After 15 years, Father Tom Stehlik says goodbye

Vincentian priest to begin new assignment in New Orleans Hispanic ministry

Published: July 30, 2011

By Aprille Hanson
Little Rock Correspondent

Heather Strojek

Father Tom Stehlik, CM, shows off his new stole presented to him as a gift July 24, along with a new chasuble from members of the Men's Club. The pastor's farewell Mass will be held Aug. 14 at St. Anne Church in North Little Rock.

Heather Strojek

As a new priest in 1996, Father Tom Stehlik, CM, took part in the northwest Arkansas Hispanic mission for three years with the hopes of making churches in Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Berryville more open and welcoming to Hispanics in Arkansas.

Father Stehlik, 52, said the experience laid the ground work for his push for diversity throughout Arkansas, particularly St. Anne Church in North Little Rock, where he has served for seven years.

"I listened to the Gospel from the side of people who were on the outside looking in. People who don't have a lot of security except in God," Father Stehlik said. "A lot of people didn't have legal status or anybody speaking up for them. They were always afraid of being seen, being caught, separated from their families. Faith really is a very powerful thing when you're on your knees. As a priest, the people are pretty much the teachers."

Father Stehlik, who's made a more welcoming, diverse parish, will be leaving St. Anne in August to start his next assignment in New Orleans Sept. 14.

Born in Chicago, Stehlik said he was almost 30 years old when he decided to become a Vincentian priest. He graduated from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

When he came to St. Anne, Father Stehlik said his goal was similar to what he had achieved in northwest Arkansas.

"My goal was to welcome people and to promote diversity," he said. "The Church should be a safe place for people to be different."

Father Stehlik said in 2004, there were about 25 Hispanic families in the parish and today there are more than 300 Hispanic families registered.

St. Anne started an 8 a.m. Sunday Spanish Mass and this summer, it has added a 5 p.m. Sunday Mass, the pastor said. As head of the Vincentian Evangelization Team, Father Stehlik also celebrated Spanish Masses in Searcy, Arkadelphia and Glenwood.

He said he doesn't have a language preference but enjoys the emotional side of the Spanish Mass.

"Hispanics have been taught faith from the heart, not so much from the head, it makes worship a different experience," Father Stehlik said. "I enjoy the Spanish Mass because people are less inhibited about expressing what they feel in their hearts."

Father Stehlik said he began to help organize yearly Spanish Vincentian missions starting in 2007 after attending one in California, to promote Hispanic involvement in his parish.

In 2010, an English version was started and it has grown to encompass several parishes in central Arkansas. They are held at St. Joseph Center in North Little Rock.

"There was a lot of cultural exchange going on -- Hispanic people thought Americans were rather reluctant to be around them and the Americans always wondered why the Hispanics never wanted to do anything in English," Father Stehlik said. "On these weekends, people would come and share ... they are unreal."

Guillermo Bruzatori, administrator of the Vincentian program at St. Anne, said the retreats have "changed the life of the whole Latino community."

"They now feel they have their own community in the churches," Bruzatori said. "The bilingual Latinos are the ones who made the retreats for the Anglo people. By mingling, we are not talking about Latino or American, we are talking about missioners, brothers and sisters."

In New Orleans, Father Stehlik will be pastor of St. Joseph Church and help develop a Hispanic outreach ministry.

"As a missionary, I was hoping to be here three to five years," Father Stehlik said. "I'm very grateful I had a good amount of time to be a part of something that had a long life before me and will continue."