The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
Click on a headline below to read about priests profiled in Arkansas Catholic during their priesthood jubilee year.
A 12-year-old Boy Scout was on a Catholic camping retreat on the grounds of the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg, Mo.
He signed up for a 2-to-3-a.m. shift during the all-night Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the chapel but wound up staying until after 5.
“Picture yourself there by yourself, in the middle of the night,” he recalled. “You’re tired, but what a tremendous experience.”
That long sleepless night was a spiritual awakening.
“God More... 
Around 5 years old, James Ibeh would gently rest his hands on anyone to pray for them.
“My favorite verse in the Bible is when Jeremiah said, ‘before I formed your mother's womb, I called you.’ I used that because even as a child, my cousins were calling me ‘Father,’” Father Ibeh said. “... I used to (tell) people, ‘I came to the seminary to get licensed.’”
Father Ibeh, CSSp, associate pastor in five parishes in eastern More...
Early on Sunday mornings as a teenager in Philadelphia, James Fanrak and a few other knights of the altar -- now called altar servers -- would wait on the corner for Father Buckley to pick them up to serve at two Masses, one at Sacred Heart Home for the Infirm and another at a local convent for religious sisters.
“I think it had a big effect, that I would want to be like him in his More...
FORT SMITH -- Father John Antony spent his 25th year as a priest dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and learning new ways to minister to his parishes.
“In the last 25 years, I learned that priests can only offer the people two things: the sacraments and the Scriptures,” he said. “The pandemic allowed me to really delve into the Scriptures and discover how much they feed and nourish us spiritually.
“The Church is set up with two More...
Father Jerome Earley is drawn to classic film. Whether it’s the religious themes in the 1946 film “The Razor’s Edge” or the poetic words in 1942’s “Casablanca,” he feels a kinship to characters who are faced with making a decision, the right one, and the broader thoughts of how God fits in it all.
“The older movies, they have a message. They’re more thought out. What is one’s relationship to God, one’s relationship to other people? What are values?” the 69-year-old said. More...
Father Siprianus Ola Rotok, SVD, is honest when people ask him about his vocation story — it’s ordinary.
It is ordinary in the way that there was no lightning bolt, no voice from God or revelation showing him he’d one day be a priest. But God has worked miraculously in little movements, laying out the path for Father Rotok to be a missionary. On Sept. 8, he’ll celebrate 25 years as a missionary priest with the More...
Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert remembers his ordination day, May 26, 1960, with all the clarity of yesterday.
“Bishop (Albert) Fletcher was, of course, the bishop and Msgr. (Joseph) Murray was the VG (vicar general) and master of ceremony. Bishop Fletcher was an extraordinary man. Very humble, true Arkansan, a man of the earth. We had a class of eight. Unfortunately, of those, I am the only one left … It was a good class. Things were More...
When Leonard Wangler was a child and before he had thought twice about the priesthood, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word from San Antonio who taught in his Fort Worth, Texas, grade school saw something different in him.
“Early on, they had me pegged as a priest. I don’t know what they knew. I was probably more subdued than most boys of my age. But they must have seen something else there,” he said. More...
During a semester spent in Rome in 1989 as a sophomore at Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas, Father Greg Luyet, feeling insecure, aware of his imperfections, walked into St. Ignatius Church. There, he saw a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“It had Jesus holding his heart surrounded by a crown of thorns in one hand while gesturing with the other. It was like I felt Jesus saying to me, ‘Don’t be More...
While everyone has to discern their life’s path, most have not had as drastic a fork in the road as Father Phillip Reaves — sacrificing self to serve the Lord or being a millionaire.
He was destined to be an accountant for an oil company his father’s cousin was starting. About seven or eight years ago, after selling off an oil lease, each of his cousin’s children received $1 million after taxes.
“I said, ‘Hey, where’s my More...
Born in Kerala, India, Father Aby Abraham, IMS, grew up watching his parents devote their time to the Church.
