NEW ULM - Pilgrims from across the Diocese of New Ulm are uniting in spirit with the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. Forty-eight people gathered today at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in New Ulm for Mass in the center's Chapel, which was celebrated by Fr. Tanner Thooft before boarding a bus headed to the Congress.

Be part of the experience with the expected 50,000 Catholics via a special livestream!

Those participating in the Congress, whether in Indianapolis or in their own home, can receive a plenary indulgence. Pope Francis decreed:

“Faithful individuals who, due to reasonable circumstances and with pious intention, have participated in the sacred rites and received the Papal Blessing through media communications, may also obtain a Plenary Indulgence.”

KEEPING CHRIST’S SACRED PROMISE: a PASTORAL FRAMEWORK FOR INDIGENOUS MINISTRY is meant to help bishops “refocus and invigorate ministry among Indigenous populations in the United States,” said New Ulm’s bishop Chad Zielinski, chair of the USCCB’s subcommittee on Native American Affairs. Bishop Zielinski presented the draft framework on Thursday afternoon, June 13. “It [the document] gives shape to ideas that Catholic Native leadership has been voicing for the past several years in listening sessions sponsored by the subcommittee,” Bishop Zielinski said.

LOUISVILLE, KY. - The U.S. Catholic bishops recently approved a document at their spring meeting June 12-14 that apologizes to Catholic Indigenous communities for a “history of trauma” caused in part by their “abandonment” by the Church and proposes a way forward that takes into account the “unique cultural needs” of these communities.

New Ulm’s bishop, the Most Rev. Chad Zielinski presented the new document to the body of bishops for the vote. Bishop Zielinski serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on Native American Affairs. “The framework encourages bishops, dioceses, and local Catholic Indigenous communities to work together, using the framework as a reference while developing their local pastoral plans that are sensitive to the vast cultural differences among the various Native and Indigenous Tribes,” said Bishop Zielinski. “It covers a broad range of issues and concerns such as missionary discipleship, evangelization, the role of catechesis, sacramental and liturgical questions, youth and young adult ministries, and social justice issues. And it also addresses difficult topics such as reconciliation for any mistreatment and wrongs done during the boarding school period,” he continued.

Learn more.

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Catholic Bishops of Minnesota gathered with over 3,000 faithful from mainly across Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin during the Star of the North Eucharistic Congress, a major Eucharistic Revival event hosted jointly by the Dioceses of Crookston and Duluth on May 17-18. The congress was a collaboration between the two dioceses and preceded the May 19 commencement of the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park. The Diocese of New Ulm continued the celebration at the Ignite event at the Church of St. Anthony in Watkins. Those attending the events learned to increase their devotion to the Eucharist through talks, witness testimonies, fellowship, praise and worship, Mass, adoration, confession, and a Eucharistic procession. After the start of the Marian Pilgrimage everyone in the Diocese of New Ulm was invited to celebrate Ignite at St. Anthony in Watkins.

Processing in with the Eucharist for a Benediction

of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Retired Bishop LeVoir of New Ulm

at the Ignite event in Watkins

APPLETON - The St. Isidore the Farmer Area Faith Community recently held a procession for Corpus Christi on June 2.  The parish faithful processed down the streets of Appleton following the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the Church of St. John.  The people from the parishes of St. Francis Benson, Sacred Heart Murdock, and St. John Appleton joined together for the procession.  Hymns were sung in English and Chuukese, the language of the people from the state of Chuuk in Micronesia who are members at the Church of St. John.  The procession was followed by a potluck lunch at St. John’s where the community celebrated Fr. Brian Mandel’s 30th priestly anniversary.   

Bemidji, Minnesota - At the start of Mass Sunday (May 19, 2024), at one of the launch sites of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Bishop Andrew Cozzens remarked that although he had his hiking shoes on, the journey ahead would need something more than natural support to reach its intended destination.

“In order to make this pilgrimage fruitful, we need the Holy Spirit,” said the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, bishop.

If that’s the case, then the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is off to a fantastic start. 

The pilgrimage’s four routes, which will crisscross the country over the next two months, began May 19 with Pentecost Sunday liturgies, processions of the Blessed Sacrament, and fervent prayers for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to renew Eucharistic devotion throughout the United States.

“It’s perfect that we’re launching this on Pentecost because Pentecost was a revival,” Cozzens said during his homily, emphasizing that a revival is the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of believers, which leads ordinary people to seek extraordinary holiness.

