The following is a question-and-answer interview with Father Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, the head of the Polish section of Vatican Radio who presented a parish mission for three nights during Lent at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church.

Father Rytel-Andrianik also serves as a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. A story on one of his talks at St. Paul that focused on the Eucharist and the Mass begins on the preceding page.

Q: How did you become involved with your work at Vatican News? How long have you been working there?

A: The invitation came from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications quite unexpectedly a year ago when I was in charge of foreign communications for the Polish Bishops’ Conference. I was asked if I would take such a job. 

Working in the media has always been important to me, and I have experience as a spokesman for the Polish Bishops’ Conference. So, I was happy to take on this task. 

Q: You recently wrote an article for Vatican News about the number of vocations in the Diocese of Columbus. Is that a good sign for the Church, and what does that say about the local diocese?

A: First, it was a sign of God working personally for me. After not seeing each other for few years, I met Bishop Earl Fernandes – an old friend from my days studying Bible in Rome – in the Vatican.

He said there were no ordinations to the priesthood in his diocese when he was installed as bishop (in 2022). At the end of his episcopal ordination, he told the congregation that more men would be ordained bishops than priests that year. And then, 16 men entered the seminary last year, and there was an increase in the number of Catholics in just two years. 

This story moved me a lot, and I thought it was a sign of the work of God’s grace, which is worth sharing. The Lord has generously responded to genuine pastoral care for vocations and prayer in the diocese. It is a sign for the whole Church, especially in the places where people might sometimes get discouraged. 

The article appeared in Vatican Radio, Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano in many languages, such as English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Vietnamese. 

Q: You have traveled in the United States; what are your impressions about the Church in the United States – the faith, vibrancy of parishes, number of vocations, etc.?

A: During my travels in the United States, I visited various Catholic parishes. I am sure the American Church has much to give to the universal Church. 

During this stay, I visited the Diocese of Columbus. I was invited to preach at a Lenten mission at (Westerville) St. Paul the Apostle parish. I was very impressed by the parish’s commitment and the pastoral dedication of Father Jonathan Wilson, the pastor. 

I was able to see many different parish groups actively involved in the life of the parish, and the pastor: welcoming and always available when it comes to the needs of parishioners. I was happy to see the involvement of the youth.

I have also heard that on Ash Wednesday there were about 900 people at Mass at the (Columbus St. Thomas More) Newman Center! Excellent and effective pastoral practices and the activity of the faithful are important, though not the only aspects to share with other local churches. 

Q: How would you compare the Church in Poland, your native country, with the Church in the United States?

A: One might say the Catholic Church in Poland is a monolith. It is very homogeneous. About 90 percent of the country’s population declares that they are Catholics and they are Polish, except for very small groups of national minorities or immigrants. 

The Church in the United States is very diverse, bringing together people of different backgrounds and ethnicities. This richness is aptly depicted in the main altar of the Westerville (St. Paul the Apostle) church. There are 15 saints around the cross of Christ, and almost every one is of a different origin!

Q: Poland has always been considered a very Catholic country; is the Church there facing challenges similar to other countries in the world?

A: For all the faithful, just as in Poland, the challenge is the new reality after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Church and the faithful must rediscover their ways of presence, ministry and pastoral care. It is not simply returning to what was but learning new ways, drawing on this difficult experience. 

In addition, the Church in Poland must face the situation of war in neighboring Ukraine. The challenge is to welcome refugees, more than 1.5 million of whom have officially taken up long-term residence in Poland. 

Many of these people are traumatized, and the fear of war affects both refugees and Polish citizens. Another pastoral challenge is accommodating the needs of Ukrainians, who are predominantly Greek Catholics or Orthodox, not Roman Catholics. There are also those who stayed in Ukraine and need our humanitarian help, more and more often psychological and spiritual. 

Q: The Eucharistic Revival taking place in the United States – is that a very important revival to rekindle devotion to the Eucharist? And is anything similar planned in Poland?

A: The Servant of God Father John Hardon said, “Love wants us to be close to the one whom it loves. The Holy Eucharist is divine genius!” We are constantly discovering this, and we need to renew our desire to be with Jesus, who is really present in the Eucharist. 

So, it is essential to rekindle this devotion. The Eucharist is the center and root of the Christian’s life.

In recent years, we have been experiencing an extraordinary Eucharistic retreat in Poland. God Himself has taken care of this by giving two signs, the so-called Eucharistic miracles in two different towns three years apart, in Sokolka and Legnica. 

In both cases, the Host, which had fallen to the ground, was placed in a container of water, as prescribed, to dissolve, but this did not happen. Instead, bloody tissue appeared, which specialized scientific studies have identified as coming from the heart muscle of a man in agony. 

This is not, of course, about the extraordinary for their own sake but, the fact is, that both events help revive faith and devotion to the Eucharist.