New priest comes to Salt Lake City from Poland

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Adrian Komar

SALT LAKE CITY — Father Adrian Komar arrived in Utah on May 1. He remembers the date because it is a state holiday in his native Poland. It also is a time to celebrate the Virgin Mary, under her name as Our Lady, Queen of Poland.

Since his arrival, Fr. Komar has been studying English at the University of Utah while residing at Saint Ambrose Parish, where he regularly celebrates Mass, including the biweekly Polish Mass. He will study English for at least one more semester before undertaking an assignment, as yet to be determined, in the diocese.

Fr. Komar, who was born in Warsaw, heard the call to the priesthood while he was still in high school. He credits his parents for helping him fulfill his vocation.

"My parents ... always were and now they always are a very good example for me, an example of faith," he said, adding that they also supported his decision to become a priest. "I think this is very important because in my life I’ve met a lot of parents who have said to their children, ‘I want you to be a doctor or a lawyer,’ and the children didn’t have a choice. My parents always said, ‘You can be what you want.’"

After receiving a theology degree from the higher seminary in the Diocese of Siedlce, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski on June 10, 2006.

Many people, upon meeting him, are surprised to learn he has been a priest for seven years, he said. "When they see me they think that I’m a seminarian."

After ordination, he asked his bishop for permission to come to the United States but instead was assigned as a parish priest. He also taught high school. Then, a year ago, Fr. Komar again requested to work in the U.S., and this time received permission. Fr. Komar sent his curriculum vitae to several dioceses, and "this one was the first to ask for me," he said.

His desire to come to the U.S. was formed at the age of 17, when he visited an uncle in Newark, Conn.

"I thought in this moment that I wanted to come back to this country and work here," he said.

The most difficult part of his transition to American culture has been the language, he said, in part because many words are written one way but pronounced another. However, "even little details like the weather is so different. Here it is more hot. But in the Church, I think, it is similar. People come here to pray."

In his home country, Fr. Komar worked most frequently with youth, particularly the ecumenical movement, he said, and he frequently organized pilgrimages to other countries.

"I saw thousands of different people, of different youth especially, and they came from different countries with different cultures, with different religions, and they can talk to each other," he said.

The ecumenical movement and devotion to Mary are two aspects of Polish Catholic life that he hopes to integrate into his work as a priest in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, he said, although he believes he has to wait to learn more about the culture here and also what his assignment will be.

"I’m open to work with everyone," he said.