Msgr. Robert A. Kurwicki V.G. to step away from diocesan role
Will continue as pastor, House chaplain
Former vicars general don’t fade away.
They just keep on ministering.
“These eight years have been a privilege, but I’m looking forward to focusing on other things,” said Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, VG, whose term as vicar general of the Jefferson City diocese will conclude on June 30.
Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell appointed Father Stephen W. Jones to serve as the seventh vicar general in the diocese’s 69-year history, effective July 1.
Msgr. Kurwicki will continue as pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City and chaplain of the Missouri House of Representatives.
He served as vicar general through the entire tenure of Bishop (now Archbishop) Shawn McKnight, who led the diocese from 2018 to 2025, and for the first eight months of Bishop O’Donnell’s episcopacy.
The vicar general is second in command to the bishop in the diocese, serving administratively and liturgically in the bishop’s place when the bishop is sick or away.
“The vicar general’s main responsibility is to assist the bishop and his priests, along with the faithful, to understand and cooperate with the bishop’s pastoral vision,” said Msgr. Kurwicki.
After Archbishop McKnight was installed as archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas last May, this diocese’s College of Consultors elected Msgr. Kurwicki to serve as diocesan administrator until a new bishop was installed.
Upon arriving, Bishop O’Donnell asked him to return temporarily to the role of vicar general through the transition.
Missouri Waltz
Msgr. Kurwicki brought an intriguing combination of pastoral and administrative experience to his work in the Chancery.
In his first 41 years as a priest, he served for two years as associate pastor of St. Peter Parish in Marshall and the former Holy Family Mission in Sweet Springs, then for three years as associate pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City and instructor of Church history at Helias Catholic High School.
In 1990, he was appointed pastor of St. Michael Parish in Kahoka, Shrine of St. Patrick Parish in St. Patrick and the former St. Martha Mission in Wayland.
This was followed by five years as pastor of St. Bonaventure Parish in Marceline and the St. Joseph Mission at Hurricane Branch, then by seven years as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Westphalia.
The “Pearl of the Osage” was the final assignment he received from the late Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe, who led the diocese from 1969-1997.
Philanthropist and Westphalia parishioner Alphonse J. Schwartze died while Msgr. Kurwicki was pastor there. The priest worked with Mr. Schwartze’s brother, Emil Schwartz, who’s now deceased, and his family on a plan to honor Alphonse Schwartze’s memory.
That plan became the Schwartze family’s generous gift of building and furnishing the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center on the Cathedral grounds in Jefferson City.
The center opened in 2005.
The late Bishop John R. Gaydos, who led the diocese from 1997 to 2018, appointed Msgr. Kurwicki pastor of Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish in 2004.
It was the first and only parish assignment given to him by Bishop Gaydos.
Msgr. Kurwicki led the Cathedral parish for 14 years, making him currently that congregation’s longest-serving pastor.
He was also the first pastor of the Cathedral to have been ordained to the Priesthood there.
Under his leadership, the parish substantially increased its physical footprint on West Main Street; nearly doubled the size of its school building; purchased the former Carmelite Monastery and converted it into a rectory for six priests and a residence for the bishop emeritus; and began a $1.7 million expansion of the school’s gymnasium and performing arts center.
As pastor, Msgr. Kurwicki hosted the ordination and installation of Archbishop Shawn McKnight.
A year after being appointed Archbishop McKnight’s vicar general, Msgr. Kurwicki became the first pastor of St. Michael Parish in Russellville in many decades. He served there for five years.
He has been pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City since September 2023.
Founded by Jesuit Father Ferdinand Helias (1797-1874), a Belgian missionary known as the Apostle of Central Missouri, the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter served as the diocese’s cathedral from 1956-1968.
Archbishop McKnight was fond of noting that it was the second time Msgr. Kurwicki served as pastor of a parish that had been led by Fr. Helias — the other being St. Joseph in Westphalia.
Msgr. Kurwicki has also been the only priest to have been pastor of the former and current Cathedral.
Witness to history
Msgr. Kurwicki has held multiple diocesan offices since ordination, including as diocesan master of ceremonies for Bishop McAuliffe from 1993 to 1997.
This involved traveling to parishes throughout the diocese for special functions. In that time, Msgr. Kurwicki visited all but four parishes in the diocese.
Bishop Gaydos appointed him to serve as his priest secretary, vice chancellor and master of ceremonies. Msgr. Kurwicki continued in the first two roles for 11 years.
“That made me an eyewitness to history,” said Msgr. Kurwicki.
He said the rarest and most unusual ceremony he got to be a part of was the dedication of the new SSM-St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City.
