New assignments affect more than one-third of parishes in St. Cloud Diocese

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The end of June will mark new beginnings for numerous pastors and parishes in the St. Cloud Diocese.

Forty-seven parishes will see changes in leadership or clustering arrangements, 24 priests will begin new parish assignments, three pastors will retire, nine new clusters will form and one parish will be served by a pastor from another diocese.

Sharing with New Ulm Diocese
St. Anthony Parish in Browns Valley will be served by Father David Breu of the Diocese of New Ulm as of July 1. The parish will be clustered with St. Mary in Beardsley and Holy Rosary in Graceville. Even though St. Anthony’s will be served by a pastor from the New Ulm Diocese, the parish will still be considered part of the St. Cloud Diocese.

“This provides pastoral staffing for all of our parishes. There were not enough available pastors and this freed up a priest for us,” said Jane Marrin, director of the diocesan Planning Office.

Marrin said there has been a history of sharing pastoral responsibilities along the border between the Diocese of St. Cloud and the Diocese of New Ulm, and conversations about sharing pastoral responsibilities with other parishes along the border will continue.

Six parishes that were previously stand-alone parishes will be clustered with other parishes. They are St. Edward in Henning, St. Marcus in Clear Lake, St. John in Foley, St. Wendelin in Luxemburg, St. Mary in Melrose and SS. Peter and Paul in Richmond.

However, two parishes — Our Lady of Victory in Fergus Falls and Assumption in Morris — that were previously clustered with other parishes will become stand-alone parishes.

New clusters formed on June 30 will be:
• Ave Maria in Wheaton and St. Mary in Chokio.
• Holy Cross in Pearl Lake, Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Rockville and St. Wendelin in Luxemburg.
• Holy Rosary in Graceville, St. Anthony in Browns Valley and St. Mary in Beardsley (July1).
• Our Lady of the Lake in Battle Lake, St. Edward in Henning and St. James in Maine Township.
• St. Andrew in Greenwald, St. John the Baptist in Meire Grove, St. Mary in Melrose and St. Michael in Spring Hill.
• St. Charles in Herman, St. Gall in Tintah and St. Olaf in Elbow Lake.
• St. John in Foley and St. Patrick in Minden Township.
• St. Lawrence in Duelm and St. Marcus in Clear Lake.
• St. Martin in St. Martin and SS. Peter and Paul in Richmond.

Assuming more responsibility
Some of the priests will take on bigger roles in this grouping of new assignments. Father Peter VanderWeyst will get his first experience as pastor as he assumes leadership for Christ the King in Browerville, St. Joseph in Bertha and St. Joseph in Clarissa. Father VanderWeyst currently serves as a parochial vicar for three parishes in Stevens County.

Vincentian Father Jimmy Joseph will become a parochial administrator of Sacred Heart in Flensburg, St. James in Randall and St. Stanislaus in Sobieski. He is currently a parochial vicar for three parishes in St. Cloud.

Soon-to-be ordained priests, Deacons Matthew Crane and John Knopik, will begin their first priestly assignments this June. Father Crane will serve as parochial vicar of Holy Spirit, St. Anthony and St. John Cantius, all in St. Cloud. Father Knopik will become a parochial vicar for St. Andrew in Elk River. The Visitor