“I received my faith from my parents. They were always faithful to the spiritual activities of the church,” Father Abraham said in a biography provided to Arkansas Catholic. “Our everyday family prayer built up our faith and spirituality. I had two aunties who were nuns. They helped me as well.”
He said it was his mother who helped More...
Update: Father Hugh Assenmacher, OSB, died on July 24 from complications from a July 12 fall.
ALTUS — Every morning at 6:30, Father Hugh Assenmacher, OSB, opens St. Mary Church in Altus to pray. The historic church that sits on a hilltop and overlooks miles of natural scenery allows the parish’s sacramental minister to peacefully pray and meditate daily.
Father Assenmacher, a retired Benedictine monk from Subiaco Abbey, was born in Billings, Mo., on Feb. 16, 1933. More...
CHARLESTON — As a young boy living in a Ugandan village, Patrick Watikha enjoyed serving in Mass and attending school.
His parents were peasant farmers who could not afford education beyond grade school. Father Watikha’s parish priest, Father Andrew Erp, saw his interest in Mass and education and offered to pay for his Catholic school tuition. Father Erp mentored him for many years and provided an example that eventually led Father Watikha to enter the Apostles More...
FORT SMITH — Father Les Farley’s current assignments in Fort Smith have allowed him to answer several vocational calls.
On May 29, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination with Mass, a family luncheon and a public reception at St. Scholastica Monastery.
Father Farley grew up in a Catholic family with four brothers and three sisters. The family moved from Little Rock to Paragould when he was 10, and the parish community of St. Mary Church More...
Outside Father Thomas Keller’s door are treasures from his 60 years of priesthood: three miraculous pictures framed together, his military ring and a signed baseball — a memento from playing catch with children inside the diocesan courtyard, which he overlooks from St. John Manor as a retired priest for the past four years.
While only objects, they signify his devotion to the Lord, service to the country and passion for all life.
“What is more important than More...
When Benoit Mukamba was growing up in the Mashasha Village in what is now Democratic Republic of the Congo, his older brother Athanase built a Catholic church in a small hut. He became a catechist to assist the Spiritan priests from Belgium who would travel to the remote village, often without the luxury of roads, about three times a year. In between those visits, his brother taught religion.
“His unquestionable dedication to his church,” inspired a More...
Growing up in a family of six on a dairy farm in Poplar Bluff, Mo., James Raymond Walz quickly learned the value of hard work and working together.
“We actually milked cows and grew a lot of vegetables because my dad sold milk house to house,” he said. “… As soon as you could walk you got a job.”
That sense of responsibility and faith he said was good preparation for becoming a Benedictine monk. Father Richard More...
Little Ralph Esposito had to know the reason behind everything.
“I was kind of like the rebel in the family too. I was always the one who would ask ‘Why?’ when my parents told me something to do,” he said with a laugh.
But Father Ralph Esposito didn’t have to seek out the reason why he was called to the priesthood by God. He simply had to follow and has for the past 50 years.
Father Esposito, 76, More...
To save souls takes a little soul and for the past 15 years, Father Edwin “Ed” Graves has brought an Elvis-inspired spirituality to Mass.
“I bring all the kids forward after Communion and sing ‘Jesus is the rock and he rolls my blues away,’” which he heard once at a Come and See discernment retreat. “I say ‘this song was written by St. Peter, it says Jesus is the rock and Peter really insisted the refrain not be More...
At 11 years old, Irudayaraj Chinnaiah Yeddanapalli had his life mapped out.
“I was thinking in 1975, calculating when I would be doing my philosophy, when I’d be doing my theology, ‘OK 1992 it will be my ordination, God willing. I hope I will survive,’” the pastor at St. John Church in Hot Springs said. “All along I never had any doubt that I would become a priest. I was sure. This is the line I’m More...
Gerald Wewers learned the value of hard work early, doing what was asked of him by his father.
