Fr Leszek Gęsiak SJ elected Spokesman of the Polish Bishops' Conference for a second term of office

https://episkopat.pl/doc/230324.Ks-Leszek-Gesiak-SJ-rzecznikiem-Konferencji-Episkopatu-Polski

https://episkopat.pl/doc/230335.P-Leszek-Gesiak-SJ-eletto-portavoce-della-Conferenza-Episcopale

The Spokesman of the Polish Bishops' Conference maintains contact with journalists, facilitating their access to information on the activities of the Conference, supports the bishops in their contacts with the media and manages the Press Office as its director.

Fr Prof. Leszek Gęsiak SJ was born on 30 May 1965. He is a Jesuit, professor at the Ignatianum University in Krakow. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1985. He graduated in philosophy at the Philosophical Faculty of the Society of Jesus in Krakow. After philosophy, he worked at the Secretariat of the Ignatian Year in Barcelona and Manresa (Spain) and at Escola Tècnica Professional del Clot in Barcelona. He then studied Spanish language and culture at the University of Zaragoza (Spain), while also working as a teacher at the Colegio del Salvador and coordinator of the Communities of Christian Life at the Centro Pignatelli. He graduated in theology in 1995 at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology ‘Bobolanum’ in Warsaw. He was ordained a priest by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski on 29 June 1996 in Krakow.

He completed his specialization studies in theology in the field of ecumenical ecclesiology at the Centre Sèvres Institute in Paris. For one year he worked as a vicar in the parish of Corbeil-Essonnes (France). On his return to Poland, he became the prefect of seminarians at the College of Jesuits in Krakow. He completed his third religious probation in Sydney and also worked with the Australian Polish community at the Jesuit Polish Pastoral Centre in Melbourne. After returning to Europe, he worked in the Catholic Information and European Initiatives Office in Brussels, where he cooperated with European Union institutions and the COMECE. He was also the coordinator of the Polish Section of the Catholic European Centre in Brussels (Foyer Catholique Européen), a chaplain to European Union and NATO officials, a member of the editorial board of the Europe Infos monthly, and a correspondent for Vatican Radio from Brussels. During that time, he was also a member of the Team of Advisors on the European Union at the Polish Bishops' Conference.

From 2003 to 2006, he was the assistant to the Provincial Minister of the Southern Poland Province of the Society of Jesus in Krakow. Subsequently, he was superior of the Community of the House of Writers of the Jesuits in Krakow. From 2006 to 2010, he was editor-in-chief of the Catholic monthly Messenger. From 2010 to 2012 he was a regular contributor to Radio Kraków, and from 2012 to 2017 he was the head of the Polish Section of Vatican Radio.

In 2004, he obtained his doctoral degree from the Institute of Religious Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow on the basis of the dissertation: Multiculturalism. The role of religion in the dynamics of the phenomenon. He has been a lecturer at Ignatianum University in Krakow since 2005.

On 27 August 2020, the 386th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference held at Jasna Góra elected him spokesman of the Polish Episcopate for a term of five years.

In 2021, he obtained a postdoctoral degree at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin in the field of social sciences, in the discipline of social communication and media sciences. In 2022, he was appointed professor at Ignatianum University.

He was a professor (professore invitato) at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has taught at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester MA (USA), as well as at the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon, the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut (Lebanon), and the Uruguayan Catholic University in Montevideo. He has also taught at the European Humanism in the Making Summer School of the European Federation of Catholic Universities in Gubbio (Italy). He is currently Head of the Department of Media and Social Communication at Ignatianum University in Krakow. He is the author of scientific publications on multiculturalism and media studies. He speaks several foreign languages, including fluent English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Press Office of the Polish Bishops' Conference