SOUTH PORTLAND/CAPE ELIZABETH — Bishop Robert Deeley has appointed a new pastor and new parochial vicar at St. Bartholomew Parish in Cape Elizabeth and St. John & Holy Cross Parish in South Portland.
Fr. John D. Dickinson will begin his new role as pastor for the parishes on Aug. 1, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. He has been judicial vicar in the Diocese of Portland since 2018.
Additionally, Fr. Peter Shaba has been appointed vicar at St. Bartholomew Parish in Cape Elizabeth and St. John & Holy Cross Parish, also effective on Aug. 1.
“A graduate of Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Fr. Dickinson earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Providence College in Rhode Island and completed his clerical studies at the Theological College at The Catholic University of America,” said the Diocese of Portland. “He was ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 2011, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
“In June of 2011, Fr. Dickinson was appointed parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Waterville. In August of 2013, he was named parochial vicar at Good Shepherd Parish in Saco, where he served until departing for Washington, D.C., to pursue advanced studies at the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America in August of 2015. He returned in September of 2017 to serve at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish and St. Matthew Parish as well as in the Tribunal.”
Shaba is currently parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Bridgton and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Norway, said the Diocese of Portland.
“Fr. Shaba is a member of the Society of African Missions (SMA), an international community of missionaries founded in France in 1856,” said the Diocese. “Their first evangelization is the proclamation of the Gospel to those who have not yet heard, especially the poor and most abandoned. SMA missionaries first established a presence in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century when Fr. Ignatius Lissner, SMA, a native of Alsace in France, came to North America to raise funds for the SMA’s missions in Africa. He quickly saw America as a potential mission territory.”
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