“My father was a janitor at St. Boniface (in Fort Smith). Shortly after I got into the third grade. That school year dad said, ‘If you’re going to be here, which you have to you because you can’t go home until I go home, you might as well help clean classrooms.’ So I started cleaning classrooms,” he said.
Hardly More...
Father Nho Duy “Dominic” Do has always been a man in motion. Whether it was leaving his home in Vietnam as a child to pursue religious life or driving throughout Arkansas ministering to the various Vietnamese communities, Father Do made his service to God a traveling ministry.
April 29 marked his 50th jubilee as a priest, a path he was set on after being an altar server and being dedicated to Catholicism. His pastor suggested he More...
PARAGOULD — Amid the Second Sudanese Civil War, Father Stephen Mallanga, AJ, was sent to Sudan for one year to teach boys preparing for the priesthood.
“It was terrible,” Father Mallanga of Uganda said. “That was in 1986. … But I did not finish the full year in the Sudan. There was a lot of civil war going on. There was so many rebels fighting the government and our seminary was practically surrounded by rebels. The More...
POCAHONTAS — It was in fifth grade that Father Athanasius Okeiyi realized he enjoyed taking an active role in his parish.
It continues to be a passion today. Father Okeiyi, who celebrated his 25th year as a priest July 13, is pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Pocahontas, St. John the Baptist Church in Engelberg and St. Joseph Church in Corning.
“I grew up from a Catholic background and my father made sure all of More...
Every day, Father Chris Okeke is opening the doors of St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Mountain Home at 4:45 a.m. It was not a task assigned to him; it’s a part of his daily routine of giving thanks to God — prayer in the church, work in the office, Mass, visiting those in need and more prayer.
Prayer is what has sustained him these past 25 years of priesthood.
“I am very grateful to God because More...
Msgr. Lawrence Avon Frederick took a leap of faith 50 years ago, leaving a job as an aeronautical engineer to join the seminary, “just to see,” if God was truly calling him. On his jubilee year, he took another leap — off a 14-story building.
In April, Msgr. Frederick, 79, known to most as “Father Fred,” rapelled down the First Security building in downtown Little Rock to raise money for Catholic High School for Boys, where More...
A young Jimmy Mancini played the part of a priest long before his ordination. With a dishcloth for a chasuble, a piece of bread sliced into a circle and his little sister altar serving for him, he held the host as high as he could for just a boy of about 11. He genuflected and enjoyed the “consecrated” homemade wine his mother let him drink.
“Of course Mama would have to let me have wine to More...
BARLING — Two saints personally influenced the life of Father Henry Mischkowiuski.
He had just finished high school and getting ready to attend college when he first met Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
“Five of us — Theresa, Agnes, Frances Xavier, another young student and I — agreed to work with her when she was just starting,” he said. “It was quite an uplifting experience to do this charity work. Her love and compassion for others came from More...
BELLA VISTA — In a city nestled in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, known for its retirement community, lives a man far from retiring.
Father Barnabas Maria Susai, a member of the Indian Mission Society religious order, serves in Bella Vista, a scenic city surrounded by seven lakes and seven golf courses. Yet, the irony of the situation is not lost on his parishioners.
Father Barnabas, as he is known, spends his time, not in recreation, More...
God never promised a smooth path for the religious, so Subiaco Abbey’s Father Timothy Donnelly, OSB, can easily name a few things that are hard about being a priest — not being able to have a family with children, forgiveness for those who hurt you or someone you love (“that is common to all Christians” he admits) and then, of course, his first tough task of learning Latin.
“My Latin I and Algebra I teacher was More...
In 1964, the British rock band The Kinks, a favorite of Msgr. Richard Oswald, released one of their hit songs, “You Really Got Me.” Just a year later, a young Richard could easily alter the lyrics of the song and it would sum up his call to the priesthood — “God, you really got me.”
