Shepherd&#039;s Slant

January 6, 2026

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

I pray each of you will experience a joy filled New Year, a new start and a new beginning. Many will make New Year’s resolutions on how we might better our lives and our interactions with others. We believe in new beginnings. Each time we enter the confessional and open our hearts to God seeking His mercy and forgiveness, we experience a new start and a new beginning. We can seek God’s grace to live our lives in greater imitation of the One who taught us how best to live our lives. Jesus modeled for us how to serve, how to forgive, and how to love. Through His grace we continue to seek to live as he taught us how to live. May this new year of 2026 be filled with choicest blessings and a deepening of our life in Christ and may you persevere in your desire to grow closer to the Lord this year.

Earlier this week, we celebrated a Mass of Resurrection for Sr. Carolyn Nicolai, FSP at St. Pius X Church in Tucson. Sr. Carolyn was a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace and throughout her life, she was a peacemaker. She grew up on the east coast and became a skilled secretary after which she entered the convent. Sr. Carolyn was loved by so many because she loved so many. Her ministry of late was to care for the elderly. Along with Fr. Angelo Mastria O.Carm they celebrated Mass at a number of nursing homes and assisted in prison Masses. Sr. Carolyn would play the guitar and sing as Fr. Angelo celebrated the Mass.

It brought comfort and support to so many throughout Tucson. Sr. Carolyn was a larger-than-life person always intent on what she could do for you, how she could help and comfort you. Fr. Thomas Kreiser preached the homily. Sr. Carolyn taught him in grade school. Like many religious women, they began their ministry as teachers and later in life were involved in other important ministries She was someone you remembered and she remembered you. May she rest in peace for a life well lived. Our religious women throughout the Diocese have been such a marvelous example of what it means to serve. We have all benefitted from their ministries among us.

We also remember Sr. Claire Renquin who went home to the Lord on January 1, 2026. She was a member of the Trappistine community, a contemplative community of Cistercian nuns in Sonoita. She died at 98. She had contracted Bronchitis on Christmas Eve, and it quickly escalated such that she did not survive.

Her Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated on January 8 at Santa Rita Abbey in Sonoita.
The Trappestine Sisters in Sonoita are a group of very talented women who pray for our Diocese regularly. They are a blessing and gift to our Diocese. Sr. Mother Victoria Murray serves as the Superior.

Last Sunday I had the joy of celebrating a Mass at St Augustine Cathedral at 12:00 pm marking the closure of the Jubilee Year of Hope called for by Pope Francis.

Jubilee Years are celebrated every 25 years. This was the 27th Ordinary Jubilee since its beginning in 1300. Pope Francis, amid a world troubled by violence, war, starvation and hunger, called us to be Pilgrims of Hope always trusting that our God walks with us and never abandons us. The Jubilee Year marked the 2,025th anniversary since the Incarnation of Christ and the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

Jubilee Years are marked by pilgrimages and an opportunity to walk through the Holy Doors of the four major basilicas in Rome, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran and, St. Peter’s. A number of people from our diocese made pilgrimages to Rome during the year including a group of diocesan pilgrims whom Sr. Lois, Deacon Al Gallardo and his wife, Anna, our Chancellor and I accompanied.

It was for the occasion of Permanent Deacons traveling to Rome for the Jubilee. A second pilgrimage from the Diocese was a group of young people from the Diocese who traveled for the Jubilee for Youth.

The young people accompanied by Fr. Manu Franco, Fr. Luis Pablo Ochoa-Escarrega, Brother Matthew Chiantello from San Miguel, Deacon Carlos Nagore and Sr. Maria Teresa of Yuma Catholic were in Rome at the time of the death and burial of Pope Francis.

They put together a time capsule containing mementos of their pilgrimage that will be opened by the next generation. I blest the time capsule and it was buried later in the day.

