Father Henry Kowalczyk, SHM

Life

Henry Kowalczyk was born in 1965 in the United States to faithful Polish-Catholic parents. As a young man he was drawn to the world rather than to faith — described in his own community's accounts as having had the appearance of a 'hard rocker' interested chiefly in success and material life. A turning point came when, somewhat by accident, he began watching the Catholic television programmes of Mother Angelica on EWTN. Following the death of his father and a period of deep personal reflection, around the age of twenty-four he became certain that God was calling him to the priesthood.

In 1997 he met Father the editor (Felix) López, founder of the Religious Family of the Home of the Mother, and was drawn to that community's three principal charisms: defence of the Eucharist, devotion to the virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the evangelisation of youth. He entered the Servant Brothers of the Home of the Mother (Siervos del Hogar de la Madre, SHM), and after his formation he was ordained a priest. He would spend roughly twenty years in Spain, including the last ten as a priest.

For seven years Father Henry served as chaplain at the Hospital Clínico Universitario in Valencia, where he accompanied the sick and dying. He was known for his warmth with young people, his preaching, and a documentary on his life entitled Soy Fuego ('I Am Fire').

In the spring of 2020, during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Carmelite monastery in Amposta (Tarragona) was left without a chaplain. Father Henry volunteered to go and care for the nuns. After several weeks of ministry there, on 15 April 2020, he suffered an epileptic seizure, struck his head, and died. He was 54 years old.