English
“The Church in Poland, especially our Episcopal Conference, owes you a great debt of gratitude, which we wish to repay with our prayers, kind words, and good memories,” wrote Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki, the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, in a letter to Fr. Pawel Ptasznik on the occasion of his retirement from working in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.
As Archbishop Gądecki emphasized in the letter, Fr. Ptasznik’s “main task was to facilitate contact between the Popes and the faithful and communities of the Church in Poland, and later also in other Slavic countries of our region. This work primarily involved reading and reporting on the rich correspondence coming from bishops, ecclesial communities, and the faithful, as well as politicians, state, and local offices.” Fr. Ptasznik “also translated the direct conversations of the Popes with politicians, other guests, and pilgrims, during public and private audiences.”
During his ministry at the Vatican, Fr. Ptasznik worked with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. “I trust that the important and unforgettable moments of working side by side with the Popes […] will bear blessed fruit of holiness in your life, and that you will continue to serve the Church and your homeland with your rich experience of work in the Secretariat of State and your outstanding talents,” wrote the Episcopate’s President.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
