Holy Cross priest in Alaska wins 2005 Lumen Christi Award

Published: 2005-07-21

CHICAGO (CNS) -- The Catholic Church Extension Society announced July 14 that Holy Cross Father Leroy Clementich is the 2005 recipient of its annual Lumen Christi Award, presented for outstanding missionary work in America. Day in and day out, the priest, known as "Father Clem," is either working at one of his "desk jobs" -- as director of pastoral education and coordinator of rural ministry for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, -- or he is flying, often piloting himself, to one of a number of rural parishes around Alaska to minister to Catholics who do not have a resident pastor. Catholic Extension's president, Bishop William R. Houck, will present the award to Father Clementich in Chicago Sept. 24. With the award comes a gift of $10,000 for the priest and $25,000 for the Anchorage Archdiocese. "It's exciting to bring the word of Christ to people who don't have the opportunity to attend Mass every week," the priest said in a statement. "Sure, it's more demanding -- the towns are scattered and often inaccessible, the congregations small, the resources limited -- but it has been a very, very rewarding ministry."

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