Seven recently retired priests look back — and ahead

Recently retired priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have had varied ministries, from a seasoned combat chaplain to a world-renown liturgical composer, and academic faculty members to longtime parish pastors. The Catholic Spirit invited all priests who have retired since Sept. 1, 2021, to reflect on their ministries for this feature, which runs through page 17. The following priests — Father Tim Dolan, Father Paul Feela, Father Jerome Fehn, Father Joe Fink, Father Michael Joncas, Father Mark Juettner and Father Curtis Lybarger — agreed to be interviewed and share their stories with freelance writer Susan Klemond.

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FATHER TIM DOLAN

Ordination 1983 • St. Margaret Mary, Minneapolis 1983-1986, 1990-1995 • Holy Trinity, South St. Paul 1986-1987 • St. John the Evangelist, Little Canada 1987-1990 • St. Lawrence, Faribault 1995-1996 • St. George, Long Lake 1996-2003 • Annunciation, Minneapolis 2003-2005 • St. Michael, Pine Island 2005-2011 • St. Paul, Zumbrota 2005-2011 • Our Lady of the Lake, Mound 2011-2013 • St. William, Fridley 2013-2016 • Retired 2021

Looking back on his 35 years as a priest in the archdiocese, Father Tim Dolan said he’s loved working with parishioners, but he also has thoroughly enjoyed administration and hiring.

Of the 10 parishes where he’s served as pastor or associate since his 1983 ordination, the six years he spent serving smaller, rural communities at St. Michael in Pine Island and St. Paul in Zumbrota helped him get to know parishioners better.

“I’m a city kid, so I never would have thought that I would have enjoyed living in the small town down there and just ministering to those two communities, but I did,” said Father Dolan, 66, who grew up in south Minneapolis.

Before he started parish work, Father Dolan served as a chaplain at North Memorial hospital from 1983 to 1986, where he learned about caring for the sick and dying, as well as their families. “You didn’t have to say a lot and just let them know you were there for them and pray with them and be with them, and they’re very, very appreciative of it,” he said.

As pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Golden Valley and later St. George in Long Lake, leading successful capital campaigns were high points in Father Dolan’s ministry. More challenging was serving as parochial administrator of St. Lawrence in Faribault, where in 1996 he facilitated the parish’s merger with another Faribault parish, Sacred Heart, to form Sacred Heart-St. Lawrence. In 2000, Sacred Heart-Lawrence merged with Immaculate Conception in Faribault to form what is now Divine Mercy.

“Besides the opportunity to serve and get to know a lot of people, I’m grateful for the support they gave back to me,” he said.

During his active ministry, Father Dolan enjoyed serving in different locations in the archdiocese, but he’s also glad to have the freedom in retirement to pursue other interests. He’s most enjoyed preaching and teaching, which he’s glad to continue as he helps parishes during retirement.

An avid reader, Father Dolan also likes watching Minnesota Twins baseball games, going to movies, and spending time with family and friends. He’s also hoping to travel, but for now, he said, “I don’t have to go anywhere. I don’t have to do anything.”

Ordination 1978 • St. Helena, Minneapolis 1978-1979 • Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis 1979-1981 • St. Luke, St. Paul 1981-1982 • The St. Paul Seminary 1982-2003 • Most Holy Trinity, St. Louis Park 2003-2007 • Lumen Christi, St. Paul 2007-2022 • Retired 2022

FATHER PAUL FEELA

As Father Paul Feela reflected on devoting half his 44 years as a priest to academia and the other half to parish work, he said is grateful for the ways that combination shaped his ministry.

From teaching liturgical theology at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul for 23 years, Father Feela, 70, said he’s gained an understanding of the breadth of Catholic tradition. This wideness is important, he said, because it speaks beyond current concerns and problems. “We can always fall back to the way people have lived faith in the past as a way to just see how we can live things in the now,” he said.

Father Feela said he saw this tradition embodied through the parishioners he’s served as a pastor or associate pastor in five parishes before and after his work at the seminary.

After leaving the seminary faculty in 2003, Father Feela was assigned as pastor of Most Holy Trinity in St. Louis Park. Then, in 2007, he was named pastor of Lumen Christi in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, which consisted of three formerly separate parishes that had merged: St. Gregory, St. Leo and St. Therese. He ministered there until his retirement this summer to unite the Catholics who had been in the separate parishes.

