Vatican City, Sep 28, 2017 / 09:22 am
On Thursday, the Vatican announced Pope Francis' appointment of Fr. Ryszard Szmydki, a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, as the new under-secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Fr. Szmydki, 66, replaces Fr. Tadeusz Wojda S.A.C., an official of the congregation since 2012 who was appointed metropolitan archbishop of Bialystok, Poland on April 12.
Originally from Poland, Fr. Szmydki has been secretary general of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 2014. He holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, where he also taught for several years.
He is also the author numerous studies in the field of dogmatic theology and ecumenism.