New employee brings wealth of experience to her new position at St. John Neumann Pastoral Center

Two years ago, Anna Dawidowicz was a law clerk in Warsaw, Poland. On January 17 of this year, she started a new career in the United States in the Diocese of Metuchen as the Administrative Assistant for the Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life.

Anna was born and raised in Augustow, a small town in Poland. After graduating Augustow High School in 2015, she enrolled in The Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Warsaw in a five year program which led to her receiving a Master of Law degree.

While working for her degree, Anna also worked as a client advisor in a high-end clothing store and as an assistant manager in her family’s cabin rental business. During an internship in her junior year, she served in a district court in Warsaw. “At the end of that year, I also joined a Christian dating app and started texting a young man in New Jersey,” she said.

As a law clerk in Poland, Anna was responsible for researching and assisting in legal preparation, documents, and legal cases. That position together with her previous jobs provided her with the skills to deal with people in a variety of situations. These skills she is now using as she provides administrative support to the diocese’s Office of Discipleship Formation for Children, the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and the Office of RCIA.

Anna’s journey to the United States actually began in November 2019 when the New Jersey man, Youssef Kallini, she was texting decided to visit Poland. He told her he loved John Paul II, now Pope St. John Paul II, and always wanted to visit his country. “During his two-week vacation in Poland, I showed him the country and introduced him to my family,” she said, then added, “Before he returned home our relationship became serious.”

Anna had planned on meeting Youssef, an Army Reservist, in May 2020 after she graduated from the university. COVID, however, closed many borders, so the couple decided to find a place where they could fly together. In September 2020, when she had four days off from work, Anna and Youssef spent that time in the United Kingdom. It was there that Youssef proposed to Anna and she accepted. Youssef then started the process of obtaining a K1, fiancé, Visa for Anna.

In 2021, when Anna received her visa, Youssef bought her a ticket to the United States. She bid her family and friends goodbye and in May arrived at Newark Airport. Her fiancé visa required that Anna and Youssef marry within 90 days. They met with a priest in Clifton where Youssef’s family lived. He advised them to get married in court, wait a year, and then marry in the Church.

The Kallinis did marry in court on June 26, 2021 and on Aug. 15, 2022 married in St. Paul’s Church, Clifton. Today, the Kallinis are members of St. Cecelia Parish, Iselin.

By this time they married, Youssef, still in the Army Reserves, had moved from Clifton to Highland Park. He was employed and still is an IT support person for JFK Hospital, Edison. Anna was in the process of getting a green card. In May 2022, just before receiving a green card, she started to look for a job. “I sent my CV to places and talked to people,” she said.

“I always liked office work; organizing things, writing emails and dealing with clients and customers, so that is the type of work I wanted,” she recalled.

It was in Petros, a New Brunswick community for young adults that led Anna to the diocese. The Kallinis had joined Petros at the end of 2021. “It was there that I met Jerry Wutkowski Jr., (Assistant Director, diocesan Office of Communications and Public Relations) who works at the diocese,” Anna said. She shared her CV with him. After reviewing it, he suggested changes which she made. He also told her about the Administrative Assistant position open at the diocese. She applied and eventually was offered and accepted the position.

“I love this job and the people I work with,” Anna stated. All the directors I help are “amazing and understanding.” I am still learning English but everyone in the diocese has been very helpful,” she added.

In commenting on her new administrative assistant Jennifer Ruggiero, who heads the diocesan Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, said, “Anna is truly a delight to work with!  Her organizational skills and her eagerness to help are qualities that make her a real asset to our team.  Her deep faith always shines through, and we feel blessed to have her working alongside us.”