Area Catholic churches are undergoing changes

HARTINGTON — Area Catholics will see some changes beginning in July.

Several area Catholic parishes will begin sharing pastors in order to make up for a shortage of priests.

Nine priests from the Omaha Archdiocese are retiring this year.

One of those planning to retire is Fr. David Liewer, who has been guiding the Coleridge, Laurel and Dixon churches for the past several years. He plans to move into the St. Michael’s parish rectory in Coleridge upon his retirement later this month.

The new groupings are the result of an ongoing pastoral planning process to address the decline in the number of priests and population decreases in rural northeast Nebraska, said Fr. Scott Hastings, vicar for clergy and judicial vicar for the archdiocese.

The goal is to adequately serve the needs of the faithful without creating excessive workloads for priests, Fr. Hastings said.

The process is moving ahead more quickly than expected, Fr. Hastings said.

“Numerous parishes took the initiative to develop their plans for working together,” he said. “It’s been a very collaborative and positive process.”

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