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A special grace of my priesthood is the privilege of participating in the annual Diocesan Presbyteral Assembly held at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells from September 21 to 24.
The Presbyteral Assembly grew out of the landmark Madison Diocese Emmaus retreat in 1980, which was intended to bolster the spiritual lives of us priests. It did.
Since I was in high school work at Beloit Catholic High, I rarely was able to attend diocesan functions, but I was free during summers. During summer school, I learned that this was also true of priests who taught high school in other dioceses. I was happy that Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell asked all active priests to attend.
Emmaus experience
Msgr. Frank Bognanno of the Diocese of Des Moines was chosen to lead the Emmaus retreat. The bishop of Des Moines was Bishop Bullock, who later became our bishop. Father Frank returned to Madison for Bishop Bullock’s anniversary celebration. He also led an inspiring priests’ retreat in 2002.