Celebrating 47 Years & many more to come!

Fr Paul Wachdorf

This past Saturday marked the 47th Anniversary for Fr Paul Wachdorf on his ordination into the priesthood. We are blessed to have such a wonderful man serving our community and want to wish him many more years of blessing God’s people. 

Fr. Paul Wachdorf hails from the South side of Chicago. He attended St. Justin Martyr Parish School, Quigley High School Seminary South, and Niles College of Loyola University where he received a B.S. in Psychology. He attended Mundelein Seminary, received a Master of Divinity degree, and was ordained a priest on May 14, 1975. Fr. Paul’s first priestly assignment was at St. John Fisher Parish from 1975-1981. In 1981 he was appointed to the formation faculty of Mundelein Seminary. During his tenure at Mundelein Seminary, Fr. Paul served as Associate Dean of Formation, spiritual director, Director of Spiritual Life and Prayer Formation, and served as a weekend associate at Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Parish in Winnetka. He has also received a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University. He was named pastor of St. Gregory the Great Church in July 2007 and retired as the Pastor Emeritus of St. Gregory the Great in September 2020. In retirement, Fr. Paul is the Coordinator of Spiritual Direction for the priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, which includes recruiting/resourcing spiritual directors and being a contact for priests seeking a spiritual director. Currently, Fr. Paul lives in Lake Zurich and has been helping out at St. Francis de Sales since December of 2020.

We love you Fr Paul!

Farewell to Fr Bradley Zamora - Thank you for all you have blessed us with!

Dear St. Francis de Sales Family, 

It has been an absolute joy to journey with you these last five months. Gosh, you are such an amazing parish and a true community of disciples. I am so grateful that the Spirit led me to assist with the sacramental life of your parish and be a fellow disciple on the journey. I know that you continue to navigate this moment of uncertainty but your resilient faith in our Risen Lord will continue to give you hope and trust. 

I wanted to share that Cardinal Cupich has asked me to take leave of my ministry and teaching at the seminary and become the new Director and Chaplain of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University. I am very excited for this new path ahead of me and I am looking forward to being able to journey with the many students of Northwestern University and also the greater community who make up the family of faith that is the Sheil Catholic Center. 

This new ministry, however, means that I will be saying “farewell” to my St. Francis de Sales family at the end of May, at least on a regular basis. You all have really filled my heart in so many ways since I arrived to “help out.” You embraced me as a member of your community and have uplifted me in so many varied ways and have allowed me to pray with you and for you. I’ll forever be grateful for the time we shared with one another. 

Please pray for me, for Mundelein Seminary and for the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University. 

On the Journey Together, 

Fr. Bradley bzamora@archchicago.org