Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Hospers native, Arcbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. His successor will be Bishop Robert G. Casey, auxiliary bishop of Chicago. The announcement was made Feb. 12, the same day Bishop Walker Nickless' resignation was accepted.
A Suicide Support Group will be offered in the Carroll County area for any high school students who may have been affected by the death of a friend, family member or classmate who died by suicide. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City and St. Anthony Regional Hospital are collaborating to offer the group starting later this month.
At a Feb. 12 press conference, Bishop Walker Nickless introeduced his successor, Bishop-elect John E. Keehner of the Youngstown, (Ohio) Diocese. The bishop-elect shared his background, when he received his appointment and thoughts on his ministry thus far. His ordination will be May 1 at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany.
Faced with an aging and outdated elementary building coupled with a desire for a single site school campus, St. Mary School in Remsen recently launched a $7 million capital campaign.
Elementary wing
The primary goal of the We Believe…Our Faith, Our Family, Our Future Capital Campaign is to build a new elementary addition to the existing middle/high school building, which will be updated. The campaign general chairs are Ryan and Melissa Feeck and Danny and Sara Harpenau.
A weekend is a long time to go without food. It’s hard to come back to school on a Monday, ready to learn, when there has been not quite enough food to go around for a family for two and a half days.
When a long-time Backpack Buddies program ended in Fort Dodge at the start of the 2024-25 school year, the precarious balance of food insecurity tipped in the wrong direction for many area families. St. Edmond students went to work to help feed their classmates.
Lumen Message Column by Dawn Prosser: Amongst other February comemmorations, such as feast of the Presentation and throat blessings on Feb. 3, we as a nation celebrate Black History Month. The National Black Catholic Congress commemorates Venerable Father Augustus Tolton and six other Black Catholic holy men and women on the journey towards canonization.
The Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed Father John Edward Keehner, of the Diocese of Youngstown as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City. A press conference introducing the bishop-elect was held this morning at the Central Catholic Offices in Sioux City.
Father Keehner, 59, is a native of Youngstown, Ohio, and is one of five children. He attended Austintown schools and graduated from Austintown Fitch High School in 1984.
Father Keehner earned a B.A. in English in 1988 from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He then began studies at Mount St. Mary Seminary of the West in Cincinnati where he earned his M.Div. and M.A. in biblical studies in 1993.
An estate gift worth $3.8 million has led Gehlen Catholic leaders to research and prioritize plans to prosper the school for future generations.
In 2023, Paul Brauch left over 250 acres to Gehlen Catholic School and All Saints Parish in his estate.
Brauch was known as a quiet man, who was deeply rooted in his Catholic faith. He loved God and his country, and was said to talk about how important it was for this generation to help the next.
“A gift of this magnitude provides a real legacy on behalf of the donor to assure the ability of the parish and school continue to provide for the practice of and growth in the faith,” said Father Doug Klein, priest president of Gehlen Catholic School.
Catholic composer, singer and national speaker Steve Angrisano will serve as keynote speaker for the April 5 Annual Men’s Conference held in Le Mars at St. Joseph Church, All Saints Parish. The conference is co-sponsored by the All Saints Men’s Ministry as well as the Diocese of Sioux City.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City operates the Welcome program which offers immigration legal help, mental health services and case management for anyone in need of the assistance. Welcome services are fully funded by the Diocese of Sioux City.
After attending a community meeting that included several agency leaders working in immigration, Executive Director Amy Bloch and Norma Garza-Ramirez, Welcome case manager, discussed meeting with other area organizations.
“There’s so many people doing really good work, but we’re all kind of working in silos to try to provide support, education and resources related to the immigrant community. I don’t know that everybody knew what the other group was doing, so the issue is more how can we all be stronger by working together?”
As pastoral planning continues to move forward in the Diocese of Sioux City, more parish groupings are working toward a canonical merger of parishes.
Among the groups presently undertaking that step is the one led by pastor Father Paul Kelly. The parish grouping consists of Holy Family Parish in Emmetsburg with church building Ruthven Sacred Heart, St. Patrick Parish in Estherville with church building Armstrong St.
Mary and Immaculate Conception Parish in Graettinger.
Youth of the Diocese of Sioux City in 6th to 12th grades are invited Into the Garden this Lent.
Into the Garden is a Lenten retreat to be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on April 6 at Sacred Heart Church in Sioux City. According Danielle Fennessy, a faith formation coordinator for the diocese and a member of the team organizing this retreat, the event will be led by Steve Angrisano. He is singer, songwriter and storyteller – who has been described as one of the most effective and versatile ministry leaders in the Catholic Church today and one of the most recognized faces in Catholic youth ministry.
The Vietnamese community of Sioux City Cathedral Parish celebrated their Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake and the feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2. Bishop Walker Nickless was present for the Mass, celebrated by Father Peter Nguyen. A meal and celebration continued in the St. Joseph Church hall after the Mass.
Father Lingle recounts how the Jan. 26 Sunday Masses proceeded safely during a lengthy standoff two blocks from the church:
As the 9 a.m. Mass began I could see the arrival of a lot of law enforcement officers at the scene and from my place in the sanctuary I had a pretty good view of what was happening.
The upcoming Turn regional youth conference is the result of collaborative efforts of faith formation directors the southeast area of the diocese – Ascension Parish of Boone, Our Lady of the Plains Parish of Lake City and St. Joseph Parish in Jefferson. The conference is slated for March 1 at St. John Church in Ogden, geared for middle and high school students.
Bishop Walker Nickless officially opened the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope at a Jan. 26 Mass at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City.
“This is a busy Sunday,” he said in his opening greeting. “There are three things to celebrate – Catholic Schools Week, the Jubilee Year of Hope and special opening of the Jubilee year and the pope’s Bible Sunday, Sunday of the Word of God.”
The preparation/offertory hymn at the Mass was Pilgrims of Hope, the official hymn for the jubilee, led by the Cathedral Choir. The hymn text was written by Pierangelo Sequeri and has been translated into numerous languages for worldwide use. Francesco Meneghello wrote the musical score.
Fifteen students from Sacred Heart School in Spencer recently learned some new life skills while having fun in an after-school program called Adventures with Kay, offered by the school’s food service director.
For the month of January, Kay Rose held classes on Thursdays for students in fourth to sixth grade to dabble in cooking and learn other skills.
A ministry at Ascension Parish in Boone County has been spreading comfort and warmth one shawl at a time for the last 20 years.
The prayer shawl ministry was established in 2005 in what at the time was Sacred Heart Parish of Boone. The idea of starting the ministry in the parish came from Beth Judge after a close friend’s mother received a shawl while battling cancer.
As of Jan. 11, there are three Catholic radio station towers serving the faithful in the Diocese of Sioux City. Iowa Catholic Radio Network launched KCSL 89.9 FM, licensed in Spencer. Trinity Catholic Radio 103.1 FM covers the Carroll area and Siouxland Catholic Radio has towers in Ponca, Nebraska and Storm Lake, covering a 50-mile radius from each site.
The new KCSL 89.9 FM will cover communities in the diocese including Arnolds Park, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Graettinger, Hartley, Lake Park, Laurens, Milford, Okoboji, Paullina, Primghar, Sanborn, Spencer and Spirit Lake. The signal will also reach Jackson and Worthington, Minnesota in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.