Archbishop Bernard Hebda recently announced that three priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are going to the Diocese of Crookston for three-year assignments to help establish a community of the Companions of Christ.

The Companions of Christ is a fraternity of priests — currently all within the archdiocese — who support each other through intentional living and communal prayer.

Father Peter Williams, pastor of St. Ambrose in Woodbury and moderator of the Companions, and Father David Blume, the director of vocations for the archdiocese who will soon leave that role to go to Crookston, spoke with “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley.

Father Williams told Conley that Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who served as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese from 2013 to 2021 before being named bishop of Crookston, made the request of Archbishop Hebda to move the Companions to his diocese.

“Bishop Cozzens was a founding member of the Companions of Christ,” Father Williams said. “He had such an influence on really forming kind of the next generation of companions.”

In addition to Father Blume, Father Josh Salonek from St. John Neumann in Eagan and Father Thomas Niehaus from the communities at Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery, St. Patrick in Shieldsville and St. Canice in Kilkenny will go to Crookston.

Father Williams said that the call to Crookston align with his own hopes for the expansion of the Companions.

“We feel joyful about this because we feel the Lord’s been leading us to want to share our life and be missionaries with it,” Father Williams said. “The request sort of made our hearts sing, not just to be missionaries anywhere, but to be missionaries with a shepherd who knows us from within, who is one of us as well.”

Father Blume said that he hopes that the Companions can offer the group’s support and fraternity to priests outside of the archdiocese. The assignments to Crookston are set for July 1.

“Priests are very busy, and you have to be intentional,” he said. “You have a meal together, you laugh, you talk about what’s going on and you pray together … there’s just good and beautiful brotherhood, good fraternity that happens.”

To hear Father Blume and Father Williams talk more about the Companions of Christ and their hopes for the priests’ move to Crookston, tune into “Practicing Catholic” when it airs at 9 p.m. March 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, or when it repeats at 1 p.m. March 2 and 2 p.m. March 3.     

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes a discussion with Hill-Murray hockey coach Bill Lechner as he reflects on his coaching career and Catholic faith after 600 career wins. Also on the show, Deacon Charles Bobertz shares about his upcoming free lectures on the rich Eucharistic tradition of the Church.

Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.