This week bishops from Region XIII which includes Phoenix, Gallup, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Reno, Salt Lake City and Cheyenne are on retreat at the Redemptorist Renewal Center here in Tucson. It is a directed retreat in which bishops have an opportunity to work daily with a spiritual director to assist in their journey toward holiness. It is also an opportunity for fraternity and personal sharing. I am grateful to several of our Redemptorist Fathers who are assisting as spiritual directors for the week. Please pray for them.

There is great excitement over the announcement by Pope Leo of our eighth bishop for the Diocese of Tucson. Bishop-elect James Misko, a priest of the Diocese of Austin, Texas. He was well received during his first visit to the Diocese just before Christmas. He is enthusiastic to begin his ministry among us. His ordination and installation will take place on Friday, February 20 beginning at 2:00 pm in St. Augustine Cathedral preceded by Solemn Vespers at the Cathedral at 5:30 pm the evening of February 19. Vespers are open to anyone, but tickets are required for the Ordination and Installation since seating is limited. Plans are already underway for these historic celebrations.

Bishop-elect Misko will visit Tucson before his ordination to finalize plans and arrangements. After his ordination he hopes to visit the various Vicariates of the Diocese which covers 43,000 square miles.

In fact, Bishop-elect Misko plans to travel to Yuma just after his ordination as a bishop to confirm young people from Immaculate Conception and also St. Francis of Assisi parishes in Yuma as well as to join the area’s Knights of Columbus for their clergy appreciation night and to celebrate the Rite of Election for candidates in the Yuma region who are preparing for baptism or to receive Confirmation and First Communion. I know he will quickly come to love the Yuma area communities.

We welcome a new priest in our Diocese, Fr. Dominic Tarkighir. He comes to us from the Archdiocese of Makurdi in Nigeria. He has been staying at St. Francis de Sales Parish during his orientation to the Diocese after which he will receive his first assignment in the Diocese. I pray he will quickly come to be at home among us. We are expecting three other priests, one from Makurdi as well as two from the Via Christi Community in the near future.

Last Friday I invited the priests of the Diocese to come together for a holiday dinner. More than 60 priests enjoyed some time together, relaxing after the rush of the holidays. Pope Leo XIV wrote in a recent document titled, “A Fidelity that Generates a Future” commemorating the 60th anniversary of two conciliar documents Optatam Totius and Presbiterorum Ordinis on the priesthood.

In that document Pope Leo reminded the priests of the importance of priestly fraternity and of the value of coming together to support one another. The vast geography of our Diocese makes it difficult for priests to come together but Pope Leo asks priests to prioritize the need for fraternity. He encourages them to work together, pray together, learn together and enjoy time together. True fraternity means that we know each other’s names, when one priest succeeds, we all succeed, when one priest fails, we all fall short. Fraternity means holding one another in prayer as well as finding ways to share in one another’s ministry.

We received word from Stonebridge Business Partners, the organization that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is contracted with to collect and review each diocese’s child and youth protection program, that the Diocese of Tucson passed its recent audit by Stonebridge and that the Diocese is in full compliance with the Charter for protection of child and young people. I know this reflects the hard work of our parishes and schools as well as their compliance officers and pastors. I am deeply grateful to Alicia Corti and the Diocesan Office of Child, Adolescent, and Adult Protection (OCAAP) for all the hard and meticulous work required to earn this positive audit report. Our next Diocesan Audit will be in July 2026 with an Onsight review in 2027.

Please remember in your prayers Deacon David Caballero and his wife Melinda from San Martin de Porres in Sahuarita. Deacon David underwent surgery this week at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson. We pray for his recovery.

Join me in wishing Monsignor Raul Trevizo a happy 75th birthday today, January 6. Monsignor Trevizo has been a priest for 37 years in the Diocese of Tucson. Born in Ray, and and raised in Hayden he spent ten years teaching in the Tucson Unified School District before entering the seminary. Monsignor Trevizo has been a blessing to the Diocese as Vicar for Hispanic Affairs and serving parishioners at St. John the Evangelist since 1993. Congratulations, Monsignor!

As always, I thank you for your support and prayers.

Yours in Christ,
Most. Rev. Gerald Kicanas