'LET ME BE YOUR FATHER TODAY'

Tony Slowik sj had known Karol Wojtyla for 40 years, from when he was studying to become a Jesuit. He remembers clearly the day the then Cardinal Wojtyla ordained him to the priesthood in Melbourne in 1973.

Fr Tony Slowik sj ordained by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in 1973.

Fr Tony Slowik’s memories of John Paul II meander through both their lives. The relationship between Wieslaw Slowik and Karol Józef Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) began more than 40 years ago when the young man and the Archbishop of Krakow crossed paths.

One was a young student applying himself to theology and philosophy studies, preparing for his life as a Jesuit priest. The other was a man who had already suffered through the Nazi occupation of his beloved Poland in 1939, entered the underground seminary run by Cardinal Sapieha in 1942, and endured domination by the Communists for several decades.

Their relationship survived time, geographic separation and Cardinal Wojtyla’s election as Pope in 1978. Fr Tony (who ceased using Wieslaw and began using his second name Tony upon arrival in Australia in 1970) remembers the Pope as a friend, a mentor and a fatherly figure. They shared the desire to serve God and the people they encountered each day. Both loved working with young people and, most of all, they understood the passion of the Polish heart.

Fr Tony, who is Rector of the Polish mission in Australia and New Zealand and Coordinator of Ministry to the Melbourne Polish community, is sure that history will treat Pope John Paul II with great kindness and see him as a man of vision who saw things ‘way ahead of our time’.

Regardless of history’s interpretation, Tony believes Polish people, particularly Polish Catholics, will revere Karol Wojtyla as a national hero. He returned to the Polish people their national pride, nurtured their courage and affirmed their sense of value to the world. His, is a legacy that can never be forgotten, and his words and teachings may come to mean more and more to people in the years ahead.

‘To understand the importance of John Paul II, you have to understand that Poland lost its heart for much of last century. Communists tried to wipe out the Catholic Church and people lived in fear—constant, day-by-day fear. Cardinal Wojtyla told people not to be afraid. Once he began preaching this message, the Communists knew they could not fight it. When he became Pope, they knew it was the beginning of the end for Communism in Poland’, Tony says.

‘When he became Pope in 1978, the sense of loss that had been felt by people in Poland was turned upside down. He kept on telling us not to be afraid. He asked people to trust in God and not be afraid of the Communists. The Communist regime in Poland was based on our fear and Pope John Paul II helped tear down that fear.’

The fear of the Communists in Poland was bred into children from the moment they could listen and understand the world around them. Tony remembers the state-run radio broadcasting ‘missing persons’ announcements through the day. The description of the person and something of their life was announced over and over. Tony said his family, like most Poles, understood the message behind the announcements—this could happen to you!

‘When we served in the army, we were constantly told that the military had to be prepared because the West was preparing to invade. Everything was driven by fear. But then Cardinal Wojtyla came and said, “Be not afraid, because you are all children of God”’, Tony remembers.

‘And when he preached, it was as if he was speaking to just one person, never a crowd. He saw each person in those huge crowds as an important person.’

In 1970 Fr Tony’s provincial leader in Krakow responded to requests from Australia for young priests to come to Melbourne to prepare to take over care of the large Polish Catholic community, which today numbers about 16,000. He arrived with fellow Jesuit student Leonhard Kiesch, without knowing a word of English, but with an understanding of Australia learned in primary school in Poland.

Three years later, in 1973, Cardinal Wojtyla came to Melbourne as part of the International Eucharistic Congress. It was a chance for the Cardinal to meet up with the Polish students he had met in Krakow and to ordain Fr Tony and Fr Leonhard at St Ignatius Catholic Church in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond.

Under Communist rule, it was very difficult for people to obtain visas to leave the country and despite the best efforts of Jesuits in Australia, Tony’s parents were unable to leave Poland and attend their son’s ordination. Sadly, just a few days before the ordination, Tony’s father died, but not before he had travelled to Krakow with a photo album, which he asked Cardinal Wojtyla to pass on to his son in Melbourne.

‘The morning of my ordination, Cardinal Wojtyla stopped me on the stairs of the house where he was staying with us. He put his arms around me and said he understood the sadness I was feeling, because of my father’s death. He said, “Let me be your father today”.’ Tony’s voice drifted off, as he recalled the emotion of that moment.

Since his ordination 32 years ago, Fr Tony has become a key figure in Melbourne’s Polish community, working to strengthen the networks that keep their culture alive. He has worked in radio since 1977 when he presented a Polish program on the now-defunct 3ZZZ. He is now the Australian correspondent for Vatican Radio, recording a news item most fortnights. He is a scout master, a founder of the Society of Polish Culture and a member of the Federal Council of Polish Organisations.

Fr Tony saw the Pope many times in the years that followed his ordination, and one of his most memorable moments was during a visit to Krakow in September 1978. He caught up with Cardinal Wojtyla, who spoke of his exhaustion following the election of Pope John Paul I. No one imagined that less than a month later Cardinal Wojtyla would be back in Rome at another conclave, which elected him as Pope.

While most of the world marvelled at the Pope’s capacity to travel and meet so many people, Fr Tony was never surprised that he did all in his power to reach out to people.

‘He loved being with people and he was especially faithful at keeping in touch with his friends,’ he says. He visited the Pope seven times in Rome during his three-yearly pilgrimages. They last spoke in 2000.

During his pontificate, which began in October 1978, Pope John Paul II made at least 104 pastoral visits outside of Italy. It is believed that more than 17 and a half million pilgrims participated in the general audiences the Pope held on Wednesdays.

Yes, Pope John Paul II is dead: but not gone to his faithful friends. Fr Tony is sure the voice of Karol Wojtyla, urging people ‘not to be afraid’, will be heard forever.