Tell City Catholics react to pastor’s episcopal appointment

Bishop-designate Paul D. Etienne asks members of the congregation a question during his homily at the Nov. 1 Mass at St. Paul Church in Tell City to celebrate the parish’s 150th anniversary. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

TELL CITY—Bittersweet.

That is how many members of St. Paul Parish in Tell City described the Oct. 19 appointment of their pastor and a son of the parish, Father Paul D. Etienne, as the new bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo.

They are sad to lose their pastor, but proud of him and the fact that their parish had a role in forming him in the faith. (Related: St. Paul Parish in Tell City celebrates 150th anniversary during historic time | Photo gallery)

Joan Conner, 78, and her husband, Bill, have been close friends of the Etienne family for 50 years. They witnessed the 1992 priestly ordination of Bishop-designate Etienne, the ordinations of two of his brothers, Fathers Bernard and Zachary Etienne, who are priests for the Evansville Diocese, and the solemn profession of monastic vows of his sister, Benedictine Sister Mary Nicolette Etienne.

“It was a wonderful day. We were so thrilled to hear it,” said Conner of the occasion earlier this year when she learned of then-Father Etienne’s appointment as her pastor.

“And then it was a very emotional day when we found out that he was going to be leaving us to be a bishop,” she said. “It was mixed emotions: happy for him, but sad for us.

“I’m not surprised that he is where he is today. I think he’ll make a wonderful bishop.”

Joseph LeClere, 59, is a member of St. Paul Parish who has researched its history. He is also a first cousin of Bishop-designate Etienne.

He called the episcopal appointment of their pastor “a tremendous honor” for St. Paul Parish.

“It is a signature event,” LeClere said. “How apropos that it occurs during the [parish’s] 150th [anniversary] year.”

When he first learned of the appointment, LeClere said he was not so positive. He was frustrated that he was losing a good pastor so soon after he began his ministry at the parish. A day later, though, LeClere started to gain a broader perspective on this history-making event for the parish.

“God has called him,” he said. “I must not be selfish. Paul is a wonderful pastor. He has gifts that belong to the greater Church. We are proud of him and grateful for the time he was here and for the relationships we have with him.”

While Conner watched Bishop-designate Etienne grow up, and LeClere grew up with him, Chris Hollinden, 27, is of a more recent generation, one that was formed in the faith at St. Paul Parish in much the same way that Bishop-designate Etienne was.

“He went to the same elementary school that I and all of my friends went to,” Hollinden said. “He had the same upbringing as all of us. He’s from our area. He knows all of us. He’s just like one of us.

“… But we also understand that that’s why he’s so good. And that’s why God has chosen him for this.”

Bishop-designate Etienne acknowledged the key role that St. Paul Parish played in his formative years in an interview with The Criterion four days before his episcopal appointment was made public.

“I remember all the sacraments, except for baptism, obviously, and the celebrations that were a part of that, the people that were a part of that,” he said. “It was here where that call to the priesthood surfaced for me. So many people of this parish invited me to consider that when I was working here in town after high school.

“…All of that was just a part of what formed me and shaped me and helped me hear Christ calling me to service in the Church.” †