New St. Patrick's pastor

Friday, May. 20, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Fr. Anastasius Iwuoha has been assigned to Saint Patrick Parish, effective Aug. 1.

Born in Nigeria, Fr. Iwuoha and his seven siblings recited the rosary daily with their mother.

“I can even say that it is that devotion that is at the root of my vocation as a priest,” he said. “I’ve found in [the Virgin Mary] my support and my strength.”

His father was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; when Fr. Iwuoha started a First Friday celebration at Immaculate Conception Parish in Copperton, he dedicated it to the Sacred Heart.

His call to the priesthood came early. At the age of 11 he entered the minor seminary and continued to the major seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1994 in Holy Trinity Parish in Umuma, Nigeria by Bishop Gregory O. Ochiagha.

After serving for a year as assistant secretary in the bishop’s house, he was assigned as pastor of a parish; during those five years he also was the chaplain for the diocese’s Charismatic Renewal. He then was sent to Cleveland, Ohio, where he earned a master’s degree in education. Following that, he was invited by the bishop of Juneau, Alaska, to serve in that diocese for five years.

In 2006 he came to Salt Lake City to attend the Clinical Pastoral Education training program, and requested permission to serve in this diocese. After a year at Saint Thomas More Parish in Sandy, he was assigned as chaplain at St. Joseph Villa, a nursing home in Salt Lake City. He also assists on weekends at the University of Utah Medical Center and Primary Children’s Hospital, celebrates Mass for the Carmelite nuns at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Holladay, and is pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish. 

“Fr. Anastasius has been most generous in covering perhaps the most diverse of all assignments in the diocese,” said Msgr. Colin F. Bircumshaw, diocesan administrator. “The three locations are significantly separated by urban driving distance, and each demands a very different type of ministry.  The first is a large multi-facility nursing home, St. Joseph Villa, which involves a continuum of care from those in independent living to those on hospice care. He has provided this ministry for 10 years, since his arrival in August of 2006. The second is a small but vibrant and historically significant parish: Immaculate Conception Parish in Copperton, Utah where he has served since January of 2010 for sacramental ministry, and more recently as administrator. And the third is the very unique ministry to the cloistered Discalced Carmelite nuns at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery in Holladay. He has done all this very generously and cheerfully. Seldom if ever have I seen him without a smile on his face.”

Fr. Iwuoha says he doesn’t smile all the time – there are occasions when the weight of the demands of his ministry takes its toll, “but I try to keep up good spirits.” 

Working with the elderly at St. Joseph Villa helps in this regard, he said; many of the residents “are very vibrant. Instead of feeling down, they actually cheer you up.” 

He also has discovered “that being with people in this stage of their life is the most fulfilling thing you can do. I think it gives me some joy and some fulfillment. … You are with somebody at that point when they need God most in their life. It brings fulfillment.”

Looking forward to his new assignment, he says he hopes he and the parish community “are going to work together in harmony, that all of us are going to bring in our best for the faith, because what we are doing is to spread the Gospel, … evangelizing and supporting each other to grow in the faith and build the parish family.”

 To do that, he plans to take time to learn how the parish is organized, learn about the parishioners and staff individually and then “hopefully, as times goes, join hands in building the place,” he said. “Things will work well when people join hands and come out and do ministries that help the body move forward.”