New Priests and a New Pastorate

Without a doubt, the biggest news in our parish this year is the beginning of implementation of the Diocesan strategic planning called “Into the Deep.” Through this initiative, all the parishes of our Diocese have been grouped into new pastorates which will work together to form new parishes in the coming year.

In order to support and form those new parishes, many priests have been moved or reassigned this summer. The parishes of St. Maria Goretti in Madison and St. Christopher in Verona have been joined together with Msgr. Kevin Holmes (pictured center), Fr. Scott Emerson (pictured left), and Fr. Gabi López-Betanzos (pictured right) to lead us.

As these new priests get settled here, we wanted to take the chance to get to know them better!

Msgr. Kevin Holmes

Msgr. Kevin Holmes has been named the Parochial Administrator of our pastorate, and he comes to us from the Cathedral Parish, in downtown Madison. Msgr. Holmes grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin. He attended the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Msgr. Holmes was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1984, by Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell.

Msgr. Holmes has also served the Diocese of Madison in various other capacities. He is currently a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Presbyteral Council, and the College of Consultors. Through election by his brother priests, he serves on the Priest Personnel Board and the St. Raphael Board (which oversees benefits for retired priests). He is also the Spiritual Advisor of the Madison Diocesan Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Fr. Scott Emerson

Fr. Scott Emerson is one of our two parochial vicars. Fr. Scott grew up in Spring Green, Wisconsin on a dairy farm. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee, and he attended seminary at the American College of Leuven in Belgium and the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 26, 2015, by Bishop Robert Morlino. Later, Fr. Scott returned to Rome to complete his graduate studies in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

In 2018, Fr. Scott served as the Priest Secretary and Master of Ceremonies to Bishop Morlino before his passing in November 2018. He currently serves as a Judge on the Tribunal for the Diocese of Madison.

Fr. Gabi López-Betanzos

Fr. Gabriel López-Betanzos is our other parochial vicar. Fr. Gabi grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After college, he worked briefly in the technology industry before discerning a vocation to the priesthood. He attended seminary at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, and the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Next, Fr. Gabi continued at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross to earn a Licentiate degree in Canon Law. Fr. Gabi was ordained to the priesthood on June 26, 2015, by Bishop Robert Morlino.

In addition to his parochial assignments, Fr. Gabi has served in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Madison. After brief stints as Judge and then Defender of the Bond, he has served as Judicial Vicar since 2018.
 

Q&A with our Parochial Administrator, Msgr. Holmes

Tell us about your family and where you grew up.

My parents married a bit later in life (in part because of World War II) and were married for nine years before I was born. So, I would say that I was a much appreciated only child. My maternal grandmother lived with us. My godparents (an aunt and uncle) lived upstairs. And my paternal grandmother usually lived within a few blocks. I was a child of the Cold War—Sputnik was launched the year I was born, and we had air raid drills (in addition to fire drills and tornado drills) in first grade (just after the Cuban Missile Crisis). The sessions of Vatican II took place in the fall of my K-3 years in grade school.

What have been some of the highlights of your years as a priest?

Among the highlights of my priesthood have been the many ordinations and First Masses of young men who have been my parishioners or assigned to my parishes. I have had the privilege of vesting a number of them during diaconate or priesthood ordination, and of preaching about half a dozen First Masses. Another highlight was taking a group of 30 parishioners from Holy Redeemer downtown to World Youth Day 1997 in Paris. I was able to spend some time in Paris and elsewhere in France during my student days, so that was familiar territory. I’m not sure if “highlight” is the right word, but I received a unique assignment in the diocese in 1998 when I was made pastor of the little parish in Dane as the immediate successor to Fr. Alfred Kunz, who had been brutally murdered there. I sometimes say, “After the murder, Bishop Bullock said to himself, ‘God forbid that such a terrible thing would ever happen again . . . but just in case it does, whom can I spare?’ and he sent me.”

What are your hopes for the new pastorate?

Pastorate 20 is, I think, a wonderful assignment. In all honesty, it is simpler than many assignments in the new diocesan configuration—only two parishes, modern facilities, strong demographic profile and adequate resources. Even better, there are many faithful, committed people and families at both parishes, and my welcome has been very warm. I see great potential that the many good things happening at both parishes can grow and bear even more good fruit.

How have the parishes already begun working together?

The most notable area in which my parishes have begun working together is in Religious Education and Youth Ministry. Each parish had just seen a vacancy in one of those positions, and the staff person at the other parish was able to take over a combined program for both parishes. There has already been a little coordination of Mass schedule—for example, on the holy day of obligation. The current issues of the two parish newsletters have a great deal of shared content. There will also be a single RCIA process for both parishes this year. And, of course, much more to come!

Will our pastorate have a new name?

Pastorate 20 will have a new name and patronage—in honor of a saint, Our Lord, or a mystery of the Faith. That will be in place by the time the parishes merge in 2024. My understanding is that we will submit three candidate names to Bishop Hying, and he will make the decision as to what our new merged parish will be called.

What is the timeline for any future changes?

The two most significant changes on the horizon are: (1) a new consolidated schedule of Sunday Masses for the pastorate. We will be gathering data and input from parishioners during September and October in anticipation of the new schedule going into effect on the First Sunday of Advent at the beginning of December. And (2) a combined parish staff. Job titles and job descriptions will be developed this fall in anticipation of hiring people to staff a unified parish office by July 1, 2024