January 8, 2010
Year for Priests
On the calendar: Praying for priests
By PAUL R. LEINGANG
In conjunction with the Catholic Schools Office, the Message is publishing a calendar for the Year for Priests. Students and staff are committed to pray for a priest each day, and all parishioners are invited to participate.
During the holiday publication schedule, the week of Jan. 4-8 was omitted, and is included with the week ahead.
- Monday, Jan. 4: Father Gene Heerdink
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Father Eugene Heerdink will turn 84 Jan. 23. He was ordained May 19, 1951, and served the diocese in parish ministry as director of religious education and as director of the Cursillo movement.
From 1973 to 1979, and again from 1987 to 1992, he was on leave to serve missions in South America.
He was pastor of St. Joseph Church in Dale from 1992 to 1999, and directed the diocesan ministry to the Spanish Speaking from August 1999 until his retirement in June 2008.
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Father Eugene Heerdink will turn 84 Jan. 23. He was ordained May 19, 1951, and served the diocese in parish ministry as director of religious education and as director of the Cursillo movement.
- Tuesday, Jan. 5: Father Ken Herr
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Father Kenneth Herr will be 69 on Jan. 13. He was ordained March 2, 1968, and assigned over the years to parishes and schools in the diocese. He taught at Rex Mundi and Mater Dei high schools, and was chaplain at Memorial High School, all in Evansville.
Since July 2004 he has served as pastor of St. Boniface Church in Evansville.
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Father Kenneth Herr will be 69 on Jan. 13. He was ordained March 2, 1968, and assigned over the years to parishes and schools in the diocese. He taught at Rex Mundi and Mater Dei high schools, and was chaplain at Memorial High School, all in Evansville.
- Wednesday, Jan. 6: Father Ryan Hilderbrand
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Father Ryan Hilderbrand, 26, was ordained June 6, 2009.
He is associate pastor of three parishes in the Washington Deanery: St. Peter Church in Montgomery, All Saints Church in Cannelburg and Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Petersburg.
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Father Ryan Hilderbrand, 26, was ordained June 6, 2009.
- Thursday, Jan. 7: Msgr. Clinton Hirsch
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Msgr. Clinton Hirsch, 91, was the first priest ordained for the new Diocese of Evansville, on Feb. 2, 1945.
He has held parish and diocesan positions, including chancellor of the diocese, vicar general and director of diocesan operations.
Following the appointment of Evansville’s Bishop Paul F. Leibold to Cincinnati, and be-fore the appointment of Bishop Francis R. Shea to Evansville, Msgr. Hirsch was diocesan administrator.
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Msgr. Clinton Hirsch, 91, was the first priest ordained for the new Diocese of Evansville, on Feb. 2, 1945.
- Friday, Jan. 8: Father Clemens Hut
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Father Clemens H. Hut, 98, lives at Friendship Village in Tempe, Ariz.
He was ordained for what was then the Diocese of Indianapolis on June 2, 1936. He served parishes in southern Indiana until he was granted health leave in 1959.
In Arizona, he served parishes in Tempe, Mesa, Safford and Tucson, and then retired in 1976.
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Father Clemens H. Hut, 98, lives at Friendship Village in Tempe, Ariz.
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Monday, Jan. 11: Father Gary Kaiser
- Father Gary Kaiser, 39, is pastor of Precious Blood Church in Jasper. He was ordained June 3, 2006, and first assigned as associate pastor of three parishes in Gibson County: Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Haubstadt, Holy Cross Church in Fort Branch and St. Bernard Church in Snake Run.
- Tuesday, Jan. 12: Father Joseph Kane
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Father Joseph Kane will be 69 on Jan. 23. He was ordained March 11, 1967.
Father Kane taught at Rex Mundi High School in Evansville and served as diocesan director of vocations. He served parishes in St. Wendel, Ferdi-nand, Jasper and Evansville, most recently as pastor of Good Shepherd Church from 2002 until his retirement in 2006.
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Father Joseph Kane will be 69 on Jan. 23. He was ordained March 11, 1967.
- Wednesday, Jan. 13: Father Tom Kessler
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Father Tom Kessler, 60, was ordained June 7, 1975. He was chaplain at Memorial High School in Evansville and served parishes throughout the diocese.
Along with Father Leo Kiesel, he was among the first priests to serve multiple parishes in Martin County. From 2003 to 2004, he was pastor of four parishes — St. John in Loogootee, St. Mary in Shoals, St. Joseph in Bram-ble and St. Martin in Whitfield.
Father Kessler was pastor of the parishes in Celestine and Dubois from 2004 to 2008, and currently serves as pastor of St. Philip Church in Posey County.
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Father Tom Kessler, 60, was ordained June 7, 1975. He was chaplain at Memorial High School in Evansville and served parishes throughout the diocese.
- Thursday, Jan. 14: Father Leo Kiesel
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Father Leo Kiesel, 72, was ordained March 30, 1963. His ministry included teaching at Rex Mundi High School in Evansville, and service to parishes in the diocese.
He was named pastor of St. John Church in Loogootee in 1990, and added pastoral responsibilities for St. Mary Church in Shoals in 1997. He was also Dean of the Washington Deanery from 1995 until his retirement in 2002.
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Father Leo Kiesel, 72, was ordained March 30, 1963. His ministry included teaching at Rex Mundi High School in Evansville, and service to parishes in the diocese.
- Friday, Jan. 15: Father Tony Kissel
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Father Anthony Kissel, 62, was ordained Sept. 1, 1973. He has been involved in high school and college teaching, college campus ministry and related ministries since his ordination.
His advanced degrees include a Ph.D. and an S.T.D.
Following his doctoral studies at Catholic Univeristy in Louvain, Belgium, in the early 1990s, he was on the faculty at the University of Southern Indiana and also served as pastor of Holy Angels Church in New Harmony.
In 1996 he was released from the diocese for teaching and ministry at St. Leo University in St. Leo, Fla.
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Father Anthony Kissel, 62, was ordained Sept. 1, 1973. He has been involved in high school and college teaching, college campus ministry and related ministries since his ordination.