A survivor of Nazi Concentration camps, confessions marked his missionary activity. Fr. Ladislav advice was always accompanied by the expression “Jesus, I trust in You,” words from Saint Faustina Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy.
Newsroom (04/12/2022 11:17 AM, Gaudium Press) Father Ladislau Klinicki, known as the oldest Salesian in the world, passed away this Tuesday, April 12, at the age of 107. The news was confirmed by Fr Jose Adilson Morgado, director of the Salesian Community Santa Teresinha in Sao Paulo: “With great sorrow, I communicate the death of our dear brother Father Ladislav Klinicki. God grant him the reward of a faithful servant”.
The wake for Father Ladislav is scheduled to begin at noon, local time, at St. Theresa Parish. At 3:00 PM local time, a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at the same place. And at 4:30 PM, the burial will occur at the Santíssimo Sacramento Cemetery, in the Salesians’ Mausoleum.
A brief biography of Father Ladislau Klinicki
Ladislav Klinicki was born in 1914 in the city of Kursk, in the former Soviet Union. His father, Karol Klinicki, was a railroad worker, and his mother, Katarzyna Kitlinska, was a civil servant. He had four siblings: Boleslaus, Maria, Estela, and Francisco. In 1934 he made his first religious profession as a Salesian and was ordained a priest in 1943 in Warsaw.
Imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp
On March 4, 1942, the Salesian house in Rome was invaded by German soldiers who had occupied the city the year before. Father Ladislav and his community were taken prisoners by Adolf Hitler. In his memoir, entitled “One Step from Death,” the priest tells that “the greatest spiritual help for us was trust in God’s Mercy and prayer.” Father Ladislav remained a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps until the end of the war, in 1945.
In Brazil
In 1968 he went to Brazil. For two years, he served as chaplain to the Polish Comunity in the Bom Retiro neighbourhood of São Paulo. He then spent seven years in Lavrinhas (SP), where he taught classes and was confessor to the Salesian aspirants. He was parochial vicar for one year in St. John Bosco Parish in Americana (SP), and then returned to work with the aspirants for ten years, this time in the city of Pindamonhangaba (SP). Back to Lavrinhas, he stayed for two more years and, since 1990, already 76 years old, he joined the Santa Teresinha Community in the capital of São Paulo.
A confessor devoted to Divine Mercy
The ministry of confessions marked his missionary activity in his last years. His advice was always accompanied by the expression “Jesus, I trust in You,” words from Saint Faustina Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy. In 2020, he received the St. Paul the Apostle medal in the priestly service category. This award, offered by the Archdiocese of São Paulo, aims to value, stimulate and energize the ecclesial and pastoral life in the Archdiocese. (EPC)
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj