SPRINGFIELD – The Rev. Piotr Stanislaw Calik, currently Pastor of All Saints and St. Mary’s Parishes in Ware, was appointed Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield by Bishop William Byrne.

The post, the highest under a bishop in the supervision of a diocese and its administrative offices, has been vacant since last summer when the ninth bishop of the diocese – Mitchell T. Rozanski – was appointed Archbishop of Saint-Louis, and the Reverend Monsignor Christophe connelly, rector of the Saint-Michel cathedral, declared that he would not seek the renewal of his mandate.

A report issued at that time had criticized Connelly in his investigation into how the diocese had handled allegations of sexual abuse against the late Bishop Christopher Weldon.

“After much prayer and consultation, I appoint Father Piotr Calik Vicar General and curia moderator for the Diocese of Springfield, ”Byrne said in an announcement on Catholic communications from the diocese website.

Byrne, who was installed as bishop here in December, said that “many of Pyotr’s gifts are well suited to this transition period” and said the appointment “will be full-time to enable me to be a bishop, not from an office, but from our diocese.

“I am grateful that Father Piotr has agreed to serve in this capacity because I know he enjoys being a pastor,” Byrne said.

Calik, who was ordained a priest in 2013 by Bishop Emeritus Timothy McDonnell, called his appointment in the advertisement a “very humbling experience” and compared it to “parish work but in a larger area”.

The 36-year-old priest has a twin brother Pawel and is originally from Krakow, Poland, where he previously worked as a chef’s assistant at a restaurant in the Sheraton hotel after attending a cooking school. His studies for the priesthood began at the Papal Academy in Krakow, continued in SS. Cyril and Method seminar there then at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan, where he completed his ordination studies.

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