Advertisements ad

June 22, 2008

John Paul II’s secretary to visit Chicago’s Polish community

By Pam DeFiglio

CONTRIBUTOR

When Pope John Paul II’s righthand man steps off a plane in Chicago on June 27, he’ll warmly remind Catholics here of the late pontiff.

He’ll also reach out to Chicago’s Polish Catholics in his role, since 2005, as Archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz’s visit will strengthen the bonds between Poles here and the church in Poland, said Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who serves as the Archdiocese of Chicago’s liaison to Polish Catholics.

“He’s extremely well known and highly regarded in Chicago’s Polish community,” Bishop Paprocki said.

Dziwisz served as Karol Wojtyla’s personal secretary for the 12 years Wojtyla led the Krakow archdiocese, and during the 27 years after he became Pope John Paul II. Dziwisz, who is 19 years younger than John Paul, cared for the pope during his last frail years.

When Dziwisz visits, he’ll get a flavor of what it’s like to be Polish and Catholic in our city. He’ll speak with Cardinal George about ministry to Chicago’s Polonia, or Polish diaspora. Dziwisz will meet the public on Sunday, June 29 at two Masses and a banquet to benefit Bishop Abramowicz Seminary, which helps young men from Poland discern their vocation for the priesthood.

When he returns to Poland, he’ll take a very special souvenir of Chicago. The seminary is awarding him its Caritas Christi award for service and dedication to Polonia, said Father Richard Klajbor, rector of the seminary.

In addition to being an award winner, Dziwisz has become a popular author since the release of his book, “A Life With Karol: A 40-Year Friendship With The Man Who Became Pope” in early March.

Polonia Bookstore, 4732 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, reports it has sold out of the book, published by Doubleday, and is awaiting another shipment.

‘Wonderful,’ ‘caring’

Many Chicago Poles have good things to say about Dziwisz. “I’ve heard he’s a wonderful man,” said Barbara Pajda of Niles. Her daughter saw him at World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada in 2002 and appreciated his connection to Poland and to John Paul II.

“He cares about people and passes on his faith to people. If everyone were like him, this world would be heaven on earth,” said Iwona Kay, of Park Ridge, after a Polish-language Mass at St. John Brebeuf Church in Niles.

Paprocki had been encouraging Dziwisz to come to Chicago for a long time. He saw him last December in Krakow and they discussed the fact that Dziwisz would be traveling to Quebec City, Canada, June 15 to 22 for the International Eucharistic Congress. Since he was coming to North America anyway, adding a stop in Chicago made sense.

Paprocki characterizes the stop as a pastoral visit to Chicago’s Polonia, which he says is meant “to show goodwill as well as to maintain and foster a connection and a relationship.”

After he leaves Canada, Dziwisz will visit the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., and the large Polish community in Detroit before he arrives in the Windy City, Paprocki said.

At the Bishop Abramowicz Seminary, this year’s class of four seminarians is really looking forward to seeing Dziwisz, said Klajbor.

“He represents a powerful figure in Polish culture and history. As secretary to Pope John Paul II, he was his constant companion,” Klajbor added.

The seminary is the only one of it’s kind in the United States and was founded to form priests from Poland who could minister to Chicago’s Polish immigrants.

The fact that Dziwisz serves as Archbishop of Krakow is important to Chicago-area Poles, Klajbor said. Most Poles here hail from the south of Poland, specifically the dioceses of Tarnow and Rzeszow and the archdioceses of Czestochowa and Krakow.

“So in a real sense he’s from their native area, and of course John Paul was archbishop of Krakow,” Klajbor said.

Recruit Polish priests

While Chicago’s Poles connect Dziwisz with the late pope, they also recognize him for his own contributions, Klajbor said.

“He’s a living link with John Paul, but it’s a living church, a changing church, and they’re wise enough to recognize that,” he said.

Klajbor hopes when Dziwisz returns to Poland, he’ll talk up Chicago’s Polish seminary. That could help them recruit young men in Poland to come here for a vocation, especially at a time when many Poles prefer to emigrate to Great Britain and Ireland than to the United States. They don’t need a passport or visa to travel to other parts of the European Community.

“This visit,” Klajbor said, “will help build bridges between Polish culture and American culture.”

On Sunday, June 29, Cardinal Dziwisz will celebrate Mass at Holy Trinity Polish Mission, 1118 N. Noble St., Chicago, at 10 a.m. and at St. Hyacinth Basilica, 3636 W. Wolfram St., Chicago, at 12:30 p.m.

The benefit banquet for Bishop Abramowicz Seminary will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the House of the White Eagle Restaurant, 6845 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles. To donate silent auction items or purchase tickets at $125 per person, call (312) 666-3675. English speakers may ask for Judy Roszak; to speak Polish, ask for Tomasz Pels.