“It all has to go back to God. God used me in my priesthood, but I very much enjoyed being a More...
Father Jerome Kodell celebrated his 50th jubilee as a Benedictine priest in May and can look back with happiness at his 25-year run as abbot of Subiaco Abbey.
To think, he could have been an ice salesman.
“I remember as I kid I wanted to be an ice salesman. You know that sold the blocks of ice (for refrigeration years ago). That was one of my ambitions, so I didn’t have serious ones,” he laughed.
Thankfully he found More...
CENTER RIDGE — Father Silvio D’Ostilio, CSSp, stands in the aisle of St. Joseph Church in Center Ridge and takes a deep breath.
“I always wanted a small country church,” the pastor said. “I never thought I’d get one.”
Three years after arriving at St. Joseph, it’s hard to picture Father D’Ostilio anywhere but here. Everything from the tomato and pepper plants sprouting behind the church to the pews lined with descendants of the area’s Italian settlers More...
Every Lent, every Good Friday, every re-telling of the path to Calvary, Catholics pause and reflect on Jesus’ three falls. Believers are perhaps affected more by the way he got up and marched on, inextricably, toward his destiny.
Father Alphonse Gollapalli had his own three stumbles on the path to the priesthood. Not exactly a failing of faith, but every bit as serious a threat to a ministry before it even began.
“I came from a very More...
Msgr. John O’Donnell — who observed the 60th anniversary of his ordination May 27 — has lived enough Catholic, diocesan and secular history to make a movie. But, as the 86-year-old himself said, “Who’d believe it?”
An athletic youth from rural Pennsylvania born to Irish immigrants, Msgr. O’Donnell dreamed of adventure early, but world events didn’t cooperate as World War II ended before he could get out of high school. The priesthood, especially in Arkansas, seemed More...
SCRANTON — There are far more pastures than parishioners in the three northwestern Arkansas parishes entrusted to Father Josely Kalathil, IMS. Yet for all of the serenity and relative quiet of these places, Father Kalathil’s territory in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains has enjoyed more than its share of celebrations lately.
In May, St. Ignatius Church in Scranton observed its 100th anniversary and St. Meinrad Church in Prairie View — blessed three days later in More...
WEST MEMPHIS — On a spring day in 1988, a restless seminarian fidgeted before his ordination Mass. Moved by the moment, he approached the bishop — soon to lay his hands on him to continue the line of St. Peter — to speak what was in his heart on that solemn day.
“I asked Bishop (Andrew J.) McDonald if he hit me with his crosier, would I get a ‘staff’ infection,” giggled Father Charles Thessing, who More...
FAIRFIELD BAY — Father Oliver Ochieze’s vocation has been a study in obedience. Time and again over the past 25 years, God put turns in his path, each of which was accepted if not fully understood or anticipated.
From his office at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fairfield Bay, a gorgeous community of lakes and mountain vistas in north central Arkansas, Father Ochieze still shakes his head over how differently his vocation unfolded compared to More...
If faith is a journey, then Father Alan Rosenau, associate pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Hot Springs. is a certified globetrotter guided by a fascination with religion and the idea God was never far away.
“The first word that comes to mind is gratitude,” he said of the past 25 years as a Catholic priest. “Especially since I guess you could say I did it all backwards.”
It started around age 10 when, growing More...
The office wall at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Little Rock holds a line of framed personal memorabilia tracing the life of Father L. Warren Harvey. It spans his journey from the pastures of youth through 25 years behind the altar.
“I look at these, from there to there,” he says, sweeping his arm from the opening photo — him at about 12 months — to something more recent to his 59 years. “I More...
Many priests tell of surrendering to the call of Christ, of accepting the life of vocations with meekness. Not many describe the priesthood as an act of defiance. But then, not many have walked the path of Father Stanislas Swiderski, 73.
Coming of age in the ruins of post-World War II Poland, Father Swiderski was surrounded daily by reminders of the price of being overtly Catholic.
