a special missionary award from the Mission
Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.
Credit: Fr. Krzysztof Nizniak, SDB
By Provincial Fr. Dominic Tran, SDB
(Toronto, ON – May 12) – Fr. Bartłomiej Polański, SDB, provincial of Wroclaw, Poland, visited the New York area for a few days during the first week of May. One of the purposes of his visit was to honor two Salesian missionaries originally from Wroclaw who served in Africa, and now in the U.S.
Fr. Polański presented Fr. Krzysztof Nizniak, SDB, member of the New Rochelle community, currently serving at Salesian Missions, with a memento to mark Fr. Krzysztof's 25th anniversary of priestly ordination (the anniversary was in May 2025). The souvenir was made by the young people with special needs at one of the schools in the Wroclaw Province. It has 25 steps, symbolizing the 25 years of his priesthood, leading to the cross.
Fr. Polański also presented Fr. Jan Bernas, SDB, a special missionary award from the Mission Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for his many years of evangelizing work in Zambia in the 1980s and 1990s. It was a recognition of his dedication to forming vocations and missionary service among the local people. He encouraged priestly and religious vocations and helped to form seminarians and young Salesians. One of the young men he guided later became a bishop.
The Salesians in Wroclaw received the medal and certificate on Fr. Jan's behalf on October 23, 2025, in Pieniężno, where the 2025 ceremony for the presentation of the “Benemerenti in Opere Evangelizationis” Medal took place. Fr. Jan now resides at St. Joseph's Senior Home in Woodbridge, NJ.
