Jarek Sztybel

Fr. Jarek Sztybel is the kind of priest whose smile you remember long after Mass is over. Parishioners describe it as contagious, warm, and impossible to miss. Those who have heard him preach talk about homilies that are thought-provoking and meaningful, the kind that stay with you through the week. One parishioner shared that a single line from one of his homilies stuck with her: "It's not that we don't believe, it's that we don't understand." Another said that Fr. Jarek brought back the strength in her faith, something she had not felt in a very long time. Born in Lodz, Poland, the only child of Leszek and Jadwiga Sztybel, he grew up in a warm and loving family that shaped the way he sees people to this day. He attended Catholic school and entered the seminary right after high school, knowing early that priesthood was where God was calling him. Five years into his formation, he learned about a shortage of vocations in the United States and applied to the Polish-American Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan, arriving in 1993. He would later trade the Great Lakes for the beaches of Florida, completing his pastoral year at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish in Tarpon Springs before being ordained into the Diocese of St. Petersburg on June 14, 1997. In addition to his seminary studies, Fr. Jarek earned a master's degree in mental health counseling and family therapy from Argosy University in Tampa, and completed a clinical internship at Metropolitan Ministries, where he provided mental health services to the homeless population. It is the kind of work that says something about a person, choosing to sit with people in their hardest moments and listen. That same instinct has followed him through every parish he has served, from St. Margaret Mary Parish in Winter Park, where he also cared for the Polish community at St. Joseph and St. Maximillian Kolbe Parish in Orlando, to his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Candler in 2026. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors for Santa Fe Catholic High School and spiritual advisor to the Council of Catholic Women in the Western Deanery. Fr. Jarek once described his move to the United States as "a great adventure," and over twenty-five years later, that sense of adventure has never really left him. Those who meet him for the first time say it plainly: he is welcoming, he is genuine, and he makes you feel like you belong. He says simply that by God's grace, he has been able to do some good work, and he is grateful for every bit of it.