Official biography of the Fr Bogdan Palka SDS (1963-2024)
Bogdan Pałka was born on November 1, 1963 in Krzeszowice, located between Trzebinia and Krakow. Together with his younger siblings, sister and brother, he was raised in the home of Adam and Marianna, née Piechowicz. On November 24, 1963, Bogdan’s parents brought him to the church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his native Paczółtowice, where he received the sacrament of holy baptism. In the years 1970-78, he attended primary school in his native town. In 1977, in his native parish, he received the sacrament of confirmation. Then he continued his education at the Wood Industry Technical School in Krzeszowice.
As he recalled in his biography, during his secondary school years, the voice of his calling began to reach him more and more loudly. After graduating from secondary school, Bogdan took up work at the “Staszic” Coal Mine in Katowice. However, after a year of professional work, he finally made the decision to follow his religious and priestly vocation. On May 20, 1984, he submitted an application to the provincial of the Salvatorians, requesting admission to the novitiate as a candidate for priesthood. At the end of August 1984, he arrived in Bagno, where on September 7, he began a one-year novitiate. After a year of formation, after the acceptance of his superiors, on September 8, 1985, he made his first religious profession. The next stage on the path to the sacrament of priesthood for cleric Bogdan was his studies and seminary formation.
In the years 1985-92 he studied philosophical and theological disciplines at the Salvatorian Major Seminary in Bagno. During this period, the decision to commit himself for life to the apostolic work of Blessed Francis Jordan matured in him. Therefore, on September 8, 1989, in Bagno, he made his perpetual profession in the Society of the Divine Savior. Then, on June 28, 1990, he was ordained a deacon.
The next stage of the formation of the deacon from Paczółtowice was a one-year pastoral practice in Dobroszyce, where from 15 October 1990 he undertook pastoral and catechetical duties in the parish of St. Hedwig of Silesia. On February 29, 1991, at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław, Deacon Bogdan Pałka defended his master’s thesis in the field of liturgy. The crowning achievement of his seminary formation is his ordination to the priesthood. Fr Bogdan Pałka was ordained a priest on May 8, 1992, in the church of Our Lady Queen of Poland, by Bishop Gerard Bernacki. On May 16 of that year, he celebrated his first Holy Mass in his family parish in Paczółtowice. Fr Bogdan’s first pastoral ministry was the monastic community in Piastów, where from 1 July 1992 he took on the duties of vicar at the parish of St. Michael the Archangel.
After a year, by decision of his superiors, he was also entrusted with the office of consultor of the local monastic community. During this period, a desire arose in Fr Bogdan’s heart to go overseas and take up pastoral ministry for the Polish community in the USA. Therefore, on October 18, 1993, he submitted an application requesting permission to go to pastoral work in the USA. By virtue of a letter dated December 28, 1993, Fr. Bogdan Pałka received permission from the religious authorities to travel abroad and to undertake efforts and settle the formalities related to this. Fr. Bogdan Pałka began his service overseas in the parish of St. Joseph in New York (Jamaica), where from November 18, 1994, he undertook the duties of vicar. He was then transferred to Garfield, New Jersey, where, from December 1, 1995, he held the position of vicar in the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka.
After two years, on January 30, 1997, Fr Bogdan received a decree directing him to the American community in Milwaukee, where he was to continue his English studies. His next place of service was the parish of St. Rita in Baltimore. On July 1, 1998, Fr Bogdan Pałka began a three-year contract in the Salvatorian Province in the USA. It was also a time to improve English during the course and an opportunity to inculturate and learn about the specifics of pastoral care in the USA. During this period, Fr Bogdan Pałka was involved in pastoral care for the sick, serving as a chaplain in the hospital.
In 2010, Father Bogdan Pałka ended his service overseas, where, while belonging to the community in Verona (NJ), he served as a hospital chaplain and pastor at the parish of St. Pius X in Maryland. On September 15, 2010, he was transferred to the monastic community in Trzebnica, (Poland), where he undertook pastoral ministry in the parish of St. Bartholomew the Apostle and St. Hedwig in Trzebnica. Then, by decision of his superiors, from 15 November 2013, he was transferred to Bystra. In the local parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he undertook the ministry of a pastor and confessor. In addition, from 1 December 2013, he was also entrusted with the function of chaplain of the hospital in Bystra.
In 2014 he expressed his readiness to work in the Scottish Foundation and he was sent to the diocese of Dunkeld, where he was appointed to serve in the parishes of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene in Perth, a city with a large Polish community.
In the memory of his brothers priests he will remain as a calm and kind man. For many people who met him on their path of life, he will remain in grateful memory as a committed pastor and a priest open to initiatives. Fr. Bogdan Pałka died suddenly on May 18, 2024 in his parish in Scotland. He ended his earthly pilgrimage in the 61st year of life, in the 32nd year of priesthood and in the 39th year of religious life.