Fr. Andrzej Józef Pitlok SDS (1920-2012)

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Fr. Andrzej Józef Pitlok SDS (1920-2012)

Fr. Andrzej Pitlok was born on September 2nd 1920 in Ćwiklice, Pszczyna district, Silesian province. In 1944-1946 he was a soldier and participated in combat operations of the II Polish Corps in Italy. In 1946 he entered the Society of the Divine Savior in Rome and his novitiate formation took place in Narni.

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 On October 11th 1947 he made his first religious profession and on the same date of 1950 he took his perpetual vows. He studied philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained to the Priesthood in the Eternal City on June 29th 1952. In summer 1953 he was superior and prefect of the seminarians in Castelgandolfo. In March 1954 he was sent to the United States and since then he lived in Polish communities in the USA and Italy. Fr. Andrzej’s task in America was pastoral work and duties in religious communities. Until 1958 he lived in Gary and then, until 1961 in Kinnelon. Afterwards he returned to Gary, where he was a treasurer of the community. In 1963 his superiors appointed him as a candidate to go to Brazil. However the idea of sending priests from North America to South America was not accomplished. In 1967 he was transferred to religious house in Verona. Toward the end of 1968 he was summoned by the Generalate to Rome and was entrusted with the ministry at the Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament at St. Peter’s Basilica. In the beginning of 1970 he was sent, to work under the contract, for three years in the Italian Province. In Narni he was superior and community treasurer. Later, asked by the Generalate, he returned to the Motherhouse as a community treasurer and assistant to the general treasurer. In 1974-1975 he studied at the Pontifical Institute of Spirituality “Teresianum”, where he received the “Diploma di Perizia in teologia spiritual.” In 1976-1977 he helped at the General Archives. Later on he worked as a chaplain at the Generalate of the Salvatorian Sisters and at the Salvator Mundi Clinic at Monte Verde. After the contract he was considering, as a former soldier, to dedicate to the pastoral ministry at the Polish chapel in the Basilica of Loreto and at the Polish cemetery. Eventually, in April 1979 he returned to the United States and for 13 years he lived in the community in Merrillville. Then, for four years he was a chaplain and spiritual director at the Provincial House of the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In 1996 he moved to the religious house in Verona, where he assisted in pastoral work in diverse parishes. In 2000 he returned to Poland and lived in Mikołów until his death.
 Fr. Andrzej was a man of prayer and great zeal. He was interested in Christian mysticism and eschatology. He wrote and published several works on these subjects. He passed away in Mikołów, in the evening of April 20th. He was 92 years old. His funeral took place on April 25th at 11 a.m. at the parish church of the Salvatorians in Mikołów. Fr. Piotr Filas, provincial superior, presided over the Holy Mass. Fr. Andrzej Pitlok was buried in the tomb of the Salvatorians at the local cemetery.