Ad multos goriosque annos!

To the editor: Let me share a secret: Hidden in a dusty Chancery file is the name of a fantastic priest who graduated from the Gregorian University (Rome) in 1958 with His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York. He has served humbly in this Archdiocese for almost 50 years. Like our Cardinal, he is a scholar, a musician, a Latinist, is multilingual and multitalented. He earned two graduate degrees. He is now preparing to celebrate his golden anniversary of holy priesthood. He was ordained in Rome, St. John Lateran Basilica, by Cardinal Luigi Traglia, then Vicar of Rome. Msgr. Joaquim Jose Antunes Olendzki has pastored these past 18 years at St. Stanislaus (Polish) Parish in beautiful Pine Island where he is beloved. Returning to Brazil after ordination, he served briefly as his bishop’s personal secretary and taught in the diocesan seminary system. He was sent to study graduate physics at Fordham University and St. John’s. Now he had to learn English rapidly. No problem. Along the way he picked up a degree in psychology. The sharp surge of Portuguese migration into the Archdiocese in the late 60’s had him dragooned into establishing the Portuguese Apostolate and founding Our Lady of Fatima Center in Yonkers. He has served in varied assignments but his fluency in Spanish, French, Portuguese and his beloved Italian makes him especially valuable in Orange County. He provides continuous service to the migrants in the area. He regularly offers the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Rite of Holy Mass for those who desperately seek him. He is a continuous world traveler and a gourmet cook. Unfortunately, like His Eminence, he has an inordinate love of the opera (what is it with the class of 1958?). He is a hidden treasure save for all who have experienced his rich and devoted priesthood. There are the princes and there are the grunts. We need both. Cardinal Egan daily confronts enormous and complex responsibilities and shoulders impossible burdens for the Church. Msgr. Olendzki, likewise devoted, is, in the words of our great Pope about himself, “a simple worker in the vineyard of the Lord.” The Archdiocese of New York and Orange County are truly indebted to “the Greg” and its Class of ‘58. As these “two Romans and New Yorkers” prepare to celebrate their golden anniversary of holy priesthood, perhaps you might join me with this ancient Roman toast for them both: “Ad multos goriosque annos!” (Many more splendid years.) The Rev. Thomas J. Curley St. Columba Church, Chester