Priests honor this year's Jubilarians
MIDWAY — Seven priests who celebrate a significant anniversary of their ordination to the priesthood were feted by their brethren during the fall clergy convocation, held Oct. 10-13 at the Homestead Resort in Midway.
Four of the priests are celebrating 25 years of priesthood. They are Fr. Gustavo Vidal, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Layton, who was ordained June 28, 1997; Fr. Rowland Nwokocha, administrator of St. Pius X in Moab and its associated missions, who was ordained Aug. 2, 1997; Fr. Sébastien Sasa, administrator of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City, who was ordained Nov. 30, 1997; and Fr. Marco Lopez, pastor of St. Bridget Parish and its associated missions, who was ordained Dec. 20, 1997.
The two priests celebrating 50 years of priesthood are Fr. Jan Bednarz and Msgr. Robert Bussen, both retired priests of the diocese.
In addition, the assembly recognized Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus, who is celebrating 60 years of priesthood this year. He was ordained on May 12, 1962.
Fr. Jan Bednarz was not present at the event. Fr. John Evans, who moderated the jubilarian celebration, said they would acknowledge Fr. Bednarz at a different time.
Each of the jubilarians was introduced by one of his fellow priests.
Fr. Ken Vialpando, vicar for clergy, noted that Fr. Vidal had been elected student body president at Mount Angel Seminary, “and you know that our peers don’t just elect anybody, they go to a person that they really rely on who can lead the people and guide them in the direction they want to be led.”
In his comments, Fr. Vidal, a native of Columbia, said that coming to the Diocese of Salt Lake City “has been a life-changing experience for me.” He has learned a lot during his 25 years of priesthood, he said, adding that “the experiences that I have had in my ministry to people, I don’t think I would have if I had married or had any other vocation … so I am grateful to the Lord because of what he called me to in my life.”
Fr. Albert Kileo, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Helper, said Fr. Nwokocha “has come to enjoy Utah since he arrived here in the year 2013 and he learned that Utah has many beautiful national parks, and he is very much at home as an outdoor person. … The only thing that scares him is the first Sunday of the month, when he has to cover 320 miles [while driving to the missions].”
Fr. Nwokocha, a native of Nigeria, said he struggled to learn American culture when he first arrived in the United States, but he has come to realize that his job is to bring the mysteries of God’s kingdom to people of all ages “in such a way that a person can understand and then tomorrow he will have spiritual energy to come back again. … Each time I am in the church, I am always trying to work on myself and work on my homily in order to bring the message across.”
Fr. Rafael Murillo, administrator of St. Marguerite Parish in Tooele, first met Fr. Sasa in 2015, when Fr. Sasa came to the U.S. to visit his brother. Fr. Murillo, who was then at St. Elizabeth Mission in Central Valley, showed Fr. Sasa around the missions of central Utah. At the time, Fr. Sasa, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was studying in Italy, didn’t speak either English or Spanish, so the two men conversed in Italian. The following year, when Fr. Sasa again visited, Fr. Murillo introduced him to the Most Rev. John C. Wester, ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City, and in 2017 Fr. Sasa accepted an assignment as parochial vicar and chaplain in this diocese. “This priest is a sign that we never know where [God] will take us or in what direction God will lead us,” Fr. Murillo said.
In his comments, Fr. Sasa thanked his fellow priests “for helping me to be here, in our local Church.” He originally hadn’t planned to come to Utah after studying in Italy, but when he told his bishop he planned to return to the Congo, his bishop suggested that he come to Utah as a missionary. He now speaks English and Spanish, and continues to study, he said, noting that as priests, “Our mission is to help brothers and sisters to know Jesus, first. Secondly, to love Jesus. Third, to proclaim Jesus the King of Kings. …”
Fr. Francisco Pires, pastor of St. Henry Parish in Brigham City and Santa Ana Mission in Tremonton, said that during the Covid pandemic Fr. Lopez took to heart the need to connect with parishioners, and did so through the telephone, “praying together, singing together and celebrating together.” In addition, when Bishop Oscar A. Solis introduced the diocesan Pastoral Plan, Fr. Lopez “probably …. was one of the first ones that embraced that idea, and he has been very enthusiastic since then,” and he continues to use the internet to evangelize, giving his parishioners in the mission the chance to study theology.
Fr. Lopez said with his anniversary he has been meditating on the words of Psalm 116, “‘What can I offer the Lord for all his goodness to me?,’ because for me, being a priest is an unmerited grace. Thinking briefly about my 25 years of priesthood, I can say, ‘Thank God. I am happy. I love being a priest, and my priestly ministry.’ I recognize that I have not traveled the journey alone.” He thanked his fellow priests for accompanying him and “for inspiring me with your example to continue serving the Lord in this portion of our Church.”
Msgr. Bussen has not only served at many of the parishes in the diocese, he also was vicar general of the diocese when the Most Rev. William K. Weigand was bishop, noted Fr. Martin Diaz, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Fr. Diaz then shared a personal memory, saying that shortly after he came to the diocese he was assigned to help out at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City. One stormy Sunday he went to celebrate Mass at the old church, and “As I approached the church, there was three feet of snow in the front. … And there was Monsignor with his shovel, shoveling the snow, to make a path so that people could get in and out of church.”
Msgr. Bussen, who was ordained in 1971 but a member of the Class of 1972, said he has three great loves: the people at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Logan, which was his first assignment; the people of St. Mary of the Assumption in Park City and the people of St. Lawrence Parish in Heber; and the people in southern Utah, especially at Christ the King Parish and its six missions. “All of these people taught me what it meant to be Catholic,” Msgr. Bussen said. “And I loved them and they loved me, and I loved being a priest in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.”
Msgr. Fitzgerald “has always taken care not only of me but of so many of us over the years,” Fr. Evans said. “He is an inspiration; he has been in the background of so many of our lives, and so we’re truly thankful.”
Msgr. Fitzgerald thanked his fellow priests for the standing ovation they gave him.
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