By Bridget Spinks
THE newly beatified Pope John Paul II had such an impact on Balcatta’s Fr Irek Czech SDS that on 1 May, the Polish Salvatorian priest launched and consecrated the parish’s new JPII Youth Group to the new Blessed.
Fr Irek said that Karol Wojtyla – who was born six years before his own father, Bernard – was like a second father for him; a spiritual one.
He said he felt close to him through his writings and speeches, and the media coverage of his pilgrimages.
“I admired his ability to proclaim God’s Word to the crowds with a personal approach. I loved him because he loved youth,” Fr Irek said of John Paul II, whom Pope Benedict XVI beatified on 1 May in Rome. Fr Irek, who grew up in Wodzislaw Slaski in southern Poland, said he was “nourished” by John Paul II’s messages, which were passed on by his parish priests.
The writings of JPII, especially Love and Responsibility and his Wednesday audiences on marriage and sexuality, which came to be known as the Theology of the Body, helped Fr Irek to recognise the dignity of every human being and to respect others, including his high school girlfriend and also, himself.
“Already as a teenager, I knew that love and responsibility could not be separated,” he said.
His first close encounter with the Pontiff was on 10 June 1987 when John Paul II was on pilgrimage to Poland. “It was not a personal encounter with St Peter’s successor because I was part of a crowd of one million people in the city of Tarnów, but the experience was good enough to remember for the rest of my life,” he said.
On this trip, the Holy Father beatified a 16 year old Polish girl, Karolina Kózkówna, who died defending her purity.
Fr Irek was about the same age as Karolina so not only did the Pope’s visit leave a great impression but her life story did too, he said.
In 1992, while learning Italian for two months in Rome, Fr Irek was again close to the Holy Father and attended his Wednesday Angelus Domini and heard the Pope’s speeches more frequently.
Eight years, later Fr Irek met Pope John Paul II face to face and had a short chat with him in St Peter’s Square.
“I asked him to bless all the pastoral projects and initiatives I held in my heart, which he did,” he said.
Fr Irek’s newly formed JPII Youth Group has come about after discernment and the past few years of work with youth, he said.
The group had its first meeting on 15 May after the 6pm Mass.
The meeting began with a time of praise followed by prayers of intercession to Bl Pope John Paul II that those who attend may “become truly mature and responsible people”. They also prayed a Litany to Bl Pope John Paul II penned by Fr Irek. The group watched the first episode of Into the Heart with Christopher West followed by discussion groups and supper.
The second meeting will take place on 19 June, as meetings are scheduled for every third Sunday of the month. For more information, visit www.stlawrence.org.au or email jp2group@hotmail.com or call 9344 7066.