Fr. Benedykt Pazdan

I was born and raised in Poland in a little village of about three thousand inhabitants called Zagorzyce. I am blessed to be part of a “small” family of eleven. I have five brothers and five sisters and fifteen nieces and nephews. I love them all dearly.

I started my seminary studies in 1999 in the diocese of Rzeszow, Poland. In 2001, after responding to Francis Cardinal George’s invitation, I decided to come to Chicago to complete my seminary formation. In 2006, at the age of 25, I graduated from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Since then, I have served at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Streamwood, IL, St. Edna’s in Arlington Heights, IL, and at the legacy parish of St. Bernadette in Evergreen Park, and now as pastor of St. Gianna Parish. Some of my additional responsibilities throughout the years consisted of being the Director of Religious Education at the Emilia Plater Polish School in Bartlett, IL as well as the Assistant Vocation Director of the Archdiocese of Chicago.