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Rev. Casey said Rev. Ziomek played an active role locally in the Archdiocese of Boston’s recent spiritual renewal program, “ARISE Together in Christ.”
“He was just a good, good person,” he said. “A man of courage and a man of faith. He was facing a tough, tough illness, and he kept his faith throughout the whole thing.”
Rev. Arthur Wright, pastor of St. Mary of the Hills Church, also praised Rev. Ziomek’s work with the ARISE program and remembered him foldly.
“He loved his Lord, he loved his church and he loved his priesthood,” he said. “He was a very prayerful man. I feel badly for his family, and I feel badly for his parish family at St. Elizabeth’s.”
Rev. Ziomek worked as a tour director in the Soviet Union prior to his priesthood and authored a book, A Christian View of Russia.
A graduate of Boston College and Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, where older men with previous careers study for the priesthood, Rev. Ziomek was ordained on May 21, 1994. He served parishes in Wakefield and Franklin before being appointed pastor of St. Elizabeth’s, five months after the February 2005 death of his predecessor, Rev. Gilbert Phinn. It was his sole pastorate.
He is survived by his parents, Julian Ziomek and Martha (Kuszaj) Ziomek, of Taunton.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley led dozens of priests in concelebrating the Mass of Christian burial Jan. 6 in St. Elizabeth’s Church. Rev. Ziomek was buried at a family gravesite in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Taunton.