April 28, 2024
Dear St. Rita Families,
You may know that the word ‘doctor’ comes from the Latin ‘docere’, meaning “to teach.” It only gradually came to mean ‘physician’ in common parlance, and the formal title is still bestowed upon those who reach a certain level of academic achievement (including Doctors of Medicine – MD). So, when you see him, please congratulate Father Dr. Łukasz Duda, who successfully defended his dissertation at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC this past week! He has earned the pontifical degree of Doctorate of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), which is the ecclesiastical equivalent of a PhD.
Unfortunately for us, this means that on June 2, he will be returning permanently to the Archdiocese of Warsaw, Poland where he is from in order to teach at the seminary there. We won’t let him go without a farewell, though! We’ll plan to send him off and say our goodbyes at the St. Rita Festival on Saturday, May 25. I am very grateful to Fr. Duda for his generosity in serving the parish through Mass and Confessions during his time here in the United States, and I know you will join me in thanking him and praying for him as he prepares for the next leg of his priesthood!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen