The Anderson-Alexandria Pastorate

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Risen indeed! Alleluia! 

A tale of two shepherds: 

Recently, people have asked if I thought an American would ever be chosen as Pope. First, I responded, an American HAS been chosen, Pope Francis. Second, I said, no Cardinal from the United States will be elected Pope in my lifetime. I’m batting .500! 

Pope Leo XIV, born, baptized, and raised in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, belongs to the Order of St. Augustine, whose members are called ‘friars,” as are the members of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. He spent over ten years in the Peruvian missions, and is an expert in church law and a former seminary professor. He was ordained Priest in 1982 and Bishop in 2014. His episcopal motto in Latin is “In Illo uno unum” (In English, “In Him alone, one.”) These words of Saint Augustine proclaim that, although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one. 

Pope Leo is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese, and has a strong reading knowledge of Latin and German. He is of French, Italian, and Spanish descent. Recent media reports indicate (reliably, I believe), that he has some “African blood” running through his veins. 

As we learn more about the new Pope, for now let us say: Viva il Papa! Long live Pope Leo XIV! 

Our Associate Pastor, Fr. John Johnson, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1986, but eventually left the Episcopal Church and became a Catholic layman. In 2011, he was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Louisville. He is one of a small number of married Catholic priests. After his official retirement from active ministry in Kentucky, he and his wife Sherry moved to Noblesville to be closer to family. He offered himself for ministry in our diocese, first at St. Elizabeth Seton in Carmel beginning in 2022, then here in the Anderson-Alexandria Pastorate in 2023. 

Fr. John will be “re-retiring” from active ministry this summer. The exact date depends on the (not yet announced) diocesan schedule for new priestly assignments, but we do have a date established for a retirement reception for Fr. John, which is on Sunday, June 22, at St. Ambrose parish, following the 9:30 Mass there. More information will be available soon, but for now let us say: Long live Fr. John! 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Risen indeed! Alleluia! 

Fr. Tom Metzger