Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Pilsyk, Zenon

Missionary; born Warsaw 23 June 1928; died Lusaka, 3 March 2011, aged 82.

The Pilsyk family came from Warsaw, Zenon's father having worked for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His mother came from a noble Polish family, being born in Polesie. During the German occupation of Warsaw during the Second World War, there were no legal schools for Polish children; so he had to attend underground primary and secondary schools. As with many of his friends, he was involved in different forms of resistance and took an active part in the Warsaw Uprising during August and September 1944. Pilsyk miraculously survived, as most of his unit was completely destroyed during the action. He was taken a prisoner of war and deported to Germany with the rest of the Polish Underground Army that survived the uprising. Until the end of the war he was imprisoned in Belzen Bergen. He lost many friends and most of his family. This left a deep scar on Pilsyk's personality, and he did not speak about these experiences.

During four years that he spent in different DP's camps in Germany, Pilsyk tried to obtain as much education as was possible in the after-war Germany. He completed his secondary education, matriculating at Borghorst in Germany in mid 1947. Following a university degree in economics at the George August University- Gottingen, Pilsyk applied to migrate to Australia and took the only vacancy he could. He came under a two-year contract as a labourer, arriving in Melbourne, 6 June 1949. With friends, during that first year, he worked in the Australian army barracks near Albury. In the second year he moved to Melbourne and worked for the PMG. During these years he made lasting friends.

After his two year contact, he settled in Richmond, worked in a furniture factory and tried to obtain more education. He came in contact with Stanislaus Skudrzyk, a Jesuit polish migrant chaplain, and became one of the first members of the Polish Marian Sodality in Melbourne and was active in the religious life of the Polish community that gathered in St Ignatius' Church, Richmond. Thinking about the priesthood, he studied Latin, and was directed towards the Society by Skudrzyk, entering the Jesuit noviciate at Loyola College, Watsonia, l February 1953. Juniorate studies were in 1955, partly to improve his Latin and English skills, and then philosophy, 1956-58.

Regency followed at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1959-61, where he taught in the middle school, directed the Mission Sodality and helped in the prefecting of the boarders. Teaching rich and boisterous students was too much for Pilsyk. He stated to his friends that he would rather teach African children than the students of Riverview.

His desire to go to the missions in Africa had already surfaced and a letter had been received at the Australian Provincial Office from Anthony Preseren, the Jesuit Slavic Assistant in mid 1960, who at that time was looking for new missionaries for Zambia. The letter suggested that Pilsyk's theology studies be undertaken in Ireland where there were programmes to prepare men for overseas missions. It appeared that the Australian provincial Jeremiah Hogan was quite surprised by the suggestion, but felt that he should cooperate. To assist with Pilsyk's development of the English language it was decided that he stay at Riverview for another year.

Correspondence continued, and in March 1961 it was accepted by Hogan that Pilsyk join the Polish province at the end of theology, and that he join the Zambian mission.

By May, Pilsyk wrote to the provincial to say that the province bursar, Colin McKillop had booked him a passage on the liner Fairsky for August 1961, and he wanted to leave the ship in Naples and travel by rail to Dublin, saving a total of five days. Pilsyk began theology studies at Milltown Park on 16 September.

It was then that communications began to go astray. In mid 1963 he received a letter from Joseph Janus, the polish chaplain in Melbourne, asking when he could return to Australia and begin work. Pilsyk immediately wrote off to the provincial, Roland Boylan, asking for some clarification, but was open to whatever was decided. He was still a member of the Australian Province. Boylan's reply of 29 October said, 'I am delighted to hear of your keenness to return and work in Australia.' In fact Pilsyk was not keen at all, but somewhere communication in Australia appears to have broken down.

Whatever the communication about his ministry might have been, his progress to ordination was not delayed and he was ordained on the Feast of St Ignatius in 1964. Tertianship followed in the United States in Washington State from mid 1965 to 1966, and then he moved to Zambia where he worked for 47 years.

A new provincial in Australia, Peter Kelly was also surprised when Pilsyk thought he would be transferred formally to the Zambian Vice Province at the start of 1970 when he took final vows. Peter Kelly wanted him to return to Australia to take over from Janus who had suffered a second heart attack. However it was sorted out quickly enough and he took final vows as a professed father at Kasisi, 2 February 1970.

The Jesuits had started in Zambia in 1905 and founded a mission in Kasisi near Lusaka. By the 1920s Lusaka was planned to be the capital city of the area but progress was slow and the entire population in 1928 was less than 2,000. Today the Jesuit house is on the outskirts of Lusaka near the International Airport, which makes it a popular place for visiting Jesuits to stay. The Jesuits developed the Church in the region and the slowly established parish churches were handed over to the Archdiocese of Lusaka. St Ignatius in Kasisi (which is also the centre for an Agricultural Training Centre) and St Francis Xavier in Kabwe remain Jesuit parishes, and the province administers another six parishes for the archdiocese.

Pilsyk served most of his ministry in parishes in Matero, Kasisi, Katondwa, and various other parishes in the Lusaka area. He became fluent in Chinyanta, which enabled him to provide quality and dedicated pastoral care to the people. His practical skills kept motor vehicles, water pumps and diesel engines operating long after their ordinary life span. For a short time in 1972 he entered the Carthusian monastery at Parkminster near Horsham in Sussex, England. From 1983-89 he was socius to the provincial and lived at the Provincial Residence. Then, 1990-97, he was province treasurer and lived at Luwisha House, the base for the Jesuit Centre for Reflection. For the last few years on his life he worked on the province archives and lived in Chula House, the province infirmary in Lusaka. While he was still able to do this work, his ability to read Polish helped with translating some old documents.

He died on March 3rd, 2011 and Cardinal Mazombwe presided at the vigil mass, a symbol of the high regard with which he was held in the Zambian church.

Pilsyk kept contact with the Australian Province and frequently returned to spend time with those who had been his companions. The last time was in 2009.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)