Our Pastor
On Oct. 24, 2010, Father Michal Gitner was assigned as pastor of St. Joseph’s of Stratford, Conn., by Rt. Rev. Thomas Gnat, bishop of the Eastern Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. Ask Father Michal what he likes about being a priest and he will give you an answer that is short and to the point. “Everything,” says the new pastor of St. Joseph’s. “I love celebrating the Sacraments and teaching. It is an honor to become part of people’s lives.”
Fr. Michal was officially assigned as the permanent pastor in October, filling the role vacated when Bishop Anthony Kopka was assigned to the Western Diocese in July 2009.Now that he has been in Stratford for a time, ask him how it feels being the new pastor and he is equally to the point.
“It’s a privilege and a positive challenge at the same time,” he says. And then he goes deeper. “A privilege because knowing the democratic nature of our Church, it takes soul-searching and prayer [for the parish] to accept someone unknown, of a different pastoral experience, culturally. Resumes are great but they do not really tell much about personality, convictions or passions.”
The positive challenge is a parish and its new pastor moving forward together into the next chapter for St. Joseph’s. “It is not an easy task to step in after a pastor of 27 years, one who was loved and well-respected. On the other hand, I see it as a test of faith. If we truly believe that it is God’s doing, then with God all things are possible.”
Fr. Michal was born in Rybnik, Poland, and ordained a priest in Warsaw in May 1988. After a year in Poland he was assigned to Australia in 1990 and it was Down Under where he spent the majority of his career, making a number of stops along the way. During his time abroad he ministered to parishes of all sizes, from very small to those numbering in the thousands. “My first Mass in Western Australia was in an open-air, makeshift church,” he says, “with my driver, two nuns and two dogs that were hiding from the 100-degree heat, in attendance.”
He left Australia for London in June 2006 to further his education and continued his pastoral duties at parish in the city. In September 2007 Father Michal was sent to Singapore, where he served until July 2009. It was during his time that he met his wife, Geraldine.
Now that the long journey has reached its end, Father Michal can now catch his breath and focus on this parish, for which he has many high hopes. Part of his agenda will be furthering education in faith for his parishioners. He has a strong belief that faith is much more than piety and an emotional attachment to one’s faith tradition.
“Enthusiasm can be contagious,” he says. “I believe that people are willing to try new things, but they need some guidance and encouragement. When the Apostles preached the resurrection of Jesus they were ridiculed, laughed at, but they didn’t stop preaching.” But it doesn’t end there. “I’d love St Joseph’s to be known as place of prayer. A place where even the first-time visitor will be able to encounter God’s presence and will go home somehow enriched by that experience. “In the biblical terms I’d love for people to know and believe that ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life’ (John 3:16). And then translate it into practical terms.”
Father Michal may be new to St. Joseph’s, but he and the PNCC are no strangers. The introduction came in the mid-1970s when he was a teen-ager in Poland and happened to meet a visiting priest. That priest happened to be Father Senior Fryderyk Banas, who serves at Holy Cross Parish in Ware, Mass., and recently celebrated his 60th anniversary as a priest of the PNCC. The two struck up a friendship that exists to this day. “It is a friendship has always been based on a mutual respect and understanding,” he says.
Along with his ministry, Fr. Michal brings a love of sport and activity to Stratford. “It’s my passion,” he says. “I love watching [sports], in moderation though. But more than watching I love physical activity. Jogging, tennis, swimming are my favorites. I enjoy hiking – it is a kind of a physical and spiritual exercise for me.” Politics, history and current events are passions as well. “I think it is fascinating to know what is happening in the world,” he says. “I am very much tuned to news where justice is an issue.”
As for the future, Father Michal sticks to his now-familiar form of being direct and to the point. “I am not afraid of trying new ways to convey a message. If standing on a pew may help, then why not?” he says. “I know that I can’t change the world, yet I am looking for ways that we can make a difference.”
For information about our former pastors, click here.