Fr Pawel Kozacki has been elected as the Prior Provincial of the Province of Poland. His election has been confirmed by the Master of the Order, fr Bruno Cador. He succeeds fr Krzysztof Poplawski, who was the Provincial for the past two terms.
Fr Kozacki was born on 8th of January 1965 in Poznan. He entered the Order in 1983. During his novitiate he was arrested for his previous anti-communism activity; after few weeks he was released due to the amnesty. He made his solemn profession in the Order in 1989 and was ordained to the priesthood the following year.
He worked in St. Dominic’s Parish in Szczecin for the first three years of his priesthood. He was a vicar and an academic chaplain. He collaborated with the Polish Radio in Szczecin and with the Radio ‘As’.
He was the editor-in-chief of the “W drodze” Publishing House in Poznan between 1993 and 1995. For the next 15 years (till 2010) he was the director of the monthly periodical titled “W drodze”. “I wanted to transform this periodical: from dealing with timeless issues into a place for discussion about current topics” – that’s how he recalls the beginning of this work. He succeeded – when he was leaving the editorial board, the periodical had a circulation of a few thousands and was bringing on hot discussions of the public opinion.
He was also the prior of the Convent in Poznan. In 2010 he was elected as the prior of the Convent in Krakw – the oldest and largest Dominican convent in Poland. In 2013 he was re-elected. He took care of the Dominican Pilgrimage to Jasna Gra, joining the pilgrims every year from Krakw to the Our Lady’s Shrine of Czestochowa.
The new Provincial is also very fond of sports like roller skating, cycling and running. Few months ago he ran his first marathon. He also loves travelling. After visiting his brothers in the USA, Cameroon and Japan, he gave a chronicle of his adventure in the W Drodze and for it, he was awarded an important journalist prize in Poland.
(7 February 2014)