RIP: 10/09/2021 - Lindi

Fr. Hieronim/Jerome (Walenty) Siwek was born on 7 February 1939 in Bieruń Stary. In 1946, he started learning at the local primary school. After successfully passing his secondary school examination in 1958, he felt a strong desire to become a missionary. He applied to the Provincial for admission to the novitiate in Bagno. On September 8, 1959, he professed his first vows in Bagno and began his studies in the Salvatorian Theological Seminary. On 7 June 1965, he was ordained a priest in his home parish. After ordination, Fr. Jerome was transferred to Kraków, where he continued his theological studies as part of his Pastoral Year. From that moment on, he became very active in conducting retreats, was involved with pastoral ministries, and presented missionary retreats in different parishes, and worked with youth and vocation promotion. After having obtained his preparation for future missionary work in Rome along with a language course in the USA, he went to Tanzania. Between 1968 and 1986 Fr. Jerome worked zealously in different places in the country. Because of health reasons, he was transferred in 1986 to Verona (USA). There he was entrusted with the pastoral duties and put in the service of helping in neighboring parishes. In 1988 he returned to Poland and was assigned to the community of Trzebinia, where he was entrusted with helping to lead retreats at St. Joseph’s Retreat House. From then on, Fr. Jerome switched at different times between his home country, where he worked at the Salvatorian Foreign Missions Centre, and in Tanzania, where he was active in different parishes. He died on 10 September 2021 in Lindi (Tanzania). He was 82 old and had been for 62 years a Salvatorian.