“How often do you see a new Catholic hospital built and blessed?” he asked.
As secretary to the bishop, he oversaw preparations for the largest Mass in the diocese’s history, which was celebrated in the Hearnes Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia on Oct. 24 of the Great Jubilee Year 2000.
An estimated 4,000 people from all over the diocese attended.
As chairman of the Diocesan Jubilee Committee in 2006, he helped plan what was probably the second-largest Mass in the diocese’s history, marking the 50th anniversary of its founding.
That same year, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him a Chaplain to His Holiness, with the title Reverend Monsignor.
Walking the walk
Msgr. Kurwicki served as interim diocesan vocation director for about a year, during which time he convened the diocesan Vocation Committee.
From 2015 until Bishop Gaydos’s retirement in 2018, he served as episcopal vicar of the southern portion of the diocese, assisting the bishop and vicar general with administration of the territory south of Interstate 70.
He served concurrently as vice chancellor of the diocese from 1998 to 2018.
He also served two terms as Missouri chaplain for the Knights of Columbus and for six years as diocesan chaplain for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Archbishop McKnight appointed him vicar general in 2018 and later added the role of diocesan vicar for priests. He served in both roles before Father Christopher Cordes was appointed vicar for priests in 2022.
Msgr. Kurwicki was instrumental in Archbishop McKnight’s efforts to focus on stewardship as a way of life in Catholic families, parishes and the diocese as a whole.
He helped plan the substantial renovation, expansion and beautification of the Cathedral of St. Joseph, helped establish Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, and was involved in ongoing diocesan efforts at long-range pastoral planning, drawing people back to the Sacraments of Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation and Matrimony, reassessing the process of forming candidates for the Priesthood and the Permanent Diaconate, and helping the Church in central and northeastern Missouri navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
His roles with the diocese gave him the opportunity to accompany bishops on their canonically required ‘ad limina’ visit to Vatican City to meet with the pope.
He traveled with Bishop Gaydos to meet with Pope St. John Paul II in 2004 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, and with Archbishop McKnight to meet with Pope Francis in 2020.
His time as vicar general also included four visits to the diocese from Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who until recently was the pope’s official ambassador to the United States.
In the summer of 2021, Msgr. Kurwicki experienced a serious injury to his lower back. With much effort and physical therapy, progress is being made.
Surprise encore
Following Archbishop McKnight’s departure, Msgr. Kurwicki became the first priest of this diocese ever to serve as administrator.
“This was the most interesting of all my assignments,” he said.
In that relatively short time, he had to juggle being pastor of a large parish with a large school, organizing the diocese’s efforts for Archbishop McKnight’s transfer to Kansas City in Kansas, helping plan the funeral and burial of Bishop Gaydos, and heading up the preparations for the installation and ordination of a brand-new bishop.
At Bishop O’Donnell’s Ordination and Installation Mass, Cardinal Pierre; Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, metropolitan archbishop of the Missouri province; and Bishop O’Donnell thanked him for his efforts as administrator.
“I thought I was finished with diocesan administration after that task,” said Msgr. Kurwicki. “I was wondering when he would announce a new vicar general. And then he called and asked about temporarily picking up the ‘flaming sword’ again. I reluctantly agreed to his request so that he could have more time to obtain a better understanding of the diocese.”
“I feel honored and very happy to have served as vicar general,” he said. “But I do believe every bishop should have his own team.”
For the books
Preceding Msgr. Kurwicki as vicar general were: Father Joseph S. Corel and Monsignor Gregory L. Higley under Bishop Gaydos; the late Monsignor Michael J. Wilbers under Bishops Gaydos and McAuliffe; the late Monsignor Gerold J. Kaiser under Bishop McAuliffe; and the late Monsignor Joseph A. Vogelweid P.A. under Bishop Joseph M. Marling C.PP.S. (+1956-69).
Msgr. Kurwicki will step down as the Chancery’s last direct connection to Bishop McAuliffe, who ordained him and originally appointed him master of ceremonies, and as the last remaining priest to have been assigned to a Chancery role by Bishop Gaydos.
Someone recently asked Msgr. Kurwicki what he’ll do with all his extra “free time.”
“I told them I’m going to continue to read and collect books,” the priest stated.
Msgr. Kurwicki urges everyone in this diocese to bring to Mass and Eucharistic Adoration “multiple intentions for an increase in the vocations to the diocesan Priesthood.”
“Our priests are getting older,” he said. “At the same time, God is calling more men to the Priesthood. We have to pray for and encourage them to hear and act upon that calling.”
