Fall 2025 Denver Province Snapshots
Ordination, Professions & Jubilarians:
PROFESSION OF FIRST VOWS: On Sunday, July 20, the feast of the Most Holy Redeemer, we welcomed our own Cody Hill and Andrew Tran-Chung (Denver Province), Son Lai and Dang Nguyen (Baltimore Province), and Efraín Bergsaí (Mexico Province) into the Redemptorist Congregation.
PROFESSION JUBILEE: Mass was celebrated in honor of the following Jubilarians on August 14: CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF PROFESSION: Rev. Alton Carr; CELEBRATING 65 YEARS OF PROFESSION: Rev. John Gouger, Rev. Rudolph Papes, Rev. James Shea; CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF PROFESSION: Rev. Joseph Butz, Rev. Robert Halter, Rev. Gregory Mayers, Br. Eugene Patin, Rev. Mark Scheffler; CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF PROFESSION: Rev. Andrew Thompson, Rev. Gary Ziuraitis; CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF PROFESSION: Rev. Nghia Cao.
In Remembrance:
Fr. Lyle Konen, C.Ss.R.: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Lyle Konen, C.Ss.R., who died at the age of 94 on August 8, 2025, in Seattle, WA, where he had served the People of God for nearly three consecutive decades. A beloved Redemptorist missionary of 69 years, Fr. Lyle will be remembered for his dedicated parish ministry and service to the incarcerated, as well as the generous spirit he brought to community life and his nurturing mentorship of generations of Redemptorist confreres.
Lyle Ernest was born to William and Katherine Konen on July 9, 1931, in Worley, ID. His family later relocated to the community of Keuterville, near Cottonwood, ID, where he was educated by the Benedictine Nuns through high school. Although he had considered a religious vocation as a youngster, he was blessed with a beautiful voice and received a scholarship to Gonzaga University. He also attended Great Falls College of Education before he met and was inspired by the life and work of the Redemptorists. He enrolled at Holy Redeemer College in Oakland, CA, where he was known as a sincere, sensitive and thoughtful student. He was considered the main support of the seminary choirs throughout his Redemptorist formation. Lyle proceeded to novitiate at Mount St. Clement College in DeSoto, MO and professed temporary vows on August 2, 1956. He continued at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Oconomowoc, WI, where he professed perpetual vows on September 2, 1959, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1961.
Newly ordained Fr. Lyle finished Tirocinium at Holy Redeemer College and served on the faculty from 1963 until 1965 the tumultuous years of Vatican II. He was appointed pastor and superior of the local community at Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland, OR in 1966. After five years, he was assigned to the Alaska Missions in Homer. Although he marveled at the scenery, the weather and isolation so severely impacted his health that he served only a year at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. He returned to the Lower 48 as director of Palisades Retreat House and superior of the local community in Federal Way, WA, where he served for one year.
Fr. Lyle was appointed at St. Gerard Parish in Great Falls, MT in 1973, and two years later took the helm as pastor and superior of the local community at Sacred Heart Parish in Seattle. After six years, he returned to retreat ministry as director of Picture Rocks Retreat House in Tucson, AZ and superior of the local community during the 1980s. In addition to improving the facilities, Fr. Lyle served the larger community through the televised “Mass for Shut-Ins” broadcast throughout southern Arizona. Viewers saw such a prayerful, caring priest that Fr. Lyle was asked to celebrate weddings and funerals of many people he had never met in person. Many of the incarcerated that he served in the area recognized him from the televised Masses. He learned that his thoughtful homilies offered so much hope that one inmate no longer contemplated ending his life.
Fr. Lyle remained in Arizona until 1987, when his creativity and resourcefulness were tapped for the Development Office. He was stationed at the Oakland Provincial Office in San Francisco, CA for approximately one year when he returned to Holy Redeemer Parish in Portland as pastor and superior of the local community. He served as rector of Hofbauer House/St. Clement’s Residence in Berkeley, CA in 1990, but was appointed pastor and superior of the local community at St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene, ID in 1991.
Fr. Lyle returned to the Oakland Provincial Office as treasurer in 1993. Two years later at the age of 64 he was asked to serve the Mission in Nigeria at St. Patrick’s Parish in Satellite Town, Ojo Alaba. Health issues forced his return to the United States only a few months later. He completed his term as treasurer in 1996 and was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart in Seattle. He resigned as pastor a year later but remained as associate pastor, serving the parish community and continuing his prison ministry. He was 73 years old when he was appointed director of Desert House of Prayer in Tucson in 2004. Within six months he officially retired and returned to Seattle where he continued to serve the parish community, the incarcerated, and nearby parishes for the remaining two decades of his priestly ministry. Always deeply proud of being a Redemptorist, Fr. Lyle was well-known and deeply loved by the faithful and clergy of Seattle.
