On January 4, 2020, Friar Nikodem POWOJSKI of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw) celebrated his 85th birthday and his 60th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.
The celebration took place at the Friary of St. Anthony at the Baths, “La Vigna”. Friar Nikodem was born January 5, 1935, in Wysokie Mazowieckie, Poland. In 1951, he entered the Order of Conventual Friars Minor. In 1957, he made his solemn profession on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception and on February 7, 1960, he was ordained to the priesthood. After that, he devoted himself to pastoral ministry in various places in Poland, including Kołobrzeg (1960-1968), Poznan (1968-1969), Wyszogrod (1969), Skarżysko-Kamienna (1969-1972), and Niepokalanów (1972-1983). Since 1983, he has been at Santa Severa in Rome.
Friar Nikodem celebrated this jubilee with his dearest friends, confreres and other guests, including the Minister General, Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI; the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI; the Secretary General Friar Tomasz SZYMCZAK; Father Pawel PTASZNIK, head of the Polish section of the Vatican’s Secretary of State; Father Jan GŁÓWCZYK, Coordinator of Pastoral Outreach to Polish migrants in Rome; the Sisters of the Congregation of the Servants of the Poor (Dina Sevana Sabha), and confreres from “La Vigna” and the other General Houses in Rome.
Friar Carlos thanked Friar Nikodem for his testimony of Franciscan life and humble service for the good of the Church and of the Order. The Minister General took the opportunity to personally welcome the new community of the Servants of the Poor, who began their presence at the Friary of “La Vigna” on January 1, 2020. He expressed his joy and hope that this presence will contribute to the growth of the congregation and its institutional consolidation. (It has been a congregation of pontifical right since 2003). He hoped the Sisters’ charism, service to the poor and to street children, will be edifying to the friars and raise their awareness, too.
This lovely celebration could not end without the traditional Polish greeting song, so everyone joined in to sing: “Sto lat” (100 years) to Friar Nikodem!
Friar Piotr Krzysztof KŁYS
Photo: Grzegorz GAŁĄZKA
