Bloomington parish thanks friars for 62 years of ministry, welcomes new community

Two Conventual Franciscan friars celebrated the first Sunday Mass for the newly formed St. Bonaventure parish Feb. 8, 1959, at Cedarcrest Elementary School in Bloomington. Friars had arrived at the parish that January, fulfilling a promise to Archbishop William Brady and establishing a presence that has lasted more than six decades. Father Finnegan served as the first pastor.

On June 8, nearly 400 people, including about 15 Conventual Franciscan friars, participated in the parish’s evening Mass celebrating the friars’ longtime ministry and legacy — and the parish’s formal farewell.

After 62 years of continuous ministry at St. Bonaventure, the last Conventual Franciscan friar, Father Matthew Malek, a priest in residence, is leaving the parish June 30. Conventual Franciscan Father Edmund Goldbach, who served the parish for a combined 16 years (1982-1991, 2014-2021) died March 14.

Father James Chitteth, a member of the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception (CFIC), will start his role as pastor of St. Bonaventure July 1. Two to four CFIC priests will live in the friary at the parish.

In October 1958, the Conventual Franciscans agreed to Archbishop Brady’s request for them to organize a new parish on 16 acres of land owned by the archdiocese. After the parish’s founding and its first liturgies humbly offered in the elementary school, the first Mass held on church property was celebrated June 19, 1960, in the parish’s social hall as parishioners planned for the building of a church. Seven years later, on Sept. 10, 1967, that church hosted its first Mass and received a solemn blessing.

The Conventual Franciscans are leaving St. Bonaventure because their order is declining in membership and vocations in the United States, Father Malek said. However, the order is growing in other parts of the world, he said.

The parish let their appreciation for the friars’ decades of ministry be known. It hosted a lunch June 8 attended by about 15 friars who formerly served St. Bonaventure, as well as about 25 former and current parish staff, and a few members from Our Lady of Consolation Province and the order’s Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center in Prior Lake. The Mass was held later that evening, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda presiding and Conventual Franciscan Father Wayne Hellman, minister provincial of the friars’ Our Lady of Consolation Province, concelebrating.

Father Malek has been ministering at St. Bonaventure part time, in addition to his practice as a clinical counselor. Conventual Franciscan Father Steve McMichael, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas, also has been assisting at the parish.

Retired archdiocesan priest Father Bob Hart is serving half-time as parochial administrator through June 30. Father Hart said the parish has been welcoming and people-focused, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deacon Jon DeLuney and Deacon Mickey Redfearn also minister at the parish.

Now, with the arrival of the CFIC priests, the parish is preparing to welcome a new community. CFIC was formally established in St. Paul in 2003, initially at St. Mary in downtown St. Paul, with two priests and three brothers. Father George Manjankal served as parochial administrator of St. Mary and first local superior of the community. Since then, at least eight CFIC priests have served in St. Paul along with other seminarians.

The CFIC congregation was founded in 1857 by Luigi Maria Monti in Rome to serve hospitals and, later, orphanages. Its members are present in more than 20 countries around the world, but its only other U.S. community is in Columbus, Ohio.

In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, its priests have served in several parishes and ministries, including prison chaplaincies. Its local priests include Father Benny Mekkatt, pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul; Father Jimmy Puttananickal, parochial administrator of St. Mary; and Father Antony Skaria, pastor of St. John Vianney in South St. Paul.

In the friars’ departure from St. Bonaventure, there is an element of “when one door closes, another opens,” Father Malek said.

“We would love to have stayed here,” he said, “but at the same time, from my own personal sense, we also recognize that we go where we are needed. And in that sense, I personally have benefited from viewing it more as part of that process, as opposed to ‘it’s just a loss.’ I feel we made a marvelous contribution here.”

Father Malek will continue to work full-time at Clearwater Consulting and will celebrate parish Masses on weekends as needed.

During the five years he has been affiliated with St. Bonaventure, Father Malek said he has witnessed a resilient, strong parish that will continue to make a positive contribution to the archdiocese and neighborhood community.

“Because we were here for a long time, I think we were able to impart a sense of the charism of St. Francis,” through preaching and interacting with parishioners, Father Malek said.

Phyllis Genest, 89, has attended St. Bonaventure since the 1960s. She had moved to the area from Boston and found a stark difference in ministry.

At her parish in the Boston diocese, “the priest would do Mass and then exit a door … right over to the rectory,” she said. “When I came out here, I was really surprised how accessible the Franciscans were.”

Genest knew every friar who served the parish and recalled each one bringing a special gift. For example, the first pastor, Father Finnegan, was more “the priestly priest, the fatherly type,” she said. His successor, Father Ernest Waechter was “the social priest,” she said, and he started the parish fall festival.

“We’re all very sad that the Franciscans are leaving,” Genest said. “I would just say overall it was their sensitivity, their compassion and, namely, their accessibility. You knew you could go in and talk to them and you didn’t have to make an appointment unless it was something like a wedding.”

Parishioners Agrita Majeres and Marlys Corr echoed Genest’s sense of loss.

“I’ll miss the friars, all of them,” Majeres said. “They’re all so lovely, every one of them.”

“I feel a real void, having been with them,” Corr added. “I did get to know them very well. … We just wish them the best. And, memories, you can’t lose those.”

Conventual Franciscans will continue to operate Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center. Its staff includes Conventual Franciscan Brother Bob Roddy, its executive director; Conventual Franciscan Father Jim Kent; Father McMichael and Conventual Franciscan Father Jim Van Dorn.

To watch video from the June 8 parish event, visit saintbonaventure.org/farewell-to-the-friars.html.

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Archbishop Hebda recalls Franciscans’ influence in boyhood

During his homily at a June 8 Mass at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington concelebrated with Conventual Franciscan Father Wayne Hellman, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said “there’s a Franciscan heart deep within me,” as he described the influence of Franciscans during his boyhood in Pittsburgh, where there was a friary in his community.

“The Franciscans there did the exotic missionary work in Papua New Guinea and other places,” he said. “All of the boys were always fascinated by these friars.”

The archbishop attended monthly get-togethers hosted by the Franciscans for boys between fourth and eighth grades, which included sports, snacks, information about St. Francis and sometimes, watching a movie with a moral message. When he finished eighth grade, he thought he might want to attend a high school seminary.

The archbishop later became a diocesan priest. But he told St. Bonaventure parishioners, “There is one part of me that will always be so grateful for what I learned from the friars when I was growing up.” He said whatever the Lord asked him to do, he would try to bring to it a Franciscan heart.

Archbishop Hebda said that people are formed by family and those traits last for generations. Similarly, for 62 years, the St. Bonaventure faith family has been formed by the Franciscans.

“In a way,” he said, “that leaves a lasting impression on you, so that no matter what happens, no matter where you go, people are going to be able to see that you were formed by Franciscans, that there’s something about you that’s different because of the generosity of these wonderful men and the way in which they live out their Christian vocation, the way in which they build up our Church.”