On September 10, 2022, the general visitation of Father Carlos Luis Suárez Codorniú SCJ began in Poland. He visit each of the Dehonian houses and meet not only his confreres, but also parishioners, associates and friends of the Congregation.
Father General began his visit to Poland from the provincial house in Warsaw. He went to the places of presence and work of priests and Dehonians. These places are many and they are diverse.
First of all, Dehonians run 16 parishes throughout the country, in: Bełchatów, Binczarowa, Chmielów, Florynka, Glisne, Koszyce Małe, Kalisz, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Lublin, Pliszczynie, Sosnowiec, Stadniki, Stopnica, Węglówka and two parishes in Krakow, of which one is the diocesan shrine of Our Lady of Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Jesus. They also deal with specialist pastoral care, including Pastoral Care of Entrepreneurs and Employers “Talent”, pastoral care of fiancées, spouses and families “FamilyYES” based in Krakow Płaszów, a house with a full retreat offer dedicated to families, “Harbor for Families” in Kluczbork, Profeto – radio and the Cardinal evangelization portal, publishing house DEHON. As part of their evangelizing activities, Dehonians in Poland run 3 retreat houses in Pliszczyn, Węglówka and Koszyce Małe. They also run a holiday and conference house in Zakopane and a hotel with a conference facilities, Domus Mater in Krakow. Father General will stay in the above-mentioned institutions, but will also visit religious houses in Warsaw, Lublin and Tarnów.
Due to their formation and spiritual dimension, the most important houses are the postulancy and seminary in Stadniki and the novitiate in Stopnica. Dehonians also serve as chaplains at nuns in Warsaw, Kazimierz Dolny, Kęty, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Pacanów, Radna Góra, Robercin, and hospitals in Kraków-Prokocim, Kluczbork and Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. In addition, Father General will visit the John Paul II Foundation House in Lublin, where Dehonians have served since the very beginning of its existence.
In recent years, the work for the mission has been developing very strongly. The Dehonian Mission Secretariat is based in Warsaw, Lublin and Olsztyn. The missions ad gentes, as intended by the founder, Fr. Leon Jan Dehon, are a significant part of our Congregation’s mission in the world. This work occupies a large part of the heart of Fr. General, because he himself worked in the missions in India and Venezuela in his priestly ministry.
