Baltimore priest healed by St. Faustina in 1995 succumbs to cancer

Published: 2003-11-05

KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va. (CNS) -- Father Ronald P. Pytel, the Baltimore priest whose heart condition was miraculously healed and led to the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Divine Mercy saint, died Nov. 3 after a brief battle with cancer. Father Pytel, 56, died at the West Virginia home he shared with a friend he has known since their seminary days, Father Lawrence J. Gesy. Father Gesy, who retired for health reasons last May, is former pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Brunswick, Md., and St. Mary in Petersville, Md. Father Pytel, who was the grandson of Polish immigrants and was a priest for 30 years, had been pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Baltimore since 1991. "He was a true friend, a simple, honest, compassionate and caring person and a true priest," said Father Gesy. He and Father Pytel's brother, sister-in-law and niece were with him when he died. "I think God chose him to be the instrument that lead to Faustina becoming a saint so that his message of Divine Mercy will truly reach a world that needs it so desperately," Father Gesy said.

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