Forty-two priests of the Diocese of Peoria are receiving new assignments in appointments affecting dozens of parishes and institutions.

The full list of appointments made by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, can be found here. Meanwhile, first assignments for the four new priests to be ordained this Saturday, May 26, will appear following their ordination Mass.

Bishop Jenky has granted two priests senior status — Msgr. Albert Hallin, PA, and Father Gerald Verdun. A story on Father Verdun, 70, appears
here. An interview with Msgr. Hallin, 83, who is recuperating from a medical procedure and has served the diocese for more than five decades, will appear in a future issue of The Catholic Post.

Nineteen parishes and missions will receive new pastors, including:
St. Theresa, Alexis; Sacred Heart, Campus; St. Matthew’s, Champaign; St. Thomas More, Dalzell; St. Mary’s, Delavan; St. Monica’s, East Peoria; St. Joseph’s, Hopedale; St. Joseph’s, Ivesdale; St. Hyacinth’s, LaSalle; St. Patrick’s, LaSalle; Immaculate Conception, Monmouth; St. Paul’s, Odell; St. Joseph’s, Pekin; St. Vincent de Paul, Peoria; St. Patrick’s, Raritan; Sacred Heart, Rutland; St. Patrick’s, Seneca; St. Boniface, Seymour; and St. Ann’s, Toluca.

Several other parishes have been assigned temporary administrators.

New chaplains have been named for Peoria Notre Dame High School and Schlarman Academy in Danville. Meanwhile, Msgr. Mark Merdian has been appointed president of Peoria Notre Dame, succeeding Msgr. William Watson, who will continue as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Peoria Heights.

Three priests of the diocese have been released for service outside the diocese. Msgr. Jason Gray will assist at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome; Father Michael Driscoll has been released to Societas Matris Dolorosissimae in Tulsa, Okla.; and Father Attilio Morelli will return to the Neocatechumenal Way in Newark, N.J.

Returning to the diocese after an assignment with Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minn., is Father Antonio Dittmer, who will serve as pastor of the LaSalle parishes as well as St. Thomas More, Dalzell. The diocese is welcoming Father Hans Slonder, OFM Conv., a newly ordained priest of the Conventual Franciscans, and Father Paolo Tanzini, from duties with the Neocatechumanal Way in Newark, N.J.

On the diocesan level, Msgr. James Kruse, vicar general, will assume two duties formerly held by Msgr. Gray — judicial vicar of the marriage tribunal and episcopal vicar for consecrated life. In a move announced several months ago, Msgr. Timothy Nolan will succeed Msgr. Charles Beebe, PA, as episcopal vicar of the permanent diaconate, effective June 1.

Background information on the priests involved in these appointments will appear online in the coming days.