Redemptorist Units of Europe delegates gathered together for an assembly on the 7th of October in Tirana, Albania. On the 8th of October, they elected the new conference Coordinator. He is Fr. Piotr Chyla CSsR, a member of the Province of Warsaw and Director of the Redemptorist Spirituality Centre in Rome. As CRE coordinator, Fr. Chyła is the successor to the late Fr. Johannes Römelt CSsR, who died in March this year.
We have asked Fr. Piotr what it means for him to embrace the new mission that the confreres had entrusted him and how he sees his new role as the Coordinator of CRE. Here is his comment:
Fr. Piotr Chyła: “Accepting the office of coordinator of the Conference of Europe is, for me, a new way to serve our missionary Congregation. It is a privilege. Firstly, because it is from Europe, our Congregation has spread to other countries and continents. Today, it embraces more than 80 countries at different conferences. But the main input, the charismatic input, went out from Europe.”
“Our mission in Europe invites us to embrace diversity. We want to be united and find richness in our diversity. It is not bad to be different. By accepting our differences, we can enrich each other: Redemptorists from South Europe, from Northern Europe, from Eastern Europe, with different liturgical rites and different ethnic backgrounds, but creating one family. This is something beautiful.”
When asked about expecting him tasks, Fr Piotr said: “Our Conference has some challenges, of course, but we are not afraid of looking into the future. We do not expect the future, but we would like to create the future. Knowing our challenges, knowing our difficulties, knowing our strengths, and knowing our wisdom, we would like to go ahead together.”
“I am really surprised and grateful for the trust given to me by the confreres and the General government. I hope I will be able to fulfil that task. I entrust my mission, the mission of my Council, the mission of the whole Assembly, and the mission of the Redemptorists in Europe to our Mother of Perpetual Help and Saint Clement Hofbauer. It was he who brought the alphonsian charism beyond Italy to the whole of Europe. I believe they will help and give us enough strength to carry on that mission.”
Fr Piotr Chyła CSsR (55) was born on 02. August 1969 in Świecie, Poland. He made his religious profession in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on 02 February 1991 and was ordained priest on 06 April 1997.
He was socius to the Prefect of the Major Seminary of the Redemptorists in Tuchów, Poland (1997–1998). He studied dogmatic theology in Durham, United Kingdom (1998 – 2001) and became a lecturer in Tuchów (2001 – 2004). Later, he ministered in the United States in Cicero, IL and as a pastor in Perth Amboy, NJ. From 2008 to 2014, he was the Vicar Provincial of the Province of Warsaw.
He is Director of the Centre of Spirituality of the CSsR in Rome (from 2015) and Chair of the Commission for the Redemptorist Nuns. Since 2017, he has been a consultor at the Redemptorist Conference of Europe (CRE) Council. He speaks Polish, English, Italian, and Spanish. He was elected on 8 October as a Coordinator of the Redemptorist Conference of Europe and will hold office until the end of the current six-year term (2028).
Scala News