Four routes, one pilgrimage

Joined by brother bishops, clergy, and lay faithful from Minnesota and beyond — some 2,000 people in total — Cozzens presided over an outdoor Mass at Itasca State Park, the starting point of both the Mississippi River but also the northern Marian Route, which will lead to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July.

The Mass was followed by a mile-long Eucharistic procession and benediction. Then, along the shores of Lake Itasca, Cozzens blessed the small cadre of “perpetual pilgrims” who will travel the whole route, and they set off along a dirt path through the woods. 

Meanwhile, Eucharistic pilgrimage routes were also underway in the country’s east, west, and south. 

In New Haven, Connecticut, the faithful began the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route with a Pentecost Vigil Mass celebrated by Archbishop Christopher Coyne at St. Mary’s Church, where Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus and is entombed today, before a Sunday morning procession and a Eucharistic pilgrimage boat ride through the Long Island Sound.

The St. Juan Diego Route kicked off in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, with Mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, celebrated by Bishop Daniel Flores, before pilgrims braved 90-degree heat to join the Eucharistic Lord for the route’s opening procession.

And in San Francisco, following Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary celebrated by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the faithful processed with the Eucharist across the 1.7-mile-long Golden Gate Bridge to kick off the St. Junipero Serra Route.

The Marian, Seton, Juan Diego, and Serra Routes will eventually converge in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress July 17–21.

Cozzens has served as the U.S. bishops’ leader of the wider National Eucharistic Revival, which began in 2022 and includes the pilgrimage and congress. At the Mass in Minnesota, he asked rhetorically what would happen if the bishops of the United States called for a Eucharistic revival, including two years of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and a cross-country pilgrimage that asked the Lord to pour out his Holy Spirit upon the whole country.

“What would happen if the bishops did that?” said Cozzens, who will join pilgrims in a 12-mile walk to Walker, Minnesota, in the Diocese of Duluth on Monday. “Well, we’re about to find out.”

Read more.

Fr. Anthony “Tony” Stubeda, 65, a priest of the Diocese of New Ulm, died of cancer on April 29, 2024, at his residence in Marshall, MN. He was a beloved priest who will be remembered for his kindness and compassion.  

The Mass of Christian Burial was held on May 6, 2024, at St. Philip Catholic Church in Litchfield, MN, with burial in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Litchfield.  

Anthony John “Tony” Stubeda was born on November 12, 1958, in Litchfield, to Wallace and Pauline (Fink) Stubeda.  A native of Litchfield, Minnesota, Father Stubeda attended Saint John Vianney Seminary and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul from 1977 to 1981, graduating with a B.A. in English. In 1985, he graduated from the Saint Paul Seminary with an M.A. in Theology, M.Div.

He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of New Ulm on June 1, 1985, in Litchfield by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker.  Following his ordination, his first assignment was at Holy Redeemer in Marshall, serving one-quarter as a campus minister at Southwest State University in Marshall. He then went on to serve the parishes of St. Clara in Clara City, Sacred Heart in Raymond, St. Mary in Willmar, St. Patrick in Kandiyohi, St. Thomas More in Lake Lillian, St. Pius X in Glencoe, Holy Family in Silver Lake, Holy Trinity in Winsted, St. Mary in Tracy, St. Michael in Milroy, and finally the Bread of Life Area Faith Community.

Father Tony was recognized for his passion for the Hispanic community.  Some of his accomplishments include the Diocese of New Ulm Distinguished Service Award, the City of New Ulm Human Rights Award, Region IX MSSA Distinguished Service Award, Founding Director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, two-year president of the Catholic Migrant Farmworkers Network and Designer and Coordinator of the Crossroads of Friendship.  Most recently, Father Tony was serving as the pastor of the Bread of Life Area Faith Community including Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Marshall, St Mary’s Catholic Church in Cottonwood, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tracy, and St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Milroy.

He is survived by his siblings Doug (Pat Taylor) Stubeda of Lutsen, Alice (Doug) Peipus of St. Cloud, Stephanie (Jon) Leininger of St. Paul, Jean (Dan Hesterman) Johnson of St. Cloud, Marty (Chris) Stubeda of Radcliff, KY, Stanley Stubeda of Litchfield, MN; nieces and nephews Jennifer (Chad) Hartman, Allison (Andrew) Harmer, Matthew (Melissa) Leininger, Sam (Amber) Johnson, Peter Johnson (Amanda Winter), Katrina (Travis) Daul, Angela (Brendan) McMahon, Jason Stubeda (Grace Hooker), Kimberly (Anthony) Gardner, Alex Stubeda, Tasha (Dylan) Koll, close friend Jenner Herrera and other extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Wallace and Pauline Stubeda and two brothers and one sister in infancy.