“I suppose my becoming a priest was in some ways a More...
If you don’t get through to Father Richard Davis on the first try, treat yourself to listening to the answering machine message. After running through the Mass schedule, Father Davis’ smooth voice wisecracks, “If you don’t mind talking to this blasted machine, please leave a message.”
Father Davis has a thing about answering machines. And Twitter, for that matter, and text messaging and e-mail and anything else that dilutes the human connection upon which rests his More...
"We're your angels."
Though perhaps not to the degree some people may envision, monastic life is by design spartan in its trappings. As one visit to Marylake Monastery a short drive outside of Little Rock attests, everything from the modest furnishings to the spare décor speaks more of what it lacks than what it has assembled, casting off that which impedes the eye and ear from seeing and hearing God's presence.
Father John Magdalene Suenram, More...
Father Venantius "Vincent" Preske came to Arkansas to work in a Glenmary mission in 1963, but he later realized it was part of God's plan for him to be a priest in the Diocese of Little Rock.
"I wanted to do mission work, which is why I was with Glenmary for 23 years. Yet, at a certain time, God clearly pointed out what he wanted from me -- to be a diocesan priest. I won't go More...
SPRINGDALE -- Father Milton Lange has no complaints.
"God has been good to me. I can't complain. God has been very good to me," he said. "I just wish other people would have as good a life as I've had."
Other people should be so blessed. Father Lange recently celebrated an occasion few priests are lucky enough to observe: the 60th anniversary of his ordination. Officially retired since 1996, the priest remains a familiar presence in More...
Father Mark Wood never considered being a Baptist preacher, but after his conversion to Catholicism as a teenager, he heard the call to the priesthood.
"This thought came to my mind during Mass to be a priest. I believe God intervened in my life and made me a Catholic to make me a priest. I don't think he made me a Catholic just to stop there. I think it was because I was supposed to be More...
In 1956, Father Robert Dienert came to Arkansas and St. John Home Mission Seminary in Little Rock to follow his calling to the priesthood, even though he knew little about the state.
He grew up in Pittsburgh after his birth on Aug. 30, 1930, and later moved to Detroit.
He first felt his calling in fourth grade when his class was studying the Bible and the story of God calling Samuel in the night (1 Samuel 3:1-10).
"I More...
On a still morning at Marylake Monastery a short drive southeast of Little Rock, superior Father Sam Anthony Morello, OCD, leads the visitor into the foyer and taps the glass on a black and white photo. A silver engraved plaque dates the picture July 25, 1952.
"He's gone, he's gone, he's long gone," said Father Morello, ticking through the distinguished friars and grinning Knights of Columbus in the photo, all robed in their finest underneath what More...
SUBIACO -- Father Peter Sharum, OSB, marked his 60th year as a Benedictine priest June 4 at Subiaco Abbey.
Father Sharum, 85, was born in Fort Smith the ninth child of 10 children and was christened Paul William. He attended St. Boniface School and St. Anne Academy and came to Subiaco Academy for his senior year, graduating with the class of 1945.
He entered Subiaco Abbey, professing his vows as a monk on Sept. 16, 1947, receiving More...
In the 1980s, becoming a priest seemed almost impossible for Father John Marconi because it meant speaking in public.
"I had a lot of fears about getting up in front of people. I was known as a fainter ... I was even known to faint in the barber's chair," Father Marconi said, adding the sight of blood or someone in pain could also make him "pass out."
While attending Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas, More...
Father William "Bill" Elser heard God's call to the priesthood in elementary school, and looking back at 25 years as a priest, he's glad he listened.
The idea of becoming a priest entered his head early, he said. Since the first grade, he thought being a priest might be for him.
"I gave thought to it in my elementary years due to the influences around me. I was serving Mass since first grade. My family was an More...
Father John Oswald began his life as a priest at St. John Center in Little Rock, living and studying at St. John Home Missions Seminary, and it is where he returned after a stroke around 1996.
