Diocesan priests honored for service to schools

Friday, Mar. 18, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Two priests who have spent decades in service to Utah Catholic Schools as part of their ministry were honored March 11 during the 2016 Professional Educator Day.

Monsignor Robert Servatius, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, and Father Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, are “two very special people who dedicated themselves to God and to God’s people and to God’s children,” said Mark Longe, Utah Catholic Schools superintendent, as he prepared to present the awards.

Msgr. Servatius, who was presented with the Jesus and the Children Award, “has modeled for us the way to live this call of Jesus because he has welcomed children of every age in his 52 years of priesthood in the Diocese of Salt Lake City as teacher, administrator, editor, chaplain and pastor,” according to the award citation.

After being ordained, Msgr. Servatius taught at Judge Memorial Catholic High School, his alma mater, for two years, then served in school administration from 1968 to 1975 at both Notre Dame School in Price (which has since been closed) and St. Joseph Catholic High School in Ogden.  

After serving as chaplain of the University of Utah Newman Center for four years, Msgr. Servatius was assigned to build Blessed Sacrament Parish and School in Sandy.

“He visited the school daily, often with his dog as a companion,” the citation reads. “Visits to the school continue, but now Mondays with Monsignor provides the opportunity to visit the children who continue to welcome him. … The Jesus and the Children Award is one way to show gratitude for Monsignor’s generous response to the call of Jesus: Let the children come to me.”

With his trademark humor, Msgr. Servatius accepted the award by saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a lovelier eulogy than the one I’ve just heard, and I’m not even dead yet.”

On a more serious note, he added, “All I can say is that, as an ordained priest, serving the people of God, I’m only doing my job, but my job is wonderful because of all my association with the children, and with the staffs that I’ve worked with at the school. 

Fr. Skrzypiec was presented with the Christ the Teacher Award. 

Fr. Skrzypiec was born in Poland and educated at the seminary in Krakow; the same seminary where Pope John Paul II was rector, teacher and bishop. He came to the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 1989 and was incardinated in 1997.  

After arriving in the diocese, Fr. Skrzypiec taught religion at Judge Memorial CHS. Now, as pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Salt Lake City, he also ministers to J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School.  

“The principal and faculty count on and receive his support,” the award citation reads. “Students interact with him as a positive part of their lives and the school board and parents see him as a dedicated partner in Catholic education. The Catholic schools office appreciates his positive support for initiatives that benefit the schools as a system. … Like Christ the Teacher, Fr. Andrzej Skrzypiec models love for students and support for the role of their parents and the school in their formation.”

During the Mass at which the awards were presented, Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, diocesan administrator, thanked all of the gathered educators “for taking up this wonderful ministry, for continuing to take up, because this challenge isn’t over. There’s going to be days of discouragement, there’s going to be days when, no matter how theologically adept you are, it’s hard to see through the maze, to recognize the holy one of Israel.”