Priest shortage spurs more parish mergers

New appointments signal start of parish restructuring

By GLEN ARGAN
WCR Editor
Edmonton

The appointments, announced by Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, will see 16 parishes which currently have their own pastor being doubled up with another parish.

But the list of appointments also shows a stronger emphasis on priestly vocations. The archdiocese will have a full-time vocations director and will establish a pre-seminary formation house in northeast Edmonton.

Father Martin Carroll, director of the formation house to be based at St. Alphonsus Parish, will also serve as pastor of St. Alphonsus and St. Paul parishes.

Two other city parishes will be combined under one pastor. They are St. Anthony and St. Agnes where Father Emmett Crough will become pastor.

In rural parts of the archdiocese, restructuring will be more extensive. Parishes affected will be:

. Olds and Trochu and their respective missions will be combined with Father Les Drewicki as pastor.

. Camrose and Bashaw will be combined with Father Micheal Laporte as pastor.

. Killam and Daysland and their missions will be combined with Father Larry Pederson as pastor.

. Wainwright and Provost and their missions will be combined with Father Vic Perron as pastor.

. Villeneuve and Onoway and their missions will be combined with Sulpician Father Paul Terrio as pastor.

. Ponoka, Hobbema and Wetaskiwin will be combined with Father Mitchell Fidyka as pastor.

The archbishop told the WCR the future of missions attached to many rural parishes will be settled over the next year in talks among parishioners and pastors.

Some missions may be merged or closed while others may not have regular Sunday Mass but their buildings could remain open, he said.

In July, two religious orders will leave the Edmonton parishes where they have long served. The Redemptorist Fathers will relinquish responsibility for St. Alphonsus Parish and St. Paul's Province of the Oblates will leave the west-end Annunciation Parish.

However, St. Mary's Province of the Oblates is putting more manpower into St. Charles Parish in Edmonton's rapidly expanding north end.

MacNeil said the archdiocese was able to avoid further parish mergers by importing four new pastors.

Two pastors have come from Ghana and one from Poland. As well, Oblate Father Martin Moser, academic dean of Newman Theological College, will also serve as pastor of St. Angela and St. Pius X parishes in northwest Edmonton.

MacNeil said the archdiocese may also ordain up to four new priests in the next year.

But even with the declining number of priests in the archdiocese, one priest is being loaned to the northern Grouard-McLennan Archdiocese where the priest shortage is even more severe.

Father John Hesse, currently pastor in Leduc, will serve the northwestern Alberta diocese for two years beginning Aug. 16.

"The more generous we can be (with other dioceses), within reason, the more the Lord will bless us," said MacNeil.

The archbishop also announced the appointment of Father Sylvain Casavant as full-time vocations director for the archdiocese.

"This seems like a providential time for us to make a special emphasis on the promotion of vocations," MacNeil said. "People are beginning to realize the consequences of not having enough priests."

"Many people are just beginning to become aware of the responsibility of each one of us in the promotion of vocations," he said. "People kind of assumed it was the bishop's job to find a priest (for their parish) without seriously wondering where the bishop got those priests."

MacNeil said the archdiocese has also established a committee of priests, chaired by Msgr. Don MacDonald, the vicar general, to promote priestly vocations.

The archbishop announced other appointments. While most will take place July 12, some will occur later in the summer. They are:

Edmonton

Annunciation: Holy Cross Father Joseph Doucet, now at St. Paul's Parish, moves to Annunciation Parish.

St. Andrew's: Father Clement Gauthier, currently pastor at Rocky Mountain House, becomes pastor at St. Andrew's.

St. Charles Parish: Oblate Father John Malazdrewich becomes pastor, replacing Father Al Hubenig who is given another assignment by the Oblates. Father Michael Dechant is appointed associate pastor and youth minister. Brother Dan Dionne is appointed youth minister.

Outside Edmonton

Drayton Valley: Father Paul Mensah from Ghana becomes administrator in Drayton Valley while residing in Leduc.

Grande Cache: Father Isagani Avinante, current pastor in Trochu, becomes pastor in Grande Cache and its mission.

Jasper: Oblate Father Alphonse Roy, currently associate pastor at St. Albert Parish, become pastor in Jasper.

Leduc: Father Richard Bednar, currently in Wetaskiwin, becomes pastor. Also in residence here will be Fathers Paul Mensah and Samuel Nuako, both from Ghana.

Ma-Me-O Beach: Father Thomas Kroetch returns to part-time pastoral ministry as Sunday vicar at Ma-Me-O Beach.

Rimbey: Father Paul Moret, currently in Drayton Valley, becomes pastor at Rimbey, Sylvan Lake and attached missions.

Rocky Mountain House: Father Andrzej Bogdanowicz, currently in residence at St. Andrew's parish in Edmonton, becomes pastor in Rocky Mountain House.

Stettler: Father Greg Bittman, current pastor in Daysland, becomes pastor of Stettler, Castor and their attached missions.

Thorsby: Father Samuel Nuako from Ghana becomes administrator in Thorsby while residing in Leduc.

Other

. Spiritan Father Enzo Agnoli, currently pastor in Ma-Meo-O Beach, will retire.

. Redemptorist Father Dino Benedet, pastor at Edmonton's St. Alphonsus Parish, will retire from parish ministry.

. Oblate Father Bernard McCosham, current pastor at Edmonton's Annunciation Parish, retires from parish ministry.

. Father Ed Quao, currently Sunday vicar in Thorsby, returns to Ghana.

. Piarist Father Andrew Rybak, currently in Jasper, is granted a sabbatical year.

. Father Jan Sienko, currently pastor in Onoway, retires from parish ministry.

. Father Marian Strankowski, currently pastor in Provost, retires from parish ministry.

. Father Kenneth West, currently pastor in Stettler and Castor, is granted a sabbatical year.

. Father Karol Zynel, currently pastor at St. Andrew's Parish in Edmonton, retires from parish ministry.

Seminarians

. Joselito Cantal will assist at St. Alphonsus Parish in Edmonton.

. Paul Kavanagh will assist in Stettler and Castor.

. Michael Mireau will assist at Good Shepherd Parish in Edmonton.

. Jan Sobkowicz will assist at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert.

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