Paulist fathers' 50 years in Utah included parish and missionary work in the state's rural areas

Friday, Feb. 13, 2015

(Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles that, in recognition of the Year for Consecrated Life, the Intermountain Catholic is featuring about the religious orders that contributed to the faith in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.) 

Although the priests of the Missionary Society of St. Paul (Paulists) left the Diocese of Salt Lake City over a quarter century ago, they ought to be fondly remembered for the quiet effectiveness of their priestly ministry, and the dedication that made them willing to accept difficult assignments.  

A graphic measure of their self-effacing humility is the fact that almost none of the personnel files of the 51 Paulists who ministered here contains more than a résumé sheet summarizing their education and experience, and a letter or two of appointment by the bishop. Most of the Paulists were assigned to Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Layton, which they founded in 1947 and pastored until 1988. They came, they quietly did their jobs, and they left, after dwindling vocations rendered their continued presence here untenable.

The Paulists’ earliest ministry in Utah was in the Uintah Basin. It was one of the most difficult assignments in the diocese. Bishop Joseph S. Glass had sent Father (later Bishop) Duane G. Hunt to the Basin in 1922 to explore the possibility of establishing a parish. Fr. Hunt’s report is most discouraging, largely because most of the prospective parishioners were livestock herders whose almost nomadic existence worked against the stability necessary to an effective parish. It was remote enough, too, that few priests could be found who wanted to serve there. Although the new parish in Vernal, Saint James the Greater, experienced a shaky existence until 1926, it had no resident pastor from then until 1938, when the first Paulist, Father Robert J. Murphy, arrived. Not only did the Paulists cause the Vernal parish to thrive, but they even expanded their ministry to create St. Helen Parish in Roosevelt during the five years they served in the Basin.

In 1943, the Paulists established Saint Olaf Parish in Bountiful. From that base, they covered all of Davis County and began Hill Field as a mission.

It was at St. Rose of Lima Parish, though, where the Paulists made their most enduring contribution to Utah’s Catholic history. For many years after they established the parish in 1947, there were as many as a half dozen Paulists in residence. While perhaps only a couple of them were required for the parish pastoral work, others used the rectory as a base for wide-ranging journeys throughout Utah and the West, where they preached missions to help struggling parishes become better established.  

The St. Rose of Lima rectory also became celebrated as a social center for other priests whom the Paulists entertained at dinners and parties. Fathers Frederick Draeger and Francis Diskin were among the best entertainers. Although the Paulists were, of course, members of a religious order, they took their Utah ministries to heart so enthusiastically and became so acclimated to Utah’s unique society and culture that they could often be mistaken for diocesan clergy. The native Utah priests often joked that the Paulists were “born-again Utahns.”

Nor were the Paulists’ Utah ministries limited to parish work. For example, when a Community Action Program was created in 1966 to care for some 200 migrant workers who were camped near the Layton Sugar Company, Fr. Draeger took over leadership of that and other anti-poverty programs in the area.  

Another aspect of the Paulists’ ministry in Utah began in 1974, when they, supported by funding from Mrs. Enid Cosgriff, opened St. Paul Chapel on Main Street in Salt Lake City. In addition to celebrating daily Mass and offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation as requested, the Paulists ran the Paraclete Gift Shop in the same building, but a fire and subsequent sale of the building caused the Paulists to leave after a year.  It is worth mentioning, too, that in addition to Mrs. Cosgriff’s financial support of the chapel, the Paulists received funding from the Catholic Church Extension Society for their work both in the Uintah Basin and Layton.