies in the recently opened Marian high school at Mariampole, where he could try to fulfill his priestly and religious vocation. He was accepted to the Mariampole boarding school in 1926. A year later he was admitted to the Marian novitiate and professed his first vows on August 15, 1928. After two more years of high school, in 1930, he was sent to Kaunas for theological studies at the Vitold the Great University. In 1931, he professed perpetual vows, and on June 25, 1933, he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Francis Karevi ius. A year later he completed his theological studies.
In 1932/33 he was editor of the periodical Sventuju bendravimas, published by the Marians at Mariampole for the confraternity of St. Joseph. In the years 1934-36, 1938-39, he edited altinis. In 1936, he was appointed rector of the St. Vincent a Paulo Church in Mariampole. He was also active as a director of the following charitable institutions: an orphanage, a day-care facility, and a house for the elderly. In 1938, he was appointed treasurer of the Mariampole house, and in 1940 - rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Ukmerge.
He was arrested on Dec. 17, 1946, in Ukmerge, upon the orders of the Communist authorities and was sent to prison in Vilnius. He was accused of creating religious, nationalistic groups under the cover of rosary circles, of celebrating the Mass in memory of killed partisans, and also, because on Dec. 8, 1945, young folks prayed in his church, imploring "deliverance from the red terror... " On Nov. 15, 1947, Fr. Viktoras was exiled to Siberia for seven years. At the end of this term, he was moved to Ukhta, (Autonomic Republic of Komi), where the director of a hospital employed him for office work and nighttime duty in the isolation ward. He lived in a barrack for laborers, which was plagued by rats.
Being able to move freely throughout Ukhta, he discovered some exiled Lithuanians and embraced them with pastoral care. He was even able to celebrate a Mass for them in a house of an old woman. Sent on errands outside Ukhta, he took every opportunity to provide pastoral assistance to Lithuanians: baptisms, marriages, confessions, Mass celebrations.
On May 2, 1956, he was set free and returned to Lithuania. The Ordinary of Kaunas sent him for pastoral work first in Gruzdžai and then in šiupyliai. Since 1971, he was pastor in the Girdžiai parish. In 1989, in the last year of the Soviet regime in Lithuania, thanks to perestroika, he was rehabilitated.
We should particularly mention Fr. Viktoras merits in the field of vocation ministry. For many years he was giving hospitality and provided board in his house for the Marian clerics from Lithuania and Ukraine, who were studying in the clandestine seminary run by Marians and Jesuits. He took this opportunity to teach them the Marian way of life.
Worthy of note are his popular writings in the field of apologetics and spiritual life. He wrote also about Bl. George. Most of his writings remain in typewritten copies.
Father Paweł Jasiński, MIC
(08.10.1922 - 03.23.2003)
In the early hours of March 23, 2003, Father Paweł Jasiński, MIC, passed away at the age of 81 at our religious house in Fawley Court. He was a member of the Congregation of Marians for 63 years and a priest for 55.
Paweł Jasiński was born August 10, 1922, in Jabłonna, near Warsaw. He had four brothers and five sisters. Upon completing elementary school in his hometown in 1935, he entered the Marian Fathers' gymnasium at Bielany, Warsaw. At the age of 18, after one year in the novitiate, he made his first religious vows. For the next three years he studied philosophy and theology at the Marian Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Warsaw. In September of 1945, he professed his perpetual vows and was sent at once for further studies in Rome. The completion of his studies at the Pontifical University Angelicum was crowned by a Doctoral degree. Paweł Jasiński was ordained a priest on February 29, 1945, at the Basilica of St. John on Lateran by the Vicar of Rome, Cardinal A. Tragli.
In June of 1950, Fr. Jasiński was sent to England to work in the Polish community. Along with Frs. J. Jarzębowski and E. Rytko, he organized in Lower Bullingham, Hereford, a boarding school for boys. He also fulfilled different functions related to the religious way of life. In July 1960, Fr. Jasiński began to work at the Divine Mercy College in Fawley Court. For nine years he served as the house superior and treasurer, unceasingly caring for the needs of his religious community, employees, and the school youth. These were years of the Divine Mercy College's development, while Fawley Court became a place of meetings, both religious and ethnic, for Poles residing in London and the vicinity.
In 1969, Fr. Paweł went to Rome for a 6-year stay, during which he served as the General Councilor of the Congregation of Marians. Upon his return to England he was named the House Superior in Ealing, and in 1984, he became the pastor of Our Lady, Mother of the Church Parish in Ealing. Through his efforts as a pastor, and thanks to the Congregation's help, he was able to acquire a church needed for the parish. The carefully restored shrine is still the heart of the religious life and the parish's pride. Since 1989, for a certain time, Fr. Paweł fulfilled the post of the Provincial Superior, with residence at Fawley Court. On February 8, 1998, he celebrated the golden jubilee of his priesthood at the Ealing church.
