Father Francis Kakara, a missionary priest from India, visited Our Lady of the Snows Nulato in January and experienced his first severe arctic cold when temperatures plunged to 69 below zero. The priest's home in India averages 50 degrees in winter, and his arrival in Fairbanks was the first time he had seen snow.
Diocese of Fairbanks
PASTORAL SUPPORT OF NATIVE MISSIONS
Currently, the Diocese of Fairbanks has just 10 priests to serve its 38 rural churches across western Alaska, with one additional part-time priest from Michigan who flies to several of the most remote villages a few times per year. Since last fall, the diocese has brought on two new priests--Father Peter Bang from South Korea and Father Eugene Okere from Nigeria. This has brought our number of full-time priests to 23, the highest number of clergy in nearly a decade. Our clergy shortage has been alleviated somewhat by Bishop Steven Maekawa, who flew to nearly 20 villages across western Alaska since being ordained last October.
Y-K ADULT FAITH FORMATION PROGRAM
Patrick Tam, a lay missionary who has led the program since its inception in the 1990s, distributed resources to several parishes this past winter to assist with the Eucharistic revival. Parishes in rural Alaska only see a priest a few times per year and many churches have lost deacons, catechists, and lay ministers in the wake of the pandemic. With limited staff leading parishes between priest visits, the diocese has elected to expand the Eucharistic Revival to a 3-year period in the bush to ensure all parishes are sufficiently engaged in increased devotion to the Eucharist.
INTERIOR REGION COORDINATOR
In January, our interior region coordinator, Brother Bob Ruzicka completed his goal of visiting all eight parishes in the interior region to connect with administrators and lay leaders. Two years ago, Brother Bob moved to Galena from Nulato, and ceded administrative duties for Our Lady of the Snows Church to the region’s only priest, Father Thinh Van Tran. The change has freed up Brother Bob to spend more time traveling to meet with parish leaders, which is critical to helping the churches spiritually recover from the pandemic.
