Priest leaving parish in Sewickley

For the third time in four years, the pastor of St. James Church in Sewickley is leaving the post.

The Rev. Ed Wichman will leave the parish June 25 to become pastor of Ave Maria Parish in Bentleyville, Washington County. He said Friday that he plans to announce the move to parishioners this weekend.

Wichman has been St. James' pastor for about a year. He angered some church members last month when he fired longtime associate music director Mary Lynn Pleczkowski because she is married to a priest affiliated with a church the Vatican does not recognize.

Neither Wichman nor the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, would say why Wichman is leaving.

He is the fifth priest to move from St. James since 2002, when the church's parochial vicar, the Rev. Bill Hausen, was transferred to Sacred Heart Parish in Shadyside because of remarks he made during an Easter homily.

Hausen advocated active discussion of ordaining women and the marriage of priests, telling parishioners that they should make their voices heard if they are angered by the state of the Catholic Church.

Later in 2002, the St. James pastor, the Rev. Ray Rhoden, resigned unexpectedly. Church officials declined to discuss the move, calling it a personnel matter. He never was reassigned.

Rhoden was replaced by the Rev. Al Semler, who served as St. James pastor until May 2005. Another parochial vicar, the Rev. Sean Malarkey, left the priesthood last year, St. James members said.

Pastoral appointments typically last six years and are sometimes renewed, Lengwin said. There are many circumstances that can either lengthen or shorten appointments, he said.

"There is a shortage of priests," Lengwin said. "We have 14 priests in the diocese who have two parishes."

St. James parish council member George Berry declined to comment on Wichman's departure. Pleczkowski could not be reached for comment.

Wichman has been a priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese for 25 years, previously serving as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Verona.

St. James has about 5,000 members.