After the closing down of the religious house in Hereford, where Fr. Paweł stayed for several months, he took up residence in Fawley Court (February 2000). He became ill with a terminal decease (leukemia), which he bore without complaints. He, a person of action and full of energy, was hidden in his illness behind the mystery of suffering, which brings cleansing power. He did not seek contacts with the world and did not conceal that receiving visits was tiring for him. He participated only in the Holy Mass celebrated in his room, thus fulfilling the days of his life.
Fr. Paweł Jasiński's death in Sunday's early hours, when the Church remembers the mystery of joyful resurrection and glorious ascension of Christ, inscribes his life into this mystery. Fr. Provincial reminded us in his homily that those who die in Christ will live with Him forever. After the Holy Mass at the Ealing church, which was presided over by the Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission in England, Fr. T. Kukla, and concelebrated by Marians and priests from the Mission, the body of Fr. Paweł Jasiński was deposed at the Marian cemetery in Henley-on-Thames.
Father Edward Rytko, MIC
(02.04.1921 - 03.11.2003)
In the 54th year of his priesthood and 62nd year of his religious life in our Congregation, Father Edward Rytko, MIC, died on March 11, 2003, in a hospital at Cardiff. A zealous and faithful priest who belonged to the generation of Marians, which for over half the century served the Polish Catholic community in Great Britain, passed away.
Fr. Rytko was born in Stary Sącz, in the southern part of Poland. He finished elementary school there and began his studies at a gymnasium in Nowy Sącz. Later, along with his parents and siblings, he moved to Łomianki, near Warsaw. There he met the Marians. Fr. Rytko obtained his high school diploma from the college at Bielany, Warsaw, and in 1940 was accepted to the novitiate at Skórzec, in Podlasie region. There, on August 15, 1941, he made his first vows, and in 1946 - his perpetual vows. Later he studied philosophy at Bielany. When at the end of the war the Germans expelled the Marians from Bielany, Fr. Rytko, along with other members of this house, suffered the trials of wartime homelessness.
In 1946, his superiors sent him to Rome to continue his studies. He took up residence at the International Marian College located at the General House. Fr. Rytko completed his theological studies at the Pontifical University Angelicum, receiving a Doctor's degree in Theology. During his student days Edward met Karol Wojtyła, now the Pope John Paul II. Also in Rome, on June 27, 1949, he was ordained a priest and celebrated this first Holy Mass on Quirinal, at the tomb of his compatriot, St. Stanislaus Kostka.
Fr. Rytko wanted to return to Poland, but his superiors sent him to England instead, where there was a large group of Polish people in need of pastoral care, who found themselves there as war-refugees. Fr. Edward sacrificially gave up his own plans of returning to his homeland and enthusiastically united his religious and priestly life with service in England, which became his new home.
From July 1952 for three years he served as a Novice Master, introducing new candidates for the Congregation to the religious way of life. He was an educator of youth, first at Hereford, at Fr. Józef Jarzębowski, M.I.C.'s side, and then in Fawley Court, at the Divine Mercy College. He also served as a director of the Marian and Divine Mercy Apostolates. Fr. Rytko was the organizer of pilgrimages to Lourdes, Fatima, Rome, and Jasna Góra in Częstochowa in his beloved Motherland. In 1969, he became Pastor for Polish residents of South Wales and remained in that position until his last day. A friend of Fr. Edward - Bishop Edwin Regan - said in his homily at the funeral: "Fr. Edward knew Wales better than the Welsh: in service of the Polish community he traveled through towns and villages of its south and western parts."
Archbishop Peter Smith presided over the solemn Mass of Christian burial at the cathedral of St. David in Cardiff, while Bishop Edwin Regan delivered the homily. The coffin with the body of the departed Fr. Edward Rytko was transported to Fawley Court. There, on the next day - the festivity of St. Joseph - Fr. Provincial Andrzej Pakuła led the Holy Mass in the presence of the Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission, Fr. T. Kukla, Polish priests, the Marians, and the faithful gathered in great numbers. The body was deposed at the Marian cemetery in Henley-on-Thames.
Bishop Jan Olszański, MIC
(01.14.1919 - 02.23.2003)
Jan Olszański, MIC, son of Jan and Maria (neé Bojko) was born on January 14, 1919, in the town of Hucisko Brodzkie (Tarnopol Province, now in Ukraine). He completed his theological studies at the Lviv Seminary and at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv in 1938-42. He was ordained a priest on November 15, 1942, in Lviv, by Archbishop Bolesław Twardowski. From 1942-91, Fr. Jan ministered in Ukraine, in the following towns: Kaczanovka, Lviv, Gorodok Podilsky, Khmelnicky, Studza, Manikoviche, Kitaygorod. He entered the Congregation of Marian Fathers during the Communist regime. Both his first and his permanent vows were made in secret and for that reason their dates are unknown. When Ukraine regained its independence, Fr. Jan became first Marian Superior in that country. He held this office for just a few months, because on January 16, 1991, he was nominated an Ordinary of the diocese in Kamyanetz-Podilsky, and then was consecrated bishop on March 2, 1991. He served as the Ordinary until May 5, 2002. Bishop Jan Olszański passed to the Lord on Sunday, February 23, 2003.
