One of Innisfail's biggest spiritual hearts is bidding farewell.
Father Adam Daniluk of the Our Lady of Peace Parish is leaving town to lead St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Olds. He will also be responsible for the affairs of St. Anne's Catholic Church in Trochu. Father Daniluk begins his new spiritual mission today.
He first announced the move, which was appointed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, at the Sept. 22 mass.
Parishioners were at first shocked and saddened but have since resigned themselves that Father Daniluk must fulfill his cherished calling.
“I am sad but at the same time I think Father's work is complete in this parish and I think the Lord has many more challenges and spiritual leadership for him in a larger parish,” said Dianne Mainville, the church's custodian who went with Father Daniluk and 27 other parishioners last April on a two-week pilgrimage to Poland and Italy.
“It was so spiritually uplifting, and Father did such an awesome job of putting it together. He was a shepherd,” she said.
“He shepherded us all through the way. He was right beside us, just totally awesome. We had mass every day with Father in the different chapels, including the Vatican.”
Father Daniluk, 45, was born and raised in Poland. After entering the seminary in his home country he was ordained as a priest in 1997. He came to Canada in 2007, and after studying and learning English for one year, he worked as an associate pastor at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert.
He had been with the Innisfail parish since July 21, 2009.
“I was happy to serve in this parish. It is a very nice community and I was happy to serve the people here,” said Father Daniluk. “The parish is very lovely and very active and I received lots of support from the members of the parish who prayed for me every day.”
Last week, parishioners, following the shock of Father Daniluk's public announcement a few days earlier, said they wished only the best for his new mission in Olds.
“Our hearts are heavy because he has shown us so much love and respect and we love him just as much but at the same time we are very happy for Father,” said parishioner Ernie Pettis. “It is something new for Father. He deserves better things. We will visit him and we will see lots of him at his new parish in Olds.”
Father Daniluk's successor will be Father Tomasz Puslecki, who is also originally from Poland. He has served the last four years as associate pastor at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert.
