THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 38, NO. 10 | OCTOBER 14, 2016
NAME OF NEW PARISH REVEALED AND FOUNDING PASTOR INSTALLED BY MOIRA CULLINGS
LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER
Father Andrew Strobl concelebrates Mass with Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann on Oct. 9 at Madison Place Elementary School in Olathe which is serving as the worship space for the new Olathe parish. At the Mass, Archbishop Naumann announced that the new parish would be named St. John Paul II.
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LATHE — “It will be a joy to formally install Father Andrew [Strobl] as pastor today,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann. “If we could just get him to be excited about it. . .” Laughter erupted from the packed gymnasium at Madison Place Elementary School in Olathe, where the archdiocese’s newest parish community was gathered for the installation of the ever-enthusiastic pastor on Oct. 9. “I’m confident of Father Andrew Strobl’s abilities and zeal, and sharing the Gospel and celebrating the sacraments, his love of the Lord and his desire to be a father to this community,” said Archbishop Naumann. “It’s a great joy to present him to you this time formally as your pastor. I invite you to show your approval.” After a full minute of cheering,
LIFE’S END
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City in Kansas’ new parish. St. John Paul II was just perfect.
“I’M CONFIDENT OF FATHER ANDREW STROBL’S ABILITIES AND ZEAL, AND SHARING THE GOSPEL AND CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENTS, HIS LOVE OF THE LORD AND HIS DESIRE TO BE A FATHER TO THIS COMMUNITY.” Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann the audience and Father Strobl, who sat beaming with joy, waited on the edge of their seats to hear the parish’s name for the first time. And Archbishop Naumann couldn’t have chosen a more fitting one for the Archdiocese of Kansas
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‘A special patron’ Because this is the first parish founded since Archbishop Naumann arrived the archdiocese, he said choosing the name with help of Father Strobl and his parishioners was particularly thrilling. St. John Paul II made him a bishop in 1997, he said, appointed him to the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in 2004, and the two met on several occasions. Pope John Paul II is also a “special patron” of the new evangelization — something near and dear to Father Strobl’s work, said the archbishop. “As you know, [for] Father Andrew, an important part of his ministry in recent years has been leading our efforts at evangelization,” said Archbishop Naumann. Father Strobl hopes to carry on
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those efforts in his new capacity at St. John Paul II. “I’m grateful for the opportunity because I really think there’s something special about forming a new community where everybody’s a new parishioner,” said Father Strobl. “We get to go from the ground up in terms of building on good practices and a good leadership team.” “I get to put into practice a lot of what we’ve been working on with the office of evangelization the last three years, which I’m really excited about,” he added. Father Strobl, who was in college when the last parish was founded in 2003, is “humbled” that he was chosen for this role. “It’s not something a priest normally gets to do,” he said. “Honestly, it wasn’t anything I ever expected as a priest that I’d have the opportunity to do.” >> See “OLATHE” on page 7
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