Making a difference for
parishioners in rural South Dakota

By Catholic Extension

   As a young seminarian in Krakow, Poland, Father Andrzej “Andy” Wyrostek wanted to make a difference. After all, he was attending the same Krakow school where Pope John Paul II had completed his philosophy studies. Wyrostek’s plan for life was straightforward: he would complete his priestly studies and serve his home Diocese of Krakow, where some 50 new priests are ordained each year.

   But that all changed in 1993 when Wyrostek visited the Chicago home of his newly immigrated parents during a break from his seminary studies. “I kept hearing a prayer for vocations before every Mass that my parents and I attended, and I started to reflect on how badly priests were needed in the U.S.,” said Wyrostek. “I realized that, back home, I would be one of many priests. But in America, I could fill a critical need and have an impact on people’s lives more quickly than I could in Poland.”

    Today, Father Wyrostek is pastor of Holy Cross parish in Timber Lake and two missions: Holy Rosary in Trail City and St. Mary’s in Isabel. Most of his parishioners are farmers and ranchers and many of his Native American parishioners live on a nearby reservation. To keep up with the demands of his pastorship, he regularly drives more than 2,000 miles a month to celebrate Masses, and preside at baptisms and first communions.

    Wyrostek is one of hundreds of priests, religious order members and lay pastoral workers whose ministry in poor and isolated communities throughout the United States is supported by grants from the Catholic Church Extension Society.

   After completing his immigration and transfer arrangements, he enrolled at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich., near Detroit. Before beginning his studies in America, he was required to spend his first 18 months at the seminary learning to speak English. While in the seminary, he learned further about the need for priests in rural America and made a commitment to becoming a mission priest in the Diocese of Rapid City

    In addition to learning a new language, Wyrostek faced an even more daunting challenge: neither he nor his parents could afford Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ $15,000 average annual cost of tuition, room and board, books and transportation - an amount equal to the family’s entire life savings back in Poland.

    However, a donor to Catholic Extension learned about Wyrostek and his need for support and stepped in to cover his education expense for an entire year - a gesture that enabled him to complete his studies.

   “The Catholic Church Extension is present in my life all the time. It helped me become a priest and it continues to help my mission diocese in all sorts of ways,” said Wyrostek, who has had roofs replaced on both his mission churches in Trail City and Isabel with grants from Catholic Extension.

   “The main reason I became a priest was to serve God and people and I have a great opportunity to do just that out here,” Wyrostek said. “The people here have a good spirit. After living in South Dakota a few years I made friends and established roots so that when I go back to Poland to visit, I’m actually homesick for South Dakota.”