"It's very different than when I lived here before. I lived in the old prep side in the seminary. I live in the chapel now," he said laughing. "Well, I live where the chapel was back then. I like it."
More...
The call from God was one Father David Bellinghausen, OSB, could not ignore, joining the Benedictine order at Subiaco Abbey after his first year of college.
Father Bellinghausen celebrated 25 years as a priest during the annual monastic retreat at Subiaco Abbey June 6-10, and 50 years as a monk.
"I love the solitude of monastic life, but I also enjoy being with people," he said. "I have enjoyed exercising the priestly office within my monastic vocation."
He More...
HOT SPRINGS -- This year that marks the silver anniversary of the ordination of Father James West now will have a gold tone to it.
In August, Father West will return to service under the gold-topped domes of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Hot Springs to serve as its pastor once more.
"(He is) affable, caring, holy," said Isabelle Peregrin of Hot Springs, a longtime member of the parish and the community. "I'm More...
SUBIACO -- Father Eugene Luke, OSB, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Paris, celebrated his golden jubilee of ordination to the priesthood during the annual monastic retreat at Subiaco Abbey in early June.
He was born Oct. 6, 1936, in Muenster, Texas, and attended Sacred Heart School in his hometown followed by two years at Muenster High School. He came to Subiaco Academy for his final two years of high school, graduating with the class More...
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE -- Father Vic Bieberle may go down on the books as having the longest-celebrated 60th anniversary of ordination in recent memory. There have been Masses, thank you dinners, personal wishes and a June 21 Mass and dinner hosted by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor.
But this anniversary comes with a tinge of sadness. The man who served as a de facto assistant pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hot Springs Village wants More...
Father Joseph L. Pallo, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Blytheville and St. Matthew Church in Osceola, overcame all the obstacles in his path to becoming a priest.
This year, he is celebrating two milestones in his priesthood at once -- his 50th anniversary as a priest and his retirement at age 80.
"I'm grateful that the Holy Sprit has guided me through this fruitful ministry. I have had rich experiences in my priesthood, but I'm almost More...
For the past nine years Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert has been retired, but one wouldn't know it from looking at his recent accomplishments.
When he left Christ the King Church in Little Rock in 2001, he continued to serve the state like few priests have done.
He has served on several diocesan clergy committees and was the vicar general until 2006.
He served as the administrator of St. Mary Church in Hot Springs for six More...
Father Donald Murrin, SVD, pastor of St. Peter Church and St. Raphael Church in Pine Bluff, never wavered in the childhood choice to become a priest.
"I always wanted to be a priest. I remember raising my hand in the first grade when our pastor asked who wanted to be a priest or sister -- that's when I first remember the call," Father Murrin said. "I was at church all the time. It was only a More...
Father Frank Lowe seemed destined to be a priest and Air Force chaplain -- after 25 years as a priest, he certainly is following God's lead.
"I was always interested in the priesthood as a child. I was an altar server and attended Catholic grade school," he said. "The influence was always there."
After high school he worked for three years before going on a vocation retreat in San Diego, Calif.
"This college seminary's focus was on discernment. More...
Father Aaron Pirrera, OSB, has spent most of his life following a call to teach and to preach. The 66-year-old, who is currently pastor of St. Benedict Church in Subiaco and a former headmaster at Subiaco Academy, celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in August.
Born in Chicago and raised in Springfield, Ill., Father Pirrera knew from childhood that he wanted to be a priest. In high school, he said, he wanted More...
Msgr. Thomas Sebaugh has had a big year. In May he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest. On Aug. 3 he turned 80 years old.
Next year he will observe his 25th anniversary working at St. John Center in Little Rock as the director of information systems. He comes to work at the same building where he started taking classes as a high school student at St. John High School Seminary.
While most 80-year-olds would More...
