DEAR EDITOR:

I am writing this letter as a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hubbard. No reminder is needed to recall how we all suffered through the pandemic. In many places, religious events, including in-person worship services, were banned. And then St. Pat’s lost its church due to a significant fire in January 2021. For the next 38 months we met as a congregation in our Parish Center building, truly a gymnasium. But our congregation remained vibrant, alive and strong. Our Parish is not its building, it is its good and faithful people.

We all rejoiced when our beautiful new church re-opened on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2024! What a joyous occasion and new beginning! But then this joy was shattered in June when we learned that Fr. Michael Swierz had been put on administrative leave and had resigned as Pastor at St. Pat’s. He was being investigated for improper behavior by the Diocese and an outside independent review board. In March the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith in Rome, Italy released its findings and decision. Fr. Swierz has retired from ministry and does not have faculties to serve in ministry.

As I mentioned, the parish people of St. Patrick Church have demonstrated faith, resiliency and love through all of these difficult times and situations. Now we have the opportunity to show our mettle once again by becoming one body, united as a people of God in our little town of Hubbard and in our noble parish, St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church. This really is our decision to make. We can still love and pray for Fr. Michael Swierz and be grateful for all he did for us as our Pastor. Our fondness for him does not need to take away or minimize the feelings and love that are growing within us for our new Pastor, Fr. Michael Balash. He is a good-hearted man and Priest, who was thrust into a very difficult situation. And Fr. Balash loves St. Pat’s, is happy to be our Pastor and always has our parish’s best interest at heart.

So now it’s up to us at St. Pat’s. We can once again show our true colors by embracing this change and by demonstrating our faith, our love, our strong character and our happiness. Or we can continue to harbor anger and displeasure with the Bishop, the way this matter was handled and an outcome which has been difficult to understand. But I hope and pray that each of us decides to open his/her heart and move forward. Not forgetting the past, but truly moving forward with an attitude filled with joy, excitement and anticipation of a bright future. May God Bless each of us with wisdom and courage.

THOMAS BEASLEY

Hubbard