NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
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Bishop announces new pastoral assignments A retirement and several moves affect many parishes around the Diocese of Knoxville
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ishop Richard F. Stika recently announced new pastoral assignments for the Diocese of Knoxville and a priest retirement. Parishes announced the changes in May, and they took effect (unless noted otherwise below) on July 15. Father Dan Whitman, pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville since 2014, is retiring from full-time ministry. A native of Forsyth County, N.C., and a former advertising artist, Father Whitman, 67, has served as a priest in the dioceses of Nashville and Knoxville since his ordination in 1983. His assignments have included serving for many years as pastor of St. Therese in Clinton and Holy Trinity in Jefferson City. He also has previously served as moderator of the charismatic movement in the diocese. He will remain spiritual moderator of the Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. Succeeding Father Whitman as pastor of Notre Dame will be Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, who has been pastor of St. Augustine in Signal Mountain since 2010. Father Kuzhupil came to St. Augustine in 2010 as associate pastor after serving as a chaplain for the Alexian Village retirement community in Signal Mountain. Father John Dowling will be the next pastor of St. Augustine Parish. Father Dowling has been the pastor of Holy Ghost in Knoxville since
2014. His term at Holy Ghost was his second at the North Knoxville parish, having served there as associate pastor from 1987 to 1996 and as parochial administrator Father Whitman for the next year following the death of longtime pastor Father Albert Henkel. Father Dowling then became pastor of St. John Neumann in Farragut and was leading the Father Iorio parish when it constructed a large Romanesque church from 2006 to 2008. In February 2010, Father Dowling became pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade before his return to Holy Ghost. A native of Savannah, Ga., Father Dowling also has a brother, Father
By Dan McWilliams
Father Kuzhupil
Father Dowling
Father McNeeley
Father Collins
Father Cano
Father Floersh
Kevin Dowling, who is a priest in the Diocese of Nashville. Father John Dowling is a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga who went on to work for five years in the marketing and sales department of the Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bot-
tling Co. before entering seminary. He has written a number of booklets that include “Why Confess Your Sins to a Priest?” published by Liguori Publications in 1994. In 2005, the Fathers Dowling and Father Vann Assignments continued on page B3
Father Moser marks silver jubilee in priesthood Friends and family from far and wide join the 25-year priest at St. Catherine Labouré in Copperhill
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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amily was on Father Tom Moser’s mind June 30 as he celebrated his 25th anniversary as a priest during a Mass at St. Catherine Labouré Church in Copperhill. In the front pews were the priest’s sisters, two brothers-in-law, and nieces who came from as far away as Cebu, the Philippines, as well as Hawaii, Colorado, El Paso, and Father Moser’s native Minnesota. Bishop Richard F. Stika and Father Moser’s longtime friend, Father Mike Creson, concelebrated the Mass, with Deacon Loris Sinanian assisting. A total of 151 people attended the Mass, with an overflow of more than 40 sitting downstairs in the parish hall watching via closed-circuit TV. The occasion was somewhat bittersweet, as Father Moser’s fiveyear turn as pastor of St. Catherine Labouré would come to an end July 15. “In thinking about family coming in and things like that, nothing is more important than family. I think we can all agree with that,” Father Moser said in his homily. “That’s where, especially with our mom and dad, that’s where the formation came from.” Father Moser traced his vocation to one question he asked his father. “Back in our home in Riverwood Place in St. Paul, one day I walked up to Dad, Larry, and asked him about Jesus Christ. It was about 1976, and I was in my 20s. Dad of course had a great library right there in our home, mostly Catholic authors. After all, he had studied at the Pontifical Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He once studied very briefly for the priesthood himself there, but he met Mom, so that changed things. “So instead of a long response, Dad graciously, kindly told me to read one book. And along the way he had me read some other ones.
Bishop and jubilarian Bishop Richard F. Stika joins Father Tom Moser for a photo after the latter’s 25th-anniversary Mass. But we just heard in our prelude before the entrance hymn ‘Late Have I Loved You,’ that beautiful song. I asked the choir to sing that today. The book was The Confessions of St. Augustine. And Augustine in there says—he was addressing God— ‘Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, O beauty ever new. You, God, were within me, but I was outside. . . . Now I hunger and thirst for more.’ So I’ll always be thankful to Dad for such guidance.” The jubilarian said his dad or mom “always had some kind of book to read.” “Later on at some point I came across Psalm 32, which seemed at that time to speak directly to me. The psalmist says, ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you.’ Later I was guided by a friend to the writings of Catholic J.R.R. Tolkien and also the writings of C.S. Lewis. So I started to devour all of them, and I couldn’t get enough. I never stopped finding these authors to read.” Another saint also influenced Fa-
ther Moser, just recently. “One of the writings I came across not too long ago was by the great St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests . . . St. John Vianney has been a favorite of mine, too, for many years. He wrote this extraordinary thing. He said, ‘All of the good works in the world are not equal to the holy sacrifice of the Mass, because they are all the works of men, but the Mass is the work of God . . . . The Mass is the sacrifice of God to man.’” Bishop Stika spoke at the end of Mass. “It’s really hard to believe that Father Tom was ordained a century ago, in the 20th century. He looks good for his age,” he said. “It’s a great joy for me to be here, to be with all of you, especially his family and with Father Tom. Celebrating 25 years is a significant event in the life of a married couple but also especially in the life of a priest, who is called to be of service to God’s people.” Father Moser was ordained by Knoxville’s founding bishop at St.
By Dan McWilliams Leo Church in St. Paul, Minn. “Sometime in that ceremony his name was said and he ‘presented himself as a candidate for the priesthood of Jesus Christ,’” Bishop Stika said. “And for 25 years he has served faithfully, a long time here at Copperhill, but now he’s been traded to another team. He’ll be at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga. But 25 years of service is an extraordinary thing in the life of a priest: the baptisms, the funerals, the anointings, the moments to console someone, the sacrament of reconciliation. “For the most part in the life of a priest, we never know what happens down the line [after a baptism, e.g.]. A lot of times in our work, in our ministry, you just don’t know the results, but in our life as sacramental ministers, you just put it in the hands of God and also in the hands of the people, who will then make decisions and choices for the rest of their lives.” The bishop added, “Father, I just want to say congratulations, Godspeed in your new assignment. Change is part of the life of a priest. I want to thank his family. I’ve been practicing this for two weeks, especially knowing that Father Tom was from Minne-SO-ta. Did I say it right? Because down here in Tennessee we say it a little ‘differ’nt.’ “Father Tom, there’s an expression in Latin, ad multos annos: many more years of service to God’s people.” Bishop Stika then blessed an icon of Mary, Untier of Knots, that graced the back wall where the church’s tiny confessional used to be. Both the icon and the confessional were dedicated in honor of the late Mary Jabaley Joseph. With the bishop’s advice, the church opened a newer, larger confessional in the front of the church building that Father Moser continued on page B6