Msgr. Bussen to serve Christ the King Parish

Intermountain Catholic

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LOGAN — Monsignor Robert Bussen will become the pastor of Christ the King Parish in Cedar City and its five associated missions beginning Aug. 1.

He is currently at Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Logan.

Fr. Bob, as he prefers to be called, recently returned from a sabbatical and has been filling in at Saint Thomas Aquinas in Logan. He has been a priest for more than 35 years. He was pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City from 1994 to 2010, served as administrator of Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden in 1994, served as vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City from 1986 to 1994, and Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Logan from 1977 to 1986.

Fr. Bob spent 16 years at St. Mary of the Assumption and has a great affection for it, he said. "When I arrived we were still in the little church (in downtown Park City) and just beginning the process of building the new church," he said. "So the early years there were very exciting through the building process. The last 10 years were consumed with building the community and caring for all the guests and visitors. Then the last two years were always a challenge because of the economic downturn."

In his new assignment, Fr. Bob will travel to the different missions as pastor, but he was accustomed to working with mission communities as pastor of Saint Lawrence Mission in Heber City. Also, as vicar general, he traveled to the missions on weekends and is very familiar with them.

"Similarly to Heber City, Cedar City has a thriving thrift store and I’ve worked with those for many years," Fr. Bob said.

Fr. Bob also has experience working with college students. Cedar City has a campus ministry and, during his years in Logan, Fr. Bob enjoyed working with campus ministry and the college students. "During my nine years in Logan, it was all campus ministry," he said.

"I am very much looking forward to moving to Cedar City," Fr. Bob said. "I’ve always thought Cedar City and its people were wonderful."

Fr. Bob likes to ski and Brian Head Ski resort is only about an hour’s drive from Cedar City. "There is excellent mountain biking not too far away and excellent hiking not too far away," he said. "There are a lot of wonderful reasons why Cedar has become such a nice place."

"I’ve also had a wonderful experience here in Logan since I returned from my sabbatical," said Fr. Bob. "It has been nice to return to so many of my friends. I will be a couple of months at Saint Ann’s (in Salt Lake City) prior to going to Cedar City. It’s been a very nice year and I’m looking forward to settling down again."

Fr. Bob’s sabbatical contained three elements: time for prayer and reflection, time for studies and time for leisure and travel. "I broke my sabbatical into those three parts. The Camino de Santiago in Spain was my prayer journey, my studies at the University of La Verne in the Czech Republic was my theological reflection, then in January I went to New Zealand for travel and leisure," he said.

Fr. Bob said the Camino left its mark on him. "The Camino is much about trusting in God and being able to let go of things that aren’t important, and I hope that I can continue to do that," he said. "Secondly I think I learned from the Camino that our path as the Catholic people is a journey with the people as much if not more than with the faith. That is a very good thing to keep in mind while I’m here in Logan, when I go to St. Ann and to Christ the King."