NEW ULM - The March 21 liturgy at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm marked the 2024 traditional Chrism Mass in which the sacramental oils are blessed for use all around the diocese for the following year. The priests of the diocese also renewed their priestly promises, uniting with Bishop Chad W. Zielinski in ministry to the people of God.

NEW ULM - Upon the recommendation of the Priest Personnel Board and after consultation with the priests involved, Bishop Chad W. Zielinski announces the following priest assignments which will take effect on July 2, 2024.

 NEW ULM - On the recommendation of the Priest Personnel Board, Bishop Chad W. Zielinski of the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm has made the following priest assignments:

Effective July 2, 2024

Rev. Christian Adike to serve as the parochial vicar of the parishes of Holy Family in Silver Lake and Holy Trinity in Winsted, which are known as the St. John Paul II AFC.

Rev. Joshua Bot to serve as the parochial vicar of the parishes of Our Lady of the Lakes in Spicer, St. Mary in Willmar, and St. Clara in Clara City, which are known as Jesus Our Living Water AFC.

Msgr. Douglas Grams to serve as the pastor of the parishes of St. Peter in St. Peter and St. Paul in Nicollet, which are known as the Apostles Peter and Paul AFC. 

Rev. Nathan Hansen to serve as a parochial vicar of the parishes of St. Paul in Comfrey, St. Michael in Morgan, and St. Mary in Sleepy Eye, which are known as the Divine Mercy AFC.

Rev. John Hayes to serve as the parochial administrator of the parishes of St. James in Dawson, St. Andrew in Granite Falls and St. Joseph in Montevideo, which are known as the Holy Family AFC.

Rev. Ron Huberty to serve as the pastor of the parishes of Our Lady of the Lakes in Spicer, St. Mary’s in Willmar, and St. Clara in Clara City, which are known as Jesus Our Living Water AFC.

Msgr. Eugene Lozinski to serve as a senior associate of the parishes of St. Mary in New Ulm, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm, St. John the Baptist in Searles, and St. George in West Newton Township, which are known as the Holy Cross AFC, in addition to his current role as the diocesan Chancellor.

Rev. Brian Oestreich to serve as the pastor of the parishes of St. Andrew in Fairfax, St. Francis de Sales in Winthrop, and St. Willibrord in Gibbon, which are known as the All Saints AFC.

Rev. Shawn Polman to serve as the parochial administrator of the parishes of  St. Michael in Madison, St. John in Ortonville, and Holy Rosary in Graceville, which are known as the Spirit of Life AFC.

Rev. Brendan Rolling to serve as the parochial administrator of the parishes of St. Peter in Canby, St. Leo in St. Leo, Ss. Peter and Paul in Ivanhoe, St. Genevieve in Lake Benton, St. Dionysius in Tyler, and St. John Cantius in Wilno, which are known as the Christ the King AFC, in addition to his current role as Vocations director.

Rev. Mark Steffl to serve as the pastor of the parishes of St. Mary in New Ulm, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm, St. John the Baptist in Searles, and St. George in West Newton Township, which are known as the Holy Cross AFC. He will serve as the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, in addition to his current role as Judicial Vicar.

Rev. Tanner Thooft to serve as the parochial vicar of the parishes of St. Mary in New Ulm, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm, St. John the Baptist in Searles, and St. George in West Newton Township, which are known as the Holy Cross AFC in addition to his current role as the assistant Vocations director.

Rev. Craig Timmerman to serve as the pastor of parishes of St. Paul in Comfrey, St. Michael in Morgan, and St. Mary in Sleepy Eye, which are known as the Divine Mercy AFC.

Rev. Paul Timmerman to serve as the pastor of the parishes of St. Michael in Gaylord, St. Pius X in Glencoe, and St. Mary in Arlington, which are known as the Corpus Christi AFC.

Rev. Steven Verhelst to serve as pastor of the parishes of Holy Redeemer in Marshall, St. Mary in Tracy, St. Michael in Milroy, St. Mary in Cottonwood, known as the Bread of Life and Our Lady of the Prairie AFCs. He will also serve as the Bishop’s Delegate in Matters Pertaining to Sexual Misconduct, in addition to his current role as Vicar for Clergy.