As he transitions into retirement in St. Paul, Father Feela wants to write and spend time with family. He anticipates having more time for biking, golfing, growing vegetables, cooking, reading and traveling. He is not sorry to leave the increasingly complex parish administrative work, but he hopes to help parishes with their ministerial needs.

Father Feela said his ministry has surpassed his expectations, even though it hasn’t unfolded the way he had planned. Life’s disruptions have taught him the importance of lifelong learning and growth, and living close to parishioners has taught him to have compassion for their struggles, he said.

“One of the things I always found was to be there with them, share their joys and sorrows, be a part of their life and kind of guide, hopefully, by my spiritual struggle as well,” he said.

He’s approaching retirement with flexibility: “Because I don’t know what this next stage is going to look like yet, … I’m kind of open to what happens.”

FATHER JEROME FEHN

Ordination 1978 • St. Edward, Bloomington, 1978-1979 • St. Joseph, Hopkins 1979-1980 • St. Margaret Mary, Golden Valley 1980-1983 • Office for the Deaf 1983-1985 • Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital 1985-2022 • Fairview Southdale Hospital 1985-2022 • Archdiocese for Military Services USA 1998-2018 • M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital 2021-2022 • Retired 2022

Through his 44 years of priestly ministry, Father Jerome Fehn has shown there are many ways to serve as a chaplain.

He’s offered sacraments to troops in Middle Eastern war zones, ministered to deaf Catholics in St. Paul, and assured the dying and their loved ones of God’s love and grace in Twin Cities hospitals.

A native of northeast Minneapolis, Father Fehn, 69, served as a parish associate for four years after his 1978 ordination. Then he started his first chaplain assignment at Methodist and Fairview Southdale hospitals in the Twin Cities. Apart from a few breaks for military deployment, he’s been serving in hospitals ever since. Now officially retired, Father Fehn and another retired priest continue to serve in several hospitals until they’re replaced by a permanent chaplain.

In 1983, Father Fehn was also assigned as chaplain for hearing-impaired Catholics in the archdiocese. For two years he celebrated the Mass in St. Paul using sign language skills he learned in high school. He began his third chaplaincy with the Army National Guard in 1998. By the time he retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2018, he had spent almost 40 months on overseas deployments in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

While in Iraq in 2007, he had the opportunity to celebrate a Christmas Eve Mass for soldiers and civilians outside an ancient, pyramid-shaped ziggurat temple in Ur, close to what’s believed to be the birthplace of Abraham. Celebrating Mass there with 350 soldiers and civilians was risky because the site, adjacent to a U.S. military base, was outside the base’s inner perimeter and more vulnerable to attack, Father Fehn said, but he still considers it a high point of his ministry.

Also memorable was officiating at three memorial services for soldiers from his own battalion who died in Iraq, though not all in combat.

“Danger was always there in Iraq,” he said. Enemies don’t “have to be ‘good,’ they’ve just got to be lucky with their rockets or mortars.”

Father Fehn has also faced death with many families during his hospital ministry, and he shares in their grief when their loved ones die. When he finally retires his chaplain title, Father Fehn anticipates he will do more pastoral work to help parishes. The Edina resident expects to have more time for his favorite hobby of writing letters. Travel, especially to the Southwest, is also in his retirement plan.

But he added, “Most of us (priests) never really ‘really retire.’”

FATHER JOSEPH FINK

Ordination 1983 • St. Peter, Mendota 1983-1985 • Most Holy Redeemer, Montgomery 1985-1987 • St. Pius X, White Bear Lake 1987-1981 • St. Thomas the Apostle, Corcoran 1991-1994 • St. John, St. Paul 1994-2000 • St. Mary, Shakopee, 2000-2006 • St. Raphael, Crystal 2006-2007 • St. Bernard, St. Paul 2007-2008 • St. Mark, St. Paul 2008-2009 • St. Joseph, West St. Paul 2009-2011 • Immaculate Conception, Watertown 2011-2017 • Holy Childhood, St. Paul 2017-2022 • Maternity of Mary, St. Paul 2017-2022 • Ascension, Norwood Young America 2019 • St. Bernard, Cologne 2019 • Retired 2022

Father Joseph Fink’s battle with prostate cancer about 18 years ago forced him to downsize from the administrative rigors of being a pastor. But that setback brought new ministry opportunities in the years leading up to his retirement, he said.