SUBIACO -- Father Placidus Eckart, OSB, was born in Subiaco, attended Subiaco Academy and joined the abbey in 1943. This year he marks his 60th anniversary as a Benedictine priest.
He was born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Eckart on March 3, 1925. Christened Anton, he attended the local Catholic grade school and attended Subiaco Academy, graduating with the class of 1943.
He entered the novitiate in the fall of 1943 and professed his vows on More...
Msgr. John Kordsmeier still loves celebrating daily Mass today, after 60 years as a priest.
He recalls going to Mass often at Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton with his mother and serving at Mass.
"I was in grade school (Sacred Heart), we served an awful lot because we lived in what we called town, about a mile and a half from the church," Msgr. Kordsmeier said recently. "But I always wanted to say Mass."
He said his More...
ALTUS -- Father Hilary Filiatreau, OSB, has been the pastor of St. Mary Church in Altus for nearly 20 years.
At age 87, he is still serving the Subiaco Abbey area and marking his 60th anniversary as a priest.
He was born April 21, 1922, to Dr. and Mrs. Raymond Filiatreau in Mechanicsburg, Ind. He was named James Edward. He attended first to 10th grades at St. Joseph School in Elwood, Ind. His junior and senior More...
HARRISON -- For Father Gregory Hart, it was more a matter of when he would enter the seminary than a question of if he would.
He remembers first thinking about being a priest at the age of 5 or 6. As an elementary student at St. Theresa School in Little Rock, he was always asked to bless the football before the game commenced. His Grandmother Hart once told him she'd heard from an angel that he More...
ST. VINCENT -- Nestled in the sleepy town of St. Vincent, nine miles north of I-40 on Highway 95 is the bustling parish of St. Mary Church. It is here that Father James "Jim" Burnie, CSSp, cares for the families of the parish.
Recently Father Burnie celebrated his 25th anniversary as a priest.
"I can remember always thinking about the priesthood," Father Burnie said.
However, it was not until age 53 that he was finally ordained as a More...
In 1953 Father Raphael Kitz, OCD, came to Marylake Monastery and became a novice in the Order of Discalced Carmelites. More than 55 years later, Father Kitz instructs novices at Marylake, and he celebrates his 50th year as a Carmelite priest.
Just south of Little Rock, Marylake Monastery serves as the novitiate house for the order's local province. As the novice master since 1993, Father Kitz has instructed at least 30 novices in "the lifestyle More...
Six years have passed since Bishop Emeritus Andrew J. McDonald moved to the Chicago area to serve as chaplain at a home for the elderly poor.
Though it was difficult to leave Arkansas, he said he loves his work now. There is none of the administrative, personnel or travel demands that come with being an active bishop. He is free to focus on celebrating the sacraments and bringing the presence of Christ to the people, which More...
ENGLAND -- In 50 years of priesthood Father Thomas Keller has been a pastor, military chaplain, prison minister and coordinator of devotions to Mary and Jesus. He started the first perpetual adoration chapel in Arkansas, and through his pro-life work, witnessed the closing of an abortion clinic in Little Rock.
Yet, the most significant event of his priesthood was the Second Vatican Council and the changing of the Church's liturgy from Latin to English.
Father Keller recalled More...
SUBIACO -- Father Hugh Assenmacher, OSB, has been associated with Subiaco Academy since he entered the minor seminary more than 60 years ago.
After marking 55 years as a monk, of which 50 years has been as a Benedictine priest, as well as a teacher, chaplain, choir director and organist, he continues to be available to the students.
Father Hugh was born Gerald Anthony Assenmacher in Billings, Mo., Feb. 16, 1933. He received his primary education More...
SUBIACO -- Father Brendan Miller, OSB, was driving across the state of Arkansas on his way to visit a community of monks in another state. As he reached the horizon atop a steep hill in Logan County, he was overwhelmed at the natural beauty that lay before him: a spectacular rainbow glistened above Subiaco Abbey.
