When the Holy Spirit drove the Apostles to bring Christ’s message to the ends of the Earth, they did not know that the place known today as Alaska even existed.
But thanks to many successive generations of Christians following the missionary impulse of the Spirit, Christ’s presence is known and felt along the Bering Sea on the far western edge of the state.
One modern-day missionary who has taken Christ to the northerly part of the world, where the West meets the East, is Father Stan Jaszek.
Alaska is quite literally a world away from Father Jaszek’s birthplace. He grew up in Poland during communist rule. He witnessed how St. Pope John Paul II inspired his home country to draw strength and enlightenment from Catholic ideals to peacefully secure freedom and democracy.
“That experience had perhaps the greatest influence on my worldview and understanding of faith,” he said.
Seeing Polish Catholics overcome communism—mostly through prayer—taught me that God works gently, and change takes time, but grace always brings forth positive results.”
Father Jaszek felt his own call from God to transform communities through faith and concrete action.
Missionary life on the edges of the word
Father Jaszek was ordained a diocesan priest in Poland in 1988 and soon began his first missionary experience in the mountains of Peru with the permission of his bishop.
Within a few years he went to South Africa, arriving just after the end of apartheid. He provided pastoral care in more than a dozen impoverished communities.
Like the first Apostles, the Spirit continued to push him to new missionary frontiers. After eight years he felt called in a completely different environment: Alaska.
He spent the first several years in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region learning how to survive.
“We live in isolated areas where there are no roads connecting us to the rest of civilization. Everything is weather depending,” he said.
Most of the Yup’ik people live subsistence lifestyles—fishing, hunting and gathering for food. By learning from them, he strengthened his bonds within the community.
He develops relationships founded in trust and respect, inviting people into a further relationship with God and building off their existing spirituality.
He said,
There is that conviction that everything is permeated with spirit.”
The transformation can take place in the simplest of gestures. One day, he saw a man struggling to chop wood, so Father Jaszek joined him in the chore and conversed with him. The man was not Catholic, but soon he began to go to church.
Today, Father Jaszek rotates between four villages and their parishes, spending about two weeks at each; they include Sacred Heart in Emmonak (below), St. Joseph in Kotlik, St. Ignatius in Alakanuk and St. Peter in Nunam Iqua.
Catholic Extension Society has helped strengthen each parish by constructing their buildings or supporting ministry training, religious education and other essential programs—even funding the fuel that carries Father Jaszek from place to place.
During a typical year, he will make 60 to 80 trips. His transportation changes depending on the season. In winter he rides a snowmobile.
When the snow begins to melt, he takes a plane.
In summer he drives a boat.
The spirit of the Yup’ik
Father Jaszek entered into the lifestyle and cultural rhythm of the native people, which means he too lives a largely subsistence lifestyle. He often has to forage for his food.
By living like the people, he has developed a ministry that integrates their spirituality with the Catholic faith.
He introduces saints, devotions and liturgical practices that resonate with the native community, incorporating Yup’ik hymns and drumming into Mass. He invites them to celebrate feast days and shares their traditional foods such as bear, whale and caribou.
“He immerses himself in indigenous people’s way of life to demonstrate his love for them and invite them into a closer relationship with God. Alaska Natives, both Catholic and non-Catholic, universally hold Father Stan in high regard because they see this and know he affirms their human dignity,” said Bishop Chad Zielinski of the Diocese of Fairbanks.
Now in his 19th year in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Father Jaszek is one of the longest serving priests in the diocese. This past year was perhaps one of the most difficult.
During the pandemic lockdown, he spent hours on the phone every day counseling people.
When Holy Week arrived in 2020 and services were canceled due to COVID-19, Father Jaszek walked 22 miles round trip in the snow to deliver palms to the parishioners of St. Ignatius in Alakanuk.
In this community, the palms are especially meaningful, imbued with God and spirit.
He said,
I knew it was going to be hard for them not to have any services for Holy Week or Easter, so I wanted them to have something tangible to carry them through.”
As a result of the pandemic canceling the fishing season, the area has experienced great economic repercussions. It will take years to recover. Father Jaszek said he will continue his mission as long as he is needed and as long as he can.
“I see the need for God among the people,” he said. “Responding to that need is my strongest motivation.”
Father Jaszek will not be alone in his work. Each supporter of Catholic Extension Society is present in his ministry, as a companion walking two by two with him and the faith-filled Alaskan communities he serves.
Catholic Extension Society has strengthened faith communities in Alaska since its founding. We continue to work in solidarity with Father Jaszek and other missionary priests like him.
We support salaries, travel costs and basic expenses of the missionaries on this edge of the world—where the ground is often frozen, but the people’s hearts remain warm with the light of Christ.
Catholic Extension Society is honored to share the accomplishments of Father Stan Jaszek, a finalist for the 2021-2022 Lumen Christi Award. Visit this page to read the other inspiring stories from this year’s finalists.
