The new administration: Br. Duane Lemke, Fr. Ed Kilianski, Fr. Byron Haaland, Fr. Tom Cassidy (provincial superior), Fr. Jack Kurps and Fr. Bill Pitcavage

The U.S. Province concluded its four-day election assembly on Thursday, June 17. At the heart of the assembly is a discernment process that helps the membership determine the qualities needed in province leadership at this time in history and then who best expresses those qualities.

Fr. Tom Cassidy was elected to his second term as provincial superior on Tuesday, June 15. Fr. Cassidy, 67, was first elected as provincial superior in 2007. At the time of his election, he was president-rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis.

Br. Frank Presto, provincial secretary, thanks SCJs for their work at the assembly.

Before assuming duties at Sacred Heart, Fr. Cassidy served two terms on the General Council of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Rome. Prior to his first-term election in 1991, he was on the provincial staff for the U.S. Province. He came to the Provincialate after serving as principal and then as superintendent of St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, S.D. Fr. Cassidy was also principal of Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Ind., and spent several years teaching.

Fr. Cassidy is a 1971 graduate of Sacred Heart School of Theology, and also holds a master’s degree in political science from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and a second master’s degree in religious studies from Mundelein College in Chicago. In 1978, he earned an Education Specialist (EdS) degree in School Administration from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Currently, Fr. Cassidy is also president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) in the United States.

A Milwaukee native, Fr. Cassidy professed his first vows with the community in 1962 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1971.

A New Council

The first councilor to be elected was Fr. Bill Pitcavage. Fr. Bill, 67, professed his first vows in 1969 and was ordained in 1976. For many years he was a missionary in South Africa and served a term as regional superior prior to the establishment of the South African Province. For the past nine years he has been pastor of St. James Parish in Chamberlain, S.D.

Fr. Ed Kilianski, 55, was the second elected to the council. Currently pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Houston, Fr. Ed has also served in parish ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and as director of the Province Vocation Office. He professed first vows in 1975 and was ordained in 1983.

Fr. John Czyzynski congratulates Br. Duane Lemke on his election.

Third to be elected to the council was Br. Duane Lemke. He is 35 and professed first vows in 1997. A home-grown SCJ, he grew up in an SCJ parish in South Dakota and as a teen, worked for the SCJ community when it had a pastoral team in Eagle Butte, SD. He has worked in parish ministry and currently is the administrator of the Dehon Formation Community in Chicago.

The fourth councilor elected was Fr. Jack Kurps, who returns after serving with the previous council. A member of the community since 1972, he is 59 and was ordained in 1977. He has served in parish ministry and as director of the Province Vocation Office. Currently, he is director of Sacred Heart Southern Missions in Mississippi.

The final person to be elected to the Provincial Council was Fr. Byron Haaland. A well-regarded retreat director who has led retreats both nationally and internationally, Fr. Byron, 61, is also a member of the formation department of Sacred Heart School of Theology and is active with St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care in Milwaukee. He was professed in 1970 and ordained in 1977.

Pending approval of the general administration, the new provincial administration will be installed during a July 26-27 province gathering.