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Home Parish News From the Bishop Parish Contacts Subscribe to E-mail Updates Catholic Resources Masses Saturday 4 p.m. Sunday 8 & 10 a.m. Mon.-Thurs., 8 a.m. Confessions Saturday 3:15 p.m. and by request Office Hours Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:30-5 p.m. E-mail Parish Office |
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Copyright 2008
St. Joseph the Worker; All rights reserved |
| Our pastor, Bishop Francis Christian |
The Most Rev. Francis Joseph Christian, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Manchester, became pastor of St. Joseph in 2003, and has continued in his dual role ever since. He was ordained a bishop by Bishop Leo E. O’Neil, the eighth Bishop of Manchester, on May 14, 1996. Pope John Paul II appointed him as the Auxiliary Bishop of Manchester. Bishop Christian was born October 8, 1942 in Peterborough, the only child of the late Joseph L. and Dorothy M. Christian. He attended Jaffrey public schools and is a 1960 graduate of Conant High School. Bishop Christian studied at Saint Anselm College in Manchester for two year before entering the seminary in 1962. He studied at Saint Paul Seminary in Ottawa from 1962 to 1964 and completed his undergraduate study with a B.A. and a B.Ph. from the University of Ottawa in 1964. He studied at the American College at the University of Louvain in Belgium from 1964 to1968, earning a master’s degree in theology in 1968. Bishop Ernest J. Primeau, the sixth bishop of Manchester, ordained him to the priesthood on June 29, 1968 at Saint Patrick Parish in Jaffrey. He served three years at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Merrimack and a year at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Manchester, both as parochial vicar, before returning to Louvain in 1973 for doctoral work in moral theology. Bishop Christian completed his Ph.D. summa cum laude in religious studies with a specialization in moral theology in February 1975. Bishop Christian was appointed assistant chancellor of the Diocese of Manchester in March 1975, and was made chancellor in June 1977. Pope John Paul II named Bishop Christian a prelate of honor, which includes the title "Monsignor," in 1986. Today, Bishop Christian serves the Vicar General and Vicar for Priest Personnel. |
| -- Diocese of Manchester |
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