The Diocese of Gaylord recently announced the leave of absence of Fr. Nicholas Cooper from Holy Family Parish in East Tawas. This is a significant loss for the Diocese, especially in light of NO priestly ordinations occurring this year for the Diocese of Gaylord.
To address this loss, the Diocese announced that Fr. Artur F. Duchnowicz has been assigned “to Pastor, Holy Family Parish, East Tawas. Father Duchnowicz will continue to serve as Pastor, St. James Parish, Whittemore; St. Pius X Parish, Hale; St. Stephen, King of Hungary, Parish, Skidway Lake, and Vicar for the Southeast Region.” This gives Fr. Duchnowicz four parishes to administer, an almost impossible task with regard to regular Masses and Confessions at these four parishes.
This situation is not sustainable in its current trajectory. The presence of foreign priests may be a short-term way to address the situation, but unless the Diocese can recruit candidates from the priesthood that are homegrown, the problem will only worsen. This will then lead to the inevitable closure of parishes.
Please pray for vocations.