Fr. Marek (Mark in English and Marcos in Spanish) is one of the youngest priests in our Diocese. However, being only 30 years old, he has lived quite an exciting life filled with extraordinary events.Why was he not ordained in Poland?
He was born on December 18, 1974 in Poland and grew up in the middle of the forest, where his grandfather was a ranger. With nostalgia he recalls Sunday mornings, when together with all his family members he walked 5 miles to the closest church to attend the Mass. Altar server since the age of 9 and Boy Scout since 12, Father Marek has a special concern for the beauty of the liturgy and social issues. Growing up in a communistic regime, as a teenager he was involved in the underground movement and actively participated in preparations for the first democratic elections in Eastern Europe, which took place in his homeland on June 4, 1989. This first hand experience of struggle for freedom has deeply shaped his outlook on social concerns.
Having graduated from high school in 1993, he begun his formation toward the catholic priesthood in the Society of Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers) and attended the Catholic University in Warsaw (1994-1998) majoring in philosophy. At the same time he also studied protestant theology at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw. While studying in Warsaw, he was involved in the college theater writing, directing and acting in two plays.
The summer semester of 1995 he spent in London, England studying English at Saint Giles College. Summers of 1996 and 1997 he worked at the mission assignment in the post Soviet countries of Belarus and Ukraine. In 1998 he transferred to his home Archdiocese of Varmia and attended the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn studying catholic theology in the seminary which was an integral part of that University.
August 2, 2000 was the day when Father Marek came to the United States for the first time. He stayed in our parish while taking intensive English classes at Southwest Missouri State University. From January 2001 until December 2002 he attended Saint Meinrad School of Theology in Saint Meinrad, Indiana, where he completed his Masters of Divinity program. In 2001-2002 in addition to his regular classes he studied Liberation Theology at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. On December 18, 2002, which was also his 28th birthday, he was ordained a priest by Bishop John Leibrecht right here, in Saint Agnes Cathedral in Springfield, Missouri. [Note: after 1 1/2 years here, he was ordained by Bishop Leibrecht]
His first priestly assignment was the three parishes of Neosho, Noel and Seneca. In August 2004 he joined our parish staff as an Associate Pastor. Father Marek is also responsible for the Hispanic Ministry in Branson. He celebrates a Mass in Spanish there every other Sunday. He also serves our local community as a chaplain for Springfield Police Department.
Was he dismissed from the seminary of the Pallottine Fathers as some have suggested, and if so why?
Was he also asked to leave another seminary, Hosianum in northern Poland?http://www.hosianum.edu.pl
There was no mention of him doing his year of transitional diaconate at the St Agnes Cathedral Web Site? Did he?
How is it that he was ordained in such a short time in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese?
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