Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Hasse headed to Houghton
THE REV. Ben Hasse speaks to parishioners and guests during the centennial anniversary of consecration at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Wakefield Sunday, Sept. 1. Hasse will leave his post at Bessemer, Wakefield and Marenisco’s Catholic churches Nov. 12 to lead churches in Houghton and Chassell.
BESSEMER — The Rev. Benjamin Hasse is leaving his post at the Roman Catholic churches of St. Sebastian in Bessemer, Immaculate Conception in Wakefield and St. Catherine in Marenisco, effective Nov. 12.
Hasse will then begin service as parochial administrator at St. Albert the Great Campus Parish in Houghton and St. Anne Parish in Chassell.
The Bessemer-Wakefield-Marenisco assignment was his first pastorate, which began about a year ago, according to the Diocese of Marquette.
Hasse was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 2009, in Marquette, by Bishop Alexander Sample at St. Peter Cathedral. He served as an associate pastor at St. Michael Parish in Marquette, before attending Mundelein Seminary in Illinois, where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology.
He was very content to serve here on the Gogebic Range. “I’m enormously grateful for the warm reception I received here, as well as the fellowship,” he said.
His new assignment is very interesting, Hasse said, and he is excited to serve in a campus ministry again, as his parishioners at St. Michael Parish included students from Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
“St. Albert’s campus ministry (serving students of Michigan Technological University in Houghton) is much bigger than St. Michael’s, with several hundred students participating each month,” Hasse said.
The Rev. Antony Lukka will replace Hasse.
Lukka has been serving in Garden, where he has been leading the parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Andrew in Nahma, and St. Mary Magdalene in Cooks for about a year.
Lukka was ordained to the priesthood on May 20, 1995. He served as assistant pastor and pastor of parishes in his native country of India, as well as serving as a post-graduate teacher in chemistry, vice principal, and principal of St. Antony’s Public School and junior college there.
Lukka and Hasse both lived at the rectory in Marquette for a time in 2011, and Hasse took him trapping.
“We have been trying to get time to sit down and talk about the transition,” said Hasse, but both have been very busy. They will focus on planning in the weeks ahead.
