Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A pastoral planning process—Ministry 2025—has begun in the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. According to the Rev. Brent Lingle, diocesan director of pastoral planning, the diocese recently unveiled a draft pastoral plan that strives to create parishes “where the faith is lived out, grows and attracts people into it.” The diocese reports that by 2025, only 31 priests will be available to serve as pastors. Currently, 58 priests are active in pastoral ministry. Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City said it was important to take a proactive approach in planning for the future of the diocese. “As bishop, I have to be a good steward of our resources, and one of the most important and valuable are our priests,” he said. “I need to take care of them.” Many of the diocese’s active priests are baby boomers reaching the age of retirement, and the bishop said they deserve the chance to retire.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

President Donald Trump meets South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Trump offered a vibrant demonstration of the kind of worst-case scenario Pope Leo may have had in mind about the collapse of critical thinking.
Kevin ClarkeMay 22, 2025
In his first appointment of a top-level official of the Roman Curia, Pope Leo XIV named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a canon lawyer, to be secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
“We were once leaders in petroleum and gas research; now we’re becoming leaders in green hydrogen and carbon capture. This isn’t just a technological shift; it’s a spiritual one.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 22, 2025
A cardinal reflects on his experience of the conclave