Snowmobiling in the Alaskan bush over frozen rivers. Ice fishing with Eskimo friends. Getting a lift to work in a boat. This might not seem like the life of a cleric. But for Father Kamil Kiszka, these things are part of his life as a missionary priest in Alaska.
“I love it, Father Kiszka said during a recent phone interview through WhatsApp and emails. “I am very excited to be here and to practice my missionary vocation. Sometimes, it gets difficult when I don’t have access to running water, shower/restroom, phone service, the Internet, transportation, food supplies, etc. These things happen from time to time, but overall, I can realize the dream of my life in God’s way.”
Father Kiszka ministers in rural Eskimo villages with populations of 200-750 people in Southwest Alaska near the coast. Sometimes, he works in a larger city where working phone service is most welcome. He travels to a different church or chapel every week by boat, plane, or four-wheeler. In one community, Mertarvik, there is no church building, so he celebrates Masses in the school, where he also sleeps on the floor.
“Occasionally, I may stay in one village for longer, but it doesn’t happen too often,” Father Kiszka said. “It is a bit of an intense lifestyle, but at the same time, it is an incredible experience of my priesthood.”
Click here to subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter.
How he gets around and carries out his sacramental work can be unpredictable. He shared an unusual story about how a “bush” burial was carried out in a town called Kotlik.
“There are no roads and cars due to the swampy ground,” Father Kiszka said. “So, after the funeral, we went on snowmobiles and four-wheelers and drove on the frozen river to the cemetery. I was sitting in the leading snowmobile carrying the casket – like some priests in New Jersey who drive in the hearse to the cemetery.”
In addition to special transport, locals helped make the casket and dug the grave with a jackhammer. While Father Kiszka wasn’t surprised by the arrangements, it was an experience that helped him appreciate the people he ministers to and what he brings to that experience as Christ’s representative in the community.
“The people here live in a very simple and primitive way,” he said. “But, honestly saying, it is an incredible experience to see a different dimension of the Catholic church and to learn different ways of pastoral ministry in the priesthood.”
Father Kiszka may sometimes hear confessions in Yugtun, the native language of the Yupik Indigenous or Aboriginal people. He said singing the “Our Father” in Yugtun during Mass is memorable.
Father Kamil Kiszka gets around on a snowmobile and with other unique modes of travel in Alaska. (Video provided by Father Kamil Kiszka)
Before he began serving in Alaska, Father Kiszka visited the state several times for vacation while working full-time as a priest in New Jersey and offered to substitute for vacationing priests. Today, the young priest serves many parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region. Father Kiszka said he is grateful for Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney’s generosity and kindness, as he assigned him to full-time ministry in Alaska last year. He often sends the bishop notes and photographs of his work, many of which are included in this article.
“I’m just drawn into my missionary work here,” he said, adding that there is a real sense the work is needed and appreciated because priests in Alaska are responsible for the pastoral needs of Catholics spread across multiple parishes in large regions.
One story he told was that the people in the village of Mertarvik had not had Mass for over six months. Father Kiszka took three planes to reach the remote village and even slept on the floor in the local school to celebrate Mass for the parishioners the next day.
“I did the confessions, and you should see the appreciation of the people, their faces, their eyes,” he said. “This is so priceless. I cannot buy this for any money. I don’t see that, you know, in any other places in the world—people who are so hungry to have a priest. You know, this is what brings me here. Each place that I go to is different.”
Father Kiszka began his priestly studies in Poland, where he would meet priests from different orders and dioceses and realized that he felt called to missionary life. He wanted to go somewhere outside of Poland.
“I was thinking of going to one of the African countries for missionary work, but then two of my friends got back from Chicago, and they told me that this is a missionary Church here in the States,” he recalled. “So I came to our diocese with this idea.”
Father Kiszka finished his studies in Warsaw in 2016, the same year he joined the Diocese of Paterson and began learning about the culture and studying English as a Second Language. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli in 2018. His first assignment was at St. Rose of Lima in East Hanover when he was a seminarian. Then, he served as a deacon at Our Lady of Mercy in Whippany. After his ordination, he was assigned as parochial vicar to St. Patrick Parish in Chatham, from where he moved to Our Lady of the Lake in Sparta. His last parish assignment before moving to Alaska was Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham.
In 2019, Father Kiszka contacted Bishop Chad Zielinski, the bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska, at the time.
“The following year, he invited me to come and serve at some churches for two or three weekends during the summertime in Fairbanks to help out and to celebrate for some other priests who were away,” he explained. “I really enjoyed that and knew I wanted to go again. So the following year, 2021, I took my vacation again, and I went for a full month to Fairbanks. I did this repeatedly, and over the years, I visited many parishes. I have visited more than half of the diocesan churches here because I was assigned to different places. I love it!”
Father Kiszka said he appreciates the perspective of the native Alaskans. They see the world differently, he said, and they bring unique cultural touches to the faith and the Mass. He cherishes living among them and ministering to them.
Father Kamil Kiszka was featured on Bishop Sweeney’s Beyond The Beacon podcast. Listen to the podcast on your preferred platform or watch it on Bishop Sweeney’s YouTube Channel.