Sister Rosalie Esquerra, OP: Please pray for Sister Rosalie who died on August 13, 2025. Sister Rosalie gave her life to the work of youth and young adults in such places as Detroit, Tucson and Chicago. She co-founded and served for 51 years as a Corporate Member of Life Directions/focus: L.I.F.E., a Detroit-based organization that encourages young people in high school and beyond to work with and inspire their peers by helping them to recognize their own gifts and abilities. Sister Rosalie, Fr. Alex Steinmiller, Fr. John Phelps, C.Ss.R., and Alexander & Judith MacDonald began Life Directions at one high school in Detroit. “We initiated conversation groups with at least 15 students,” Sister Rosalie said. “We asked teachers to send us students who were positive and had goals and students who were ambling along. The idea was peers inspiring peers.” During the first sessions, participants were invited to express their concerns, and the Life Directions team created modules based on those concerns. The work continued to include young people in Detroit who were past the age of high school. Young adults were invited to a retreat called “Focus Life.” The focus during the retreat was still on “peers inspiring peers,” with groups formed of seven to nine achieving and non-achieving young adults. The focus of the retreats, Sister Rosalie said, was for participants “to share their journey, the journey dealing with hurts and heals, the joys and the special things that happened in their lives.”
In Detroit, Sister Rosalie also became known as the Rosa Parks of Bilingual Education. Among the numerous awards she was given, she was Honored by The Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2021 for her advocacy of bilingual education in 1972. Her gentle spirit and wisdom will truly be missed by all.
Liguori Publications Makes New Acquisitions
Liguori Publications Makes New Acquisitions: Liguori Publications has acquired the subscriber list for Our Sunday Visitor Magazine (OSV) and also The Priest magazine. Recently OSV announced that they are ending publication of both magazines. When we heard the news, we were saddened but at the same time we realized that this was an opportunity for Liguori. We approached the OSV publisher and engaged in a conversation to acquire their subscriber listing. OSV responded favorably to our offer, and we have been working out the many details of the transfer since September. The OSV Magazine ends with the September issue and Liguori will begin to fulfill their subscriptions with our November-December issue. The Priest magazine will end with the December issue, and we will begin to fulfill their subscriptions with our January-February 2026 issue. This agreement between OSV and Liguori Publications will effectively increase the print run of the Liguorian one hundred percent. Of course, the real challenge will be to convert the acquired subscriber base of OSV to Liguori, but this is routinely understood as something that has a high success rate. In addition to the increase of subscribers, an increase in advertisers is expected. As a result of this advertising revenue opportunity the Liguorian will increase the page count of the magazine. We have also secured the services of an advertising representative to actively sell ad space and to increase this revenue opportunity. Liguori has not had this kind of representation for many years. —Rev. Tom Santa, C.Ss.R., President/ Publisher
And More!
Fr. Thanh Nguyen Appointed Pastor: Fr. Thanh Nguyen (standing next to Bishop Gary Janak), was appointed pastor of St. Gerard Majella Parish in San Antonio, effective July 1, 2025. Fr. Thanh professed temporary vows as a Redemptorist in 2009 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2014.
St. Anne Novena: Confreres of the Denver Province carried on a longstanding tradition and led the 118th annual Novena to St. Anne at St. Anne of the Sunset Church in San Francisco from July 18 to July 26. Preachers included Fr. Kevin Zubel, Fr. John Schmidt, Fr. Patrick Keyes and Fr. Ted Lawson.
Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. On July 12, St. Alphonsus Parish in Brooklyn Center, MN, sponsored a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, WI.
The shrine is located on 100 acres of wooded property with trails and various chapels for the pilgrims to visit. Two busloads and 32 carloads of parishioners took part, including parish priests Fathers John Schmidt, Scott Katzenberger and Paco Perez-Colunga.
Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15-October 15 was Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic Heritage Month offers Redemptorists an opportunity to celebrate our long history of accompanying migrants, immigrants, and refugees from Mexico and South America.
On February 23, 1929, the Chapel Car Santa Teresita hit the road in Fresno, CA. For seven years, Fr. Leo Kulleck, C.Ss.R., used this modified van to travel to all parts of the Diocese of Fresno where Spanish-speaking people were located, preaching and administering the sacraments. The Chapel Car was a church on wheels as well as Fr. Kulleck’s living quarters. Redemptorists continued ministering throughout the diocese, preaching home missions to the faithful. My grandparents, Jack and Rachel Solorzano, were among those who attended these missions in the fields. —Kevin Zubel, C.Ss.R.
Snapshots gives a special thanks to Kristine Stremel and Denver Link.
