From July 1, 2021, Fr. Paweł Baran is the new Director of the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim. He replaces Fr. Jan Nowak, who managed CDiM for over 20 years.

Fr. Jan Nowak

Father Jan has been a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow since 1983.
In 2001, he became the Director of the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer, and since 2008, the vice-chairman of the Board of the Krakow Foundation for Information, Meetings, Dialogue, Education and Prayer in Oświęcim. From 2004, he was a representative of Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, and then Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz at the “Monument – Oświęcim Hospice” Foundation. In November 2005, he obtained a certificate from the International School of Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem, then he successfully completed a seminar on Holocaust studies for educators from Poland. In December 2005, he completed a course for teachers, educators and guides “Judaism – history and culture of Polish Jews – Holocaust” organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. In December 2005, the President of the Republic of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, awarded Fr. Jan Nowak with the “Silver Cross of Merit”. In June 2010, in the Jerusalem Hills, for Fr. Jan Nowak, a tree was planted through Karen Kayemeth Leisrael / Jewish National Fund. In November 2010, the Minister of National Education, Katarzyna Hall, appointed Fr. Jan Nowak to the Consultative and Advisory Team for Holocaust Education of the Ministry. In June 2012, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, appointed Fr. Jan to the Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. In June 2021, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, awarded Fr. Jan Nowak with the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Fr. Paweł Baran

By the decree of June 16, 2021, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, Metropolitan of Krakow recommended Fr. Paweł Baran “legally to take up duties on the Board of the Krakow Foundation for Information, Meetings, Dialogue, Education and Prayer Center in Oświęcim”. The Foundation Council appointed him to the position of the Vice-President of the Foundation Board – Director, and he commenced his duties on July 1. At the same time, he was given leave from the role of prefect of the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Krakow, where he worked from 2017.
Born and raised in Krakow, he graduated from the Major Seminary, he was ordained a priest at the Wawel Cathedral in 2008. After two years of pastoral service in the parish of St. Mikołaj in Chrzanów, he was sent for specialist studies, first in Lublin, and then in Rome. After defending his doctoral dissertation, he returned to Poland and took up the duties entrusted to him by the Archbishop of Krakow.

“I thank my predecessor, Fr. Jan Nowak for all the good he left behind at the Centre, wishing him God’s blessing and needed graces further on the road of priestly service. I enter into my new duties with great trust and hope, counting on the help of kind people whom I constantly meet and will meet on my way ”.

Fr. Paweł Baran