After his 1983 ordination, Father Fink, 67, served in 12 archdiocesan parishes, as pastor or associate pastor. He enjoyed them all, he said.

What resonated most was the people, Father Fink said. For example, as pastor of St. Mary in Shakopee (now part of Sts. Joachim and Anne in Shakopee), he worked with a team of dedicated parishioners, another priest and a deacon to build a new school for Shakopee Area Catholic School in 2003.

In more recent assignments, he has been building relationships with youth and other parishioners, and using skills from his baking hobby. Father Fink said he especially enjoys working with the elderly and the young — and when possible, getting them to work together. As an associate at St. Joseph in West St. Paul from 2008 to 2010, he taught the youth group to make large quantities of bread as a fundraiser and for homebound parishioners. At his last assignment at Maternity of Mary and Holy Childhood parishes in St. Paul, he led parishioners in making hundreds of pounds of caramel for a parish project in 2021.

“One of the advantages of not being a pastor is that you can do those kinds of things to build community, where you’re not necessarily the guy who’s in charge of the project per se, but you get to be with the people,” he said. “That’s been part of the fun of being a priest but at the same time being with the people on a practical level. “

In his retirement, he is thinking about starting a similar baking project this fall or winter at two northern Minnesota parishes, St. Edward in Longville and St. Paul in Remer, where he helps out on weekends. While he’s up in the resort area, Father Fink has been biking and socializing with relatives — but he has yet to take St. Edward parish’s boat out fishing.

Back in St. Paul during the week, Father Fink said he has been dealing with some health concerns that mean other retirement plans are day by day.

While he won’t miss the administrative duties of a parish, wherever he serves, he will enjoy getting people together for fellowship, he said.

FATHER MICHAEL JONCAS

Ordination 1980 • Presentation of Mary, Maplewood 1980-1984 • Newman Center and Chapel, Minneapolis 1984-1987 • St. Thomas College/University of St. Thomas 1987-2021 • The St. Paul Seminary 1991-2021 • St. Cecilia, St. Paul 1991-1993 • St. Thomas the Apostle, Minneapolis • Retired 2022

Over the past 42 years, the pastoral, academic and artistic dimensions of Father Michael Joncas’ priestly ministry have been the result of his varied talents, interests and hard work.

But as the internationally known liturgical composer, author, speaker and professor contemplated his retirement this year and his love of music, people and preaching, he put the priesthood at the core of all he has done.

Since his 1980 ordination, Father Joncas, 70, has served as a pastoral associate at three parishes, including as campus minister at the University of Minnesota’s Newman Center in Minneapolis.

Though he’s no longer assigned to a particular parish, Father Joncas has often celebrated Mass and administered sacraments at parishes such as St. Thomas the Apostle in Minneapolis. He’s most enjoyed opportunities to meet Catholics and provide the sacraments, he said.

“Honestly, probably the thing that I love the most is preaching, and I’ve had the opportunity to not only preach regularly but to actually speak about preaching,” Father Joncas said.

Another of Father Joncas’ roles was teaching theology as a faculty member at the University of

St. Thomas in St. Paul for 40 years. Toward the end of his ministry, he was an artist in residence at the university and a research fellow in its Catholic Studies program.

Outside of his pastoral and academic work, Father Joncas has continued to write and record hymns and sacred music. The Minneapolis native began composing church music as a high school student and is well known for his liturgical work, including the hymn, “On Eagles Wings” based on Psalm 91. He considers composing music to be part of his ministry, but of lesser importance than pastoral work, studying and teaching.

Father Joncas said he is grateful that his music seems to have helped people pray, and also that his students have kept him thinking and learning.

Twenty years after being diagnosed with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Father Joncas said he still lives with residual effects of the illness, including tingling in his feet and his fingers that prevent him from playing the guitar.

“What having that syndrome really taught me was gratitude,” he said. “Every day is really a gift and that’s a switch from the way I was before that time.”

Now living in St. Paul, he plans to continue seeking ways to learn and help in parishes. He also hopes to have more time for reading and attending concerts and plays.

Regarding his own compositions, Father Joncas said he may write classical music, but probably not much more liturgical music, aside from lyrics.

“I’m just 70,” he said, “and in a way, I’m thinking that I just need to shut up and let new voices arise.”

