SANFORD/LIMERICK — With the retirement of The Rev. Albert R. Colpitts from his post as administrator of St. Matthew Parish in Limerick, The Rev. Philip Tracy, Pastor of St. Thérѐse of Lisieux Parish in Sanford, is taking on additional responsibilities.

Bishop Robert Deeley of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has announced that Tracy, the pastor of the Sanford parish since 2012, will become pastor at St. Matthew.

Diocesan spokesman Dave Guthro said that the change has been part of the planning since 2006, when Maine’s Catholic parishes were reorganized a decade ago.

“As part of the cluster plan developed by the diocese in 2006, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Matthew parishes were to be shepherded under the care of one pastor, with the assistance of a parochial vicar, upon the retirement of Fr. Albert B. Colpitts,” said Guthro.

Colpitts, who became administrator of St. Matthew in 2006, will retire from active ministry Sept. 1, said Guthro. 

Tracy, pastor of Holy Family and Notre Dame churches in Sanford and Springvale, will have help.

The Rev. John Dickinson, who served as parochial vicar at Good Shepard Parish from 2013 until 2015, when he departed to  pursue advanced studies at the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.  

A parochial vicar, explained Guthro, is a priest who is assigned to assist the pastor in the pastoral ministry of a parish and were previously called associate pastors.

 “As co-workers, the pastor and parochial vicar (s) carry out the functions of teaching, sanctifying and leading the people of their respective parishes,” Guthro said.

In addition to his duties as parochial vicar for St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish and St.Matthew Parish, Dickinson will also serve in the Tribunal for the Diocese of Portland, which is the court of the bishop that adjudicates ecclesiastical judicial cases, including marriage annulment cases. A graduate of Marshwood High School in South Berwick, he was ordained as a priest in 2011.

Tracy, known in Sanford as “Father Phil,” is a South Portland native and was ordained as a priest in 1988. He has served in various locations, including as chaplain at Bates College, from which he graduated.

In addition to his parish assignments,  Tracy served as the state chaplain for the Knights of Columbus from 2006 to 2016 and was an elected member of the Diocesan Council of Priests. In August of 2016, he was named vicar forane for Vicariate VI (St. Thérѐse of Lisieux Parish, Sanford; Holy Spirit Parish, Wells; St. Matthew Parish, Limerick; Parish of the Ascension of the Lord, Kittery).

Colpitts, a Biddeford native, was ordained in 1972 and has served as pastor in parishes around the state. His most recent assignment prior to coming to Limerick in 2006 came in 1998, when he was named pastor at St. Christopher Parish in York. 

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.