Priests and Patrons

We have arrived at the next step of the Beacons of Light process. Late last year, new families of parishes were announced, which didn’t affect our four parishes. At this point the entire Archdiocese of Cincinnati has greatly anticipated the announcement of priest assignments. Here are the details for our family of parishes:

I, Fr. Sean Wilson, will continue to serve as the pastor of the four Petersburg Parishes.

With the permission of Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, Fr. Jedidiah Tritle plans to enter the Order of Discalced Carmelite Friars. This is a branch of the Carmelite religious order. He plans to enter this religious community this fall after his assignment concludes on June 30, 2022.

I’m sure people are very curious about Fr. Jedidiah’s decision to enter religious life. There will be an opportunity to ask questions, offer support, and say farewell. It is a weighty decision and a decision that he has made after much prayer and discernment. We don’t often hear young men, especially diocesan priests, enter religious life. His response to the Lord’s invitation is a beautiful work of God’s grace.

One of the seven men who will be ordained on May 21, 2022 will serve as the parochial vicar. It will be announced during the ordination Mass which of them will be serving our parishes. He will begin as our parochial vicar on July 1, 2022. Please begin to pray for our new parochial vicar.

I am honored and excited to continue as the pastor of these parishes. I love being here and this is my home. I’m humbled by this role and opportunity. Certainly there are heavy crosses, but the Lord bears most of the burden.

Our parish family isn’t changing and your pastor is remaining the same. Nonetheless our parishes will still go through the Beacons of Light process. There will be consolidations of ministries, a new Mass schedule, and ultimately we will become a single parish.

One of the things that will change is our name and identity. The eventual goal for all 57 families of parishes is to become a new “merged” parish. This doesn’t mean that there will be only one building or campus. In all likelihood, these parishes will have multiple campuses.

With a single parish, comes a single patron saint. This patron saint will begin by replacing the “Petersburg” name. Whenever we become a merged parish, we’ll have a single name. For example, if St. Drogo becomes our patron, we’ll first be “St. Drogo Family of Parishes.” Our four parishes will still exist and maintain their own finances. Eventually we’ll merge into a single parish with shared finances and become “St. Drogo Parish.”

I would like to begin prayerfully discerning our new patron. There are numerous saints that have been canonized over the last few decades and no parishes in the Archdiocese have been named after them. Every month a short biography of one of these saints will be printed in the bulletin. The first one is in this bulletin, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, commonly known as Padre Pio.

I hope that this process will help to unify our family of parishes. The prospect of prayerfully discerning a patron saint can bring us together as we look to begin the Beacons of Light journey. My hope is that every aspect of parish life will be oriented toward making saints and being a beacon of light to a world that needs Jesus Christ.

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson