On October 20, at the age of 83, struggling with the Covid -19, His Excellency Bishop Bogdan Wojtuś, senior bishop of the Archdiocese of Gniezno (Poland), returned to the Father’s house.
A great man has passed away, a Priest who loved the gift of a vocation, a Shepherd – in the measure of the Heart of Jesus, a professor, a member of many diocesan and national Church bodies, for us the Pallottine Sisters – a Father and a faithful Friend.
Passage to heaven of the late Bishop Bogdan has interrupted our common history, common issues and plans. He has visited our communities many times. Among other things, he was a lecturer in moral theology in our Novitiate. He has always shared our Pallottine heritage with great enthusiasm and passion, strengthening us with his personal experience of the love of Christ and the Church. Always cordial, discreet, fraternal and competent. We spent many hours praying together and talking in confidence, sharing the joys and challenges of everyday life.
Today we are again united in spiritual closeness and hope to meet again. The faith in Jesus, the Lord of life and death, gives comfort and strength. Let the love that transcends mortality and the limits of death last forever: for us in the form of gratitude for the life of Bishop Bogdan, for him as a gift of salvation. The Bishop will remain among us, not only in prayer and kind memory, but above all in the testimony of his works, thanks to which the evangelical fire and love will have no end.
“Thank you” is not enough to express the gratitude that we Pallottine Sisters have in our hearts for Bishop Bogdan. The words from the Gospel of St. John beautifully reflect his pastoral and apostolic life: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die”(Jn 11: 25-26).
Today we entrust to Mary’s, Queen of Rosary, motherly hands a man of great integrity and modesty, full of warmth and goodness, kind to people and completely devoted to his service.
May he rest in peace
United in the hope of the Risen Lord,
Sr. Izabela Świerad SAC
Superior General
