Born in 1957 in Gdansk, Poland, to a family of 8 children, Fr. Tadeusz Swiatkowski, OFM Conv. learned early in life that he might have a calling to religious life. Reading his parents’ issues of Immaculata, the magazine founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe, Fr. Tadeusz first heard the call to become a Franciscan Friar. Inspired by the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Fr. Tadeusz entered Minor Seminary and then Franciscan Novitiate, making his solemn vows to Franciscan religious life in 1981. Fr. Tadeusz was ordained to the priesthood in 1983.

After serving two years in the parish of Niepokalanow, and studying the English language in Manchester, England, Fr. Tadeusz departed Poland for the mission in Kenya. While there, his first major assignment was as Formation Director of Postulants. However, in 1988 he was assigned to organize and direct the construction of the order’s Major Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1989, with the Seminary completed, 30 Franciscan students of Philosophy and Theology started to live and study there.

Among his many accomplishments of that time was his role as Editor of the Kenya Mission’s magazine, Messenger of Mary Immaculate. Modeled on St. Maximilian’s magazine, Knight of the Immaculate, the Messenger of Mary Immaculate presented the Marian spirituality of St. Maximilian Kolbe to an African audience.

In 1989, Fr. Tadeusz was elected Provincial Delegate for Kenya and Rector of Nairobi Seminary. Continuing his work as Editor of the Messenger of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Tadeusz assumed the role of Vocation Promoter for Kenya, while also starting to organize a new parish community complete with construction of a new church and friary building located in Limuru, 40 km from Nairobi.

Fr. Tadeusz, seated left, and Fr. Zenon Garus, OFM Conv., seated right, spend time at the street children home attached to the parish in Limuru. The home provides shelter, food, and education for 60 orphaned children living on the streets. Served by the Sacred Heart sisters as well as the Franciscan Friars Conventual, the street children home helps children have health and security in life, and provides support all the way through university study and job placement.

Recalling those early days of the mission, Fr. Tadeusz said, “It is interesting that at that time we had only one vehicle, a Toyota pick-up truck, which I used for daily transporting of students to the seminary, for shopping and also pastoral activities 40 km away in Limuru. When I think of it today, I wonder – how was it possible? God is great!”

As a missionary in Kenya, Fr. Tadeusz began visiting the homes of parishioners, a practice common in his native Poland but uncommon in Kenya. In the course of six months from when he started, Fr. Tadeusz visited 900 families. After this journey, his understanding of the struggles and joys of the Kenyans he served was transformed. One day after preaching a homily inspired by his new understanding of life in Kenya, an elderly woman in the parish gave him a big hug and proudly commended him for finally speaking like a Kenyan! Of this experience, Fr. Tadeusz said, “We can only work there if we know the people. You have to find ways to know them so you can help them.”

In 1998, Fr. Tadeusz was nominated to the office of Secretary General for Missionary Animation for the whole Order. In that position for nine years, Fr. Tadeusz travelled extensively strengthening and promoting Franciscan missions around the world. In 2007, Fr. Tadeusz was elected the General Assistant for Africa, a position on the Order’s leadership board that allowed him to focus on developing the Order’s missions in Africa, a continent that is very close to Fr. Tadeusz’s heart. As General Assistant for Africa, Fr. Tadeusz serves as a link between the Minister General, the Order’s leader in Rome, and the Order’s missions in Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, and Malawi.

Hoping to return one day to missionary work in Africa, Fr. Tadeusz reflected on what makes Franciscan missions special: “This is our characteristic: we are supposed to be with the people. Our parishes are supposed to be Franciscan parishes, meaning it’s not myself who works only, but we are working as a community. So people will know that we are a community and we help them to be a community, also.”