FATHER MARK JUETTNER

Ordination 1979 • St. John the Baptist, New Brighton 1979-1980 • St. Joseph, Lino Lakes 1980-1983 • St. Michael, St. Paul 1983-1986 • St. Timothy, Maple Lake 1986-1996 • St. Raphael, Crystal 1996-2009 • St. Michael, St. Michael 2009 • St. Andrew, St. Paul 2009-2011 • Maternity of Mary, St. Paul 2011 • St. Charles, Bayport 2011-2014 • St. George, Long Lake 2014-2022 • Retired 2022

Father Mark Juettner served as a pastor during all but seven of his 43 years in active priestly ministry, and he has never forgotten advice he received at the start of his first pastorate: “Say your prayers, pay the bills, and be nice to the people.”

When it comes to prayer, Plymouth-native Father Juettner, 70, has promoted eucharistic adoration at many of the five parishes he’s pastored, including building a perpetual adoration chapel at St. Timothy in Maple Lake and reconstructing one at St. Raphael in Crystal.

As for paying the bills, Father Juettner gained significant experience managing parish administrative responsibilities, including overseeing building projects. He is grateful to all the staff he’s worked with since his 1979 priestly ordination for sharing their talents and supporting his pastoral efforts and leadership.

“I think the key thing priests say is ‘we want to be priests, we don’t want to be CEOs,’ but by the very nature of the parish, in its composition and corporate realities, you have to take on that responsibility,” he said. “It is the priest who is responsible for the fiscal and structural operation of the parish.”

The recommendation he received as a new pastor to “be nice to the people” has sometimes meant learning with parishioners or meeting their particular needs — whether it’s studying a new devotion with them or even deciding to learn Spanish at age 66.

During his last assignment at St. George in Long Lake, Father Juettner joined parishioners in learning about the Italian visionary Luisa Piccareta’s writing on the Divine Will, which he plans to continue studying during retirement.

To assist St. George’s Spanish-speaking parishioners, Father Juettner started learning the language online and eventually signed up for Spanish classes at the University of St. Thomas. He learned to celebrate Mass, give homilies and administer sacraments in Spanish.

“When you have a Latino community and they don’t speak English, especially the older ones, and you want to assist them, I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a try.’”

Learning languages is one of Father Juettner’s hobbies, and he plans to continue working on Spanish conversation skills during retirement, while he also helps Latino and other parishes with pastoral ministry. He anticipates having more time at his home in a western suburb of Minneapolis for prayer and spending time cooking, traveling, researching family genealogy, and attending concerts and theater productions.

But Father Juettner is not retiring from learning: He’s thinking about signing up for a more formal training program in spiritual direction. “I hope to adjust to a different schedule that is less busy and less demanding,” he said.

FATHER CURTIS LYBARGER

Ordination 1979 • Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul 1984-1989 • St. Vincent de Paul, Osseo 1989-2001 • St. Mary of the Lake, Plymouth 2001-2022 • Retired 2022

A highpoint in Father Curtis Lybarger’s 45-year priestly ministry was overseeing construction during the 1980s of the entire campus of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Osseo — the church, school, social hall and office building.

He’s just as proud that the congregation more than doubled to 3,000 families.

Along with successful building projects, he is grateful for the relationships he’s developed with the Catholics at the parishes where he’s served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and before that, in the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska, he said.

“I never would have been anything but a parish priest,” said Father Lybarger, 73. “Getting to know generations of families, that was the wonderful part. Just working with parishioners.”

Father Lybarger was ordained for the Omaha archdiocese in 1977. After serving there for seven years and after his parents had passed away, he decided to incardinate into the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese, where he had attended seminary.

While reflecting on what’s changed during his years of ministry, Father Lybarger noted that he served with two or three other assistants during his first assignments. Now, he’s seen the number of priests diminish. As fewer priests are asked to cover more parishes, those ordained after him might have a more difficult time, he said. He noted that as he retired from his 21-year assignment at St. Mary of the Lake in Plymouth this summer, his successor, Father Andrew Zipp, was given the added responsibility of being a high school chaplain.

Now that his retirement is official, Father Lybarger has returned to Omaha to spend time with family and friends. Moving states has made retirement even more unsettling, but when all the boxes are unpacked, he anticipates having more time to help in parishes, read Church history and enjoy murder mysteries.

Father Lybarger said he is retiring later than some of his classmates, who retired three years ago. He decided to stay at St. Mary of the Lake beyond age 70 because he was happy with his home and staff.

“It just came to me one day: It’s time to go and give a younger person a shot at this place,” he said. “Time to move on.”