From that moment on Father Brendan knew the answer to his spiritual quest.
"Some day, God willing, I'll be a member More...
CONWAY -- Father Gregory Mallya, CSSp, celebrated his 25th anniversary as a priest with Mass and a reception on June 8. Ordained in 1983, Father Mallya has spent his priesthood as a missionary serving in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and the United States.
Father Mallya, a native of Tanzania, was introduced to the priesthood by the Spiritan fathers who served his home parish.
"The Holy Ghost priests first came to my country in 1865 as missionaries," Father More...
CENTER RIDGE -- More than 200 family members, friends and former parishioners gathered at St. Joseph Church in Center Ridge Sunday, June 1 to celebrate the life and dedication of Father Raymond Rossi, a priest for the Diocese of Little Rock for 50 years.
Concelebrating with Father Rossi were Father T. J. Hart, his cousin from Hot Springs, and Father John Yates, CSSp, pastor of St. Joseph Church. The homilist was former diocesan administrator Msgr. J. More...
SUBIACO -- Born June 10, 1931, in Tyler, Texas, Raymond Cooney was educated in his hometown from grades one through his freshman year of college.
As a youngster, he became acquainted with the Arkansas Benedictine monks when he attended Camp Subiaco, an annual summer camp for boys held at the abbey.
In 1949, he enrolled in Subiaco Academy for prerequisite classes before his entry into the monastery where he professed his vows as a monk on More...
SUBIACO -- "Two religious who greatly influenced my vocation," Father Victor Gillespie said, "were Brother Cyprian Hill, CFP, of Morris School and Father Christopher Paladino, OSB, of Subiaco Academy."
Born March 5, 1928, in Atkins, Anthony Gillespie received his secondary education at Morris School and graduated from Subiaco Academy in 1945.
He joined the United States Air Force in 1946 and was stationed in Japan as a photo lab technician.
Returning to Subiaco in 1950, he professed More...
SUBIACO -- Benedictine Father Denis Soerries has maintained a connection to his hometown of Hartman and the closed parish, Sacred Heart, where he was baptized, attended school and celebrated his first Mass in 1956.
The fourth oldest of 11 children, Clarence Soerries was born on Feb. 18, 1931.
It was to his hometown that Father Soerries returned along with family members, relatives and friends on Sunday, May 7 for a celebration of his golden jubilee.
As a More...
Until two years ago, Father Joseph Enderlin, 83, was so busy helping to build the Catholic Church in Arkansas he didn't stop long enough to realize he was tired.
It finally hit him when he retired in 2004.
And then, he said, "It took me at least a year to get over being tired."
He may not serve in a parish anymore, but his devotion to the priesthood is as strong as ever. In June he celebrated his More...
Msgr. Scott Marczuk smiled as he recalled drawing himself wearing a Roman collar and holding a Bible. He knew in the first grade he wanted to be a priest and entered the seminary right out of high school. He said he felt blessed that he never had to wrestle with his decision, he just "always knew."
Now 51, the rector of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock is celebrating 25 years of priesthood and More...
BENTONVILLE -- All of his life Father Michael Sinkler and his family have been connected to the Church.
As a youngster growing up in St Louis, Father Sinkler, his parents and three sisters were parishioners at the church his grandfather, Frank Konersman, built.
"When I was in grade school and the sisters (Precious Blood) wanted anything done, they naturally said, 'Frank's grandson will do it.'"
Father Sinkler, pastor at St Stephen Church, is celebrating his 25th ordination anniversary More...
SILOAM SPRINGS -- When Father Clayton Gould was assigned to St. Mary Parish in Siloam Springs two years ago, he had a sense of déjà vu.
He'd been to Siloam Springs before -- he'd even been to the church long before he entered the seminary.
As Father Gould relates the story, it was some 35 years ago now, when his family made the trek from southern Arkansas -- he was born in Lake Village and grew up More...
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