Bishop Olszański's sacrificial and persevering priestly service during the times of the Church persecutions won him great respect and limitless gratitude of the faithful and clergy in Ukraine. Responding in 1944 to the appeal of H.E. Adolf Szlążek, Bishop of the Diocese of Łuck, he chose to work in Podole, a region abandoned by priests. For many years he was the only priest in the area of several hundred square kilometers. He was a hero of everyday work and untiring defender of his ideals. He never let the Soviet authorities intimidate him and did not seek a false compromise. In his ministry he used to combine the sacramental service with religious education of the indoctrinated youth, which was forbidden by the regime. He was often fined for this. The sensitivity of his heart made him reach out to the largest possible group of the faithful. Thus, when he was "exiled" to the town of Manikovtzy, almost completely cut off the world, where he resided in 1959-91, he suffered most painfully. During this time he spiritually supported the faithful in Khmelnicky and Latichov, where there were no priests.
When he became the head of Kamyanetz-Podilsky Diocese, the number of priests in the area began to grow steadily through his efforts. It was also helped by the opening of the Gorodok Seminary affiliated with the Theological Faculty of the Lateran University in Rome in 1991. The creation of the seminary was an unprecedented even in the scope of the entire country of Ukraine, especially because people wish to have priests here, and holy priests at that, as His Excellency Bishop emphasized. During the time of his pastoral work more than 100 shrines have either been regained, repaired or newly constructed. In 1991, when he began his bishopric service, only a few priests were ministering in his diocese. On the day of his retirement, namely May 4, 2002, there were already 150 priests serving in 270 churches. In his dealings with the faithful, Bishop Olszański always showed extreme tactfulness and engaging sensitivity for their problems and concerns. He was a holy man in the opinion of many.
The solemnity of his funeral took place on February 25th, at the cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. J.E. Marian Cardinal Jaworski, the Metropolitan of Lviv, led the funeral Mass. The Eucharist was jointly celebrated by many bishops from Ukraine and Poland, among whom was also present the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Nikolay Eterović. The following attended the funeral in great numbers: clergy (230 diocesan and religious order priests), officials of the Kamyanetz-Podilsky, representatives of the religious communities, and the faithful. Also, the First Consul of the Republic of Poland in Lviv was present. After the Mass of burial, a procession carrying the body of the late Bishop Jan Olszański went around the cathedral. The body was then placed in the crypt of the Most Holy Sacrament in the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral at Kamyanetz-Podilsky.
Father Jose Manuel Morais, MIC
(06.22.1943 - 01.09.2003)
On January 9, 2003, in St. Mary's hospital in Lisbon, after two months of terrible sufferings caused by cancer of the liver and large intestine, Father José Manuel Morais, MIC, passed to the Lord.
Fr. Morais was born on June 22, 1943, in Covelas, commune of Aflândega da Fé. He entered our Congregation in his early youth. The Marians at the time did not have their own seminary, thus he went to study in the diocesan seminary in Vinhais and then in the seminary of the Redemptorist Fathers in Vila Nova de Gaia. He completed his novitiate in Balsamão, under the direction of Fr. Władysław Mroczek, M.I.C., and made his first religious vows at the age of 18, on October 21, 1961. Fr. Morais completed his theological and philosophical studies at the University „Angelicum" in Rome. Also in Rome, at the University „Marianum" he obtained the licentiate's degree by defending his these on Mary in the theology of the rest of Israel. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1969, in Balsamão, where then he spent his first years of priesthood, serving as the Novice Master, Prefect and professor in the seminary. He also assisted with parish work in the neighboring villages.
In 1972, Fr. Morais was transferred to the Marian Seminary in Fatima, where he was given the function of the spiritual director. Up until 1984, he also served as the House Superior there, Rector of the Seminary, a school teacher (Center of Studies in Fatima), a delegate of the Provincial responsible for the vocation ministry and publishing and editing of a bulletin Fileiras Marianas (Marians' ranks). Fr. Morais founded a vocation newsletter O Caminho (The Road) and worked closely with the vocation ministers in the diocese of Leiria.
After a one-year vacation that he spent partly with his family in Brazil, and two years of pastoral service in parishes entrusted to Marians from Balsamão (as well as working on the translation of the Constitution and other Congregation's documents), he went to Rome to continue his Mariological studies.
From 1990, he resided at the House of Studies in Lisbon, where he served as a chaplain in a church in the borough of Telheiras, published the vocation newsletter O Caminho (until 1993), and was the Rector of the House of Studies, secretary and Vice Province Counselor. At the same time he zealously worked on preparation of materials regarding the Congregation's charism for his new doctoral thesis on the topic of Mariology, which he did not finish. For the past years he was organizing Jornadas Culturais de Balsamão.
Fr. José Morais was marked by his enthusiasm, simplicity, and joy, his love and devotion for our Congregation, the Church, and modern man. He had great merits in deepening and consolidating of the Marian charism.
Grateful for the precious gift of Fr. José's life (59 years, of which 41 as a Marian and 33 as a priest), we pray the Lord to grant new vocations for the Congregation of Marian Fathers.
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