Dzisiaj, czyli 27 marca 2022 roku w kościele św. Ignacego w Richmond o godzinie 12.00 w południe uroczystą Mszą świętą podziękowaliśmy Bogu za 50 lat kapłaństwa Ojca Ludwika Ryby, a potem pożegnaliśmy go w przykościelnej sali wspólnym obiadem. Komitet Kościelny w Richmond oraz Klub St.Igs zaprosił wszystkich obecnych do udziału w tej jubileuszowo-pożegnalnej uroczystości.
W czasie uroczystego pożegnania i jubileuszu ks. Ludwika, zabrał głos ks. Wiesław Słowik SJ, który powiedział:
Wraz z Ojcem Ludwikiem podziękujmy dziś Bogu za 50 lat jego kapłaństwa. Podziękujmy w szczególności za 26 lat jego kapłańskiej posługi w Australii i 14 lat duszpasterskiej opieki nad polską wspólnotą w Richmond. Podziękujmy też za jego powrót do zdrowia i prośmy o Boże błogosławieństwo w jego powrotnej drodze do Polski oraz o zdrowie i potrzebne łaski na długie lata zasłużonej emerytury.
Witamy serdecznie JE Konsula Honorowego Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej w Wiktorii, pana Andrzeja Soszyńskiego z małżonką; panią prezes Federacji Polskich Organizacji w Wiktorii, Elżbietę Dziedzic; prezesa Stowarzyszenia Polskich Kombatantów w Melbourne, pana Bogdana Płatka; prezesa Sodalicji Mariańskiej, pana Piotra Kipkę oraz oddanych przyjaciół Ojca Ludwika, przybyłych z Geelongu i odległych dzielnic Melbourne; witamy także przedstawicieli polskich wspólnot z Essendon i Oakleigh oraz wielebnych Ojców i siostry zakonne. Bóg zapłać za Waszą obecność i wspólną modlitwę. W imieniu Komitetu Kościelnego w Richmond, Klubu St,Igs, Rady Duszpasterskiej i Koła Żywego Różańca zapraszam teraz serdecznie do parafialnej sali na drugą część naszych celebracji. Na stołach znajdziemy zakąski i napoje i od razu rozpoczniemy część oficjalną, którą zakończymy krótkim programem audiowizualnym, a potem podamy skromny, tradycyjny polski obiad i dużo ciast. Po obiedzie będziemy mieć dużo możliwości do osobistego pożegnania się z Ojcem Ludwikiem, który odleci od nas we wtorek późnym wieczorem.
Uroczystości w Kościele św. Ignacego Loyoli w Richmond
Uroczystości w przykościelnej sali i wspólny obiad
Dziękujemy mu za te wszystkie lata wytężonej pracy dla dobra Kościoła i Polonii w Australii. Życzymy zdrowia i wszelkich łask bożych w nowym miejscu zamieszkania, czyli w Starej Wsi. Do zobaczenia w Polsce!
Wywiad z o. Ludwikiem SJ w Radio SBS w Melbourne
FR LUDWIK RYBA SJ
His 50th Anniversary of Ordination
and 59th year in the Society of Jesus
Ludwik Ryba was one of as many as eleven children of Roman Ryba and Rozalia Kepka. Born on 17th July 1945 in Dabrowa Narodowa in Poland, he entered the Society of Jesus in Stara Wies (Southern Province) on 30th July l963.
During his noviceship he was called up to do military service for two years (1964-1966). After his second year in novitiate, he studied philosophy in Krakow from 1967 till 1969 and then theology in Warsaw from l969 till l973.
He was ordained to the priesthood in Gliwice on 24 August 1972, did his Tertianship in Stara Wies in l978 and made his final profession in Nowy Sacz on the 5th of November l989.
After the theology studies in Warsaw Ludwik served for five years in the huge Jesuit Parish in Opole as an assistant priest, catechist and minister. After Tertianship he was sent to Nowy Sacz for the next three years to be catechist for an enormous number of children and youth, and during this time he was involved in a new form of pastoral care for youth – the “Oaza” movement.
In l982 Ludwik was given the post of Superior of the Jesuit Community in Klodzko and at the same time he became Parish Priest of the very old parish in this town. He was also appointed as a prison chaplain, which at the time of martial law in Poland was very demanding. Relieved from those three responsibilities after seven years, he was sent for the next five years to the house of formation – Jesuit Novitiate and the College in Stara Wies – to be a minister. He cared for the large Jesuit Community and a huge Retreat Centre during turbulent times.
Then for one year (1994-1995) Ludwik became chaplain to the Polish Community in Cieszyn, a city in the Czech Republic. From 1995 till 1996, belonging to the Jesuit Community in Wroclaw, he travelled around Poland on parish missions and retreats.
As early as l974, Father Jozef Janus SJ and newly ordained priests Leonard Kiesch and Wieslaw Slowik, seeking more help for their workloads in Melbourne, applied to the Polish Provincial for Fr Ludwik Ryba, who expressed readiness to come and work with them in Australia, but it took 22 years to obtain final permission from the Polish Province to let him go. He arrived in Melbourne in July 1996 and served the Polish Catholic Community for over 25 years.
After his arrival to Melbourne Ludwik became a very dedicated chaplain to the Polish Communities in Essendon, Richmond and Oakleigh, caring for children and preparing them for First Communion and Confirmation and also spending much time with the sick and elderly.
In 1998 he was appointed as a chaplain to the Polish people in the dioceses of Sandhurst and Wagga Wagga, with the centres in Benalla and Albury North, where he served regularly once a month.
He initiated the regular weekly meetings of the prayer group at St Andrew Bobola Polish Centre in Richmond, which for many years gathered people of different backgrounds and needs from all over Melbourne.
During Fr Ozog’s sickness and after his death, Ludwik for a few months cared for the Community at the Polish Marian Shrine in Essendon.
At the end of 2008 he was appointed as a chaplain to the Polish Community at St Ignatius Parish of Richmond and faithfully cared for it till October 2021.
After Fr Nowicki’s departure in 2009, Ludwik cared also for the Polish people at Sacred Heart Parish in Oakleigh for two years, till the arrival of Fr Tadeusz Rostworowski.
Being a chaplain to the Polish Catholic Community in Richmond, Ludwik was also a leader to the very popular Prayer Group in Richmond, moderator of the Marian Sodality in Melbourne, chairman to the Friends of the Mission Society in Essendon and a chaplain to the Polish Ex-Servicemen Association in Melbourne and to a couple of Polish Senior Citizen Clubs. He spent much time visiting the sick and elderly in their homes and in hospitals.
Throughout the fifty years of his priesthood Fr Ludwik Ryba has fulfilled his mission by teaching children and youth the ways of the faith and with very dedicated pastoral care for God’s people in Poland, in the Czech Republic and in Australia. His openness to people’s needs and his readiness to be a servant to children, youth, families and the elderly has been much appreciated by many thousands of people.
On 20 October 2021 he was admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with Covid-19. Being in a very serious condition, he was under a respirator for eleven days and came back home on 18 November. He was surrounded with the constant prayers of many hundreds of faithful friends. For them Ludwik’s quick recovery was seen as a miracle. He was not vaccinated.
After coming back from the hospital, he decided to retire and go back to Poland. We have booked his flight for 29 March 2022.
On Sunday, 27 March we organised a thanksgiving Eucharist for him in Richmond and a farewell party in the parish hall after the Mass.
(Prepared by Tony Slowik SJ)
