St. Pius V Pastoral Transition Updates

Dear St. Pius V Community,

We'd like to share a few updates about our leadership transition.

First, we welcome Fr. John Vien as our new pastor, beginning July 1. Fr. John will also continue in his current role as pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland. To be clear, St. Margaret and St. Pius are not merging. We will continue as two separate, independent parishes that share a pastor. The parish council is working with Fr. John to determine our parish’s staffing needs, complete our strategic plan, and help St. Pius flourish.

We also welcome Fr. Carl Scheble as our priest in residence. Fr. Carl formerly served at St. John the Baptist, St. Ann, and Visitation parishes and is now Vicar General for the Archdiocese. While Fr. Carl will maintain his current full-time role, he is eager to call St. Pius his home. He will not be part of our parish staff, meaning that while he may celebrate Mass occasionally, he will not generally participate in the parish’s administration or sacraments.

And finally, our current weekend Mass times happen to all be exactly the same as St. Margaret’s. Even with Fr. Carl and a few other retired and associate priests at St. Margaret to help occasionally, Fr. John has approached us to convey that one pastor cannot cover six weekend Masses at two parishes.

We know we’ve faced the possibility of changes to our Mass times before, first during Covid and then All Things New. Now, with this pending transition and a reduced pastoral staff, we will need to change our Mass schedule at St. Pius, very likely with a reduction in the number of Masses we offer. Fr. John has raised the possibility of offering one weekend Mass, at 10 am on Sundays. This change would start on Sunday, July 5.

We can share that Fr. John has brought this up with the Parish Council and the Liturgy Commission. He is asking for and listening to feedback, and he is being transparent about his capacity as an individual. 

We know that this change will be hard, and that the communities built at the 4:30 and 8:00 am Masses will feel this loss the most. We share your anxiety that reducing our Mass times feels like a step toward closure, even though we’ve been assured that closure is not part of this transition plan. 

Still, we hope this loss might become something of a blessing for our community. At a single Mass, we can fill this church like we haven’t felt it filled in a long time. We can meet new people and grow new friendships. We are so good at welcoming the stranger, and now we can offer our gift of hospitality to each other. We can try to see an opportunity to grow closer to each other, to sit with different people, even sit in different places, and increase our weekly donut order. At some point, perhaps this loss can become a source of unity.

On a positive note, our daily Mass schedule will not change. Fr. John believes that he, Fr. Carl, and several associate priests can work together to continue offering daily Mass at 8:00 am in the chapel.

Please know that the changes to Mass times do not have to be permanent. Our needs and our community will change, and our pastor will be in continual conversation with us about them. In the coming weeks, we will communicate final decisions about Mass times. And in the coming months, we’ll communicate updates about our parish staffing.

We have been through much as a parish over the last several years, and many of us are still grieving the changes and losses we endured during Covid and All Things New. Still, we look with hope towards our future, with the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Please reach out anytime to share your questions, concerns, or feedback.

Sincerely,

St. Pius V Parish Council

Vince Estrada

Maureen Fox

Melody Gee

Chris Lloyd

Katrina Orlet

Tom Sanger

James Skinner