(ANS - Rome) - As part of the work of the winter plenary session of the General Council the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, appointed Fr Roman Jachimowicz Provincial of Northern Poland and Fr Petr Vaculík Provincial of the Czech Republic. For the latter it is a confirmation in office.

Fr Jachimowicz was born 13 November 1967 in Gorzow Wielkopolski. He did his novitiate in Swobnica, made his first profession on 22 August 1987 and his final profession on 3 July 1993, in Rumia. He was ordained priest in Lad on 25 May 1995.

He served in the community of St. Joseph in Szczecin, as member of the house council (1995-2006) and as Headmaster (2005-2006).  Then he was Rector of the community of St. John Kanty in Aleksandrów Kujawski, (2006-2015).  In 2008-2009 he was Delegate for the Past Pupils in the Province of St Adalbert in Northern Poland.

Fr Jachimowicz succeeds Fr Marek Chmielewski and will officially assume his new post on the feast of St. Adalbert, 23 April 2016.

Fr Petr Vaculík, who was born 3 November 1959, comes from the city of Zlín where in the 70’s he got to know the Salesians. He made his first vows as a Salesian secretly because of the communist regime and its policy in those years.

He qualified in electromechanics. After two military service he began to study theology at the theological faculty in Litoměřice. In 1988 he was ordained a deacon and the following year  a priest. Keeping his religious profession a secret he worked first in Kyjov and then Vizovice.

After the “velvet revolution”, in November 1989, he became a member of the community of Zlín. For four years he lived in the Carmelite Community at Kostelní Vydří and at Frýdlant nad Ostravicí. Then he served as Rector in Prostějov. He was Provincial Councillor from 2008 to 2010 and on 26 June 2010 he began his first term as Provincial of the Saint John Bosco Province of the Czech Republic.

Published 11/12/2015