Fr. Jan Wadolowski OMI – Associate Pastor

Fr. Jan Wadolowski was born on May 16, 1949 in Targonie Krytuły, Poland – the youngest child in his family. He completed studies at the Oblate juniorate in Markowice and after one year at the novitiate, professes his first vows in 1969. He then studied philosophy at the Oblate scholasticate in Obra for two years. Jan felt that his vocation wasn’t yet certain, so he travelled to Gdansk in search of employment. This goal was hardly realized, however, as he was called soon afterwards for compulsory military service.

In 1975, Jan returned to the seminary in Obra and professed his perpetual vows on August 8, 1977. Two years later, he defended his Master’s thesis on the subject of the role of media in Vatican II and post-Vatican II teaching.

After his ordination, Fr. Jan served as assistant pastor at the Oblate parish in Katowice and, together with a group of confreres, prepared to travel to Madagascan. After completing a four-month course in French in Paris, Fr. Jan arrived in Madagascar on December 4, 1980. He served there for ten years.

In 1990, Fr. Jan asked his superiors that he be transferred to Canada due to ill health. As was the case with many newcomers, he began to learn English. His ministries include: St. Casimir’s Parish in Toronto, Holy Ghost Parish in Winnipeg, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Welland, St. Hyacinth Parish in Ottawa, St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Toronto, Mission Centre at the Provincial House in Toronto, Our Lady Queen of Poland Parish in Wilno, St. Casimir’s Parish in Round Lake, St. Hedwig’s Parish in Barry’s Bay, St. Casimir’s Parish and Copernicus House in Vancouver, St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Hamilton. As of 2025, Fr. Jan serves as the associate pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Mississauga.

Nature, walks, learning about foreign places and cultures as well as mass media – these are some of Fr. Jan’s hobbies.

Fr. Pawel Ratajczak OMI – Associate Pastor

Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, O.M.I., was born in Białystok, Poland, and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1986.  He lived mostly in the Toronto area, establishing ties with the region’s Polish diaspora.  After finishing high school in Mississauga, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Waterloo, thinking of becoming a lawyer. That initial vision gave way slowly to an increasing realization that he was called to the priesthood and consecrated life.  With this in mind, Fr. Paweł joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Assumption Province) in 1999. During initial formation he studied at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta, and subsequently at St. Paul University and the University of Ottawa.  At the two latter institutions, he earned an ecclesiastical baccalaureate (S.T.B.) concurrently with a bachelor’s degree, both in Theology.

Fr. Paweł took his final vows as a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate in June of 2007, and was ordained a priest in January of 2007.  Initially, he served as an Associate Pastor at St. Casimir’s Parish in Toronto, and then spent almost four years as the Director of Catholic Youth Studio, a daily Polish radio program, broadcast in the Greater Toronto Area.  In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of radio ministry, from on-air hosting to fundraising and administration.

In June of 2013, Fr. Paweł was sent for studies to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.  There, in 2015, he completed an ecclesiastical licence (S.T.L.) and, in 2017, defended an ecclesiastical doctorate (S.T.D.) in Theology, with a specialization in Spirituality.  Fr. Paweł’s doctoral dissertation was entitled “Participation in God and Its Relation to Koinonia-Communio in Select Writings (1945-1978) of Karol Wojtyła: Implications for a Spirituality of Marriage”.  Marriage, the family, and the spirituality associated with them remain close to Fr. Paweł’s heart, both pastorally and academically.

Fr. Paweł served as pastor of St. Hedwig’s parish in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, from 2018 to 2024. During this time, he was a sessional instructor in Theology at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College. He taught courses in Christology, Trinity, and States of Life. From 2024 to 2025 he was Program Director at Queen of Apostles Renewal Center in Mississauga.  Since September of 2025, Fr. Paweł is assigned as Associate Pastor at St. Maximilian Kolbe parish in Mississauga, Ontario.

Fr. Paweł’s parents and sisters live in the Greater Toronto Area.

Fr. Jonas Lalik OMI – Associate Pastor

Fr. Jonas Lalik OMI was born on July 15, 1999, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He spent the first years of his childhood in Hamilton. Then he moved with his family to Oakville and then to Barrie.

One constant that never changed, even with all the moves, was being a parishioner of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Mississauga.  He was a member of the altar servers and the Oblate youth group. It was in the youth group that he understood the importance of community and faith. Here he also heard the call to an Oblate vocation during a pilgrimage in France with the youth. After finishing high school in 2017, he decided to join the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Fr. Jonas did his formation abroad, novitiate and Philosophy in Poland, and Theology in Rome. He made his perpetual vows on May 1, 2023, in Rome. After his theological studies, he returned to Poland, where he was ordained a deacon in Siedlce on September 8, 2023. In early 2024 he flew to Cuba for a six-month mission experience in Los Palacios, Cuba. He was ordained a priest at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish on August 22nd, 2024. He is currently serving at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish as the associate pastor.

His hobbies include listening to good music, fishing, hiking and skiing. He is particularly interested in history, the Church Fathers, reading the lives of the saints and studying the Bible.

Sr. Halina Pierożak MChR

Sr. Halina was born on June 21, 1977. In 1996, she began her religious formation in the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Christ the King for the Polish Diaspora Abroad in Poznań. She made her first vows in 1999 and her perpetual profession in 2004. In the years 1999-2009 she worked in religious houses of the Congregation in Poland. She graduated from theological studies in Poznań. In 2009, she left to work among the Polish community in Greece. She catechized children and youth at the School at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Athens and worked in the parish of the Heart of Christ the Savior. In 2016, she started a Polish diaspora mission in Great Britain in the parish of St. John the Evangelist in London-Putney and the Polish Saturday school Putney-Wimbledon. Then she worked in the north of England in Morecambe and Blackburn and in Polish schools in Blackburn and Accrington. In 2020 Sr. Halina was sent to work in Canada. Due to pandemic disruptions, she arrived in Mississauga in May 2021.