Father Tony was the “sponsor” in Sister Kasia’s leap to America. He belonged to one of those Catholic orders that did not bother with a vow of poverty and did not require a priest to bunk beside the church like a night watchman. A man could have his own place, and Father Tony did. They met in Europe while he was out shaking the money tree for his basilica. He saw the smoking nun, she saw the worldly priest, and that was that. Shared interests were discovered, doors opened, and before long Sister Kasia was on Grand Street in Brooklyn, beginning a new life with both feet on the pavement.
Within certain church circles, these events would later be remembered as the Immaculate Immigration, which sounds a lot holier than what usually gets a person to Brooklyn.
Father Tony never lost his taste for the road. It was in his blood and stronger than any promise to settle down. So in time they moved along their separate tracks, never forgot one another, and stayed steady friends.
And in Williamsburg, where half the crowd wanted to be famous by Tuesday and drunk by midnight, Father Tony and Sister Kasia were something rare in Boho Williamsburg. They were real about what they worked at, and because of that, they did not just survive. They prospered, especially Sister Kasia.
In a neighborhood full of amateurs pretending to be originals, Father Tony and Sister Kasia really wanted to do something with their lives. That’s partly why they lasted. Father Tony knew how to opportunize like no one else. except his fellow priests.