Bishop Beckman announces priest assignments

Fr. Scholz retiring, Fr. Cummins named Sacred Heart Cathedral rector

The East Tennessee Catholic

Bishop Mark Beckman has announced assignments for several priests in the Diocese of Knoxville and the retirement from active ministry of a long-serving pastor.

The new assignments are effective July 1.

Father Michael Cummins has been named rector of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, succeeding Father David Boettner, who will be serving as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in South Pittsburg and Shepherd of the Valley Parish in Dunlap.

Father Mark Scholz, who has served as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Shepherd of the Valley for more than two decades, will be retiring effective June 21.

Father Scholz, who is 68, was named pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Shepherd of the Valley on Aug. 1, 2005. Shepherd of the Valley Church was dedicated on Dec. 16, 2006, and Father Scholz was a presider at the dedication Mass.

His pastorship also has included overseeing the Virgin of the Poor Shrine in New Hope.

Father Scholz was ordained to the priesthood on July 20, 2002, at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville by Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz. He was the 27th priest ordained in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Before being named pastor of the two Southeast Tennessee parishes, Father Scholz served as an associate pastor at St. Jude Parish in Chattanooga and All Saints Parish in Knoxville. Early in his priesthood, he also served at Our Lady of Lourdes and Shepherd of the Valley.

Father Boettner, 58, has been serving at Sacred Heart Cathedral since 2009 and was named rector on Feb. 1, 2010.

He is one of only six pastors/rectors who have served at Sacred Heart and is the longest-serving—along with Monsignor Edward Dolan—with 16 years of service there. Sacred Heart is the largest parish in the diocese and also includes a K-8 school.

Father Boettner was ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 1994, at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland by Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell.

As cathedral rector, Father Boettner oversaw construction of the new Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was dedicated on March 3, 2018, and stands as one of the newest Catholic cathedrals in the United States.

Before serving at the cathedral, Father Boettner was pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens and then pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City. Following his 1994 ordination, he was assigned as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga. He also served as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart for three years, being assigned there in August 1997.

In March 2008, Father Boettner was named moderator of the curia for the diocese, a position he held until August 2017. He also has served the diocese as a vicar general and episcopal vicar.

Other positions in which Father Boettner has served the diocese include coordinator of ongoing formation of deacons for the diocese and coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for the Cumberland Mountain and Smoky Mountain deaneries.

He currently serves the diocese as Episcopal Vicar for Special Administration, a member of the College of Consultors, a member of the Presbyteral Council, and is on the Diocesan Finance Council.

Father Cummins will become Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish’s seventh leader since the parish was founded in 1956 and its fourth rector since the diocese was established in 1988, when Sacred Heart Church was elevated to a cathedral.

In addition to pastoring the diocese’s largest parish, Father Cummins also will be leading Sacred Heart Cathedral School, one of the diocese’s largest schools.

Father Cummins, 58, is currently pastor of St. Dominic Parish and St. Dominic School in Kingsport, where he has served since July 1, 2014.

Father Cummins, a Johnson City native who attended St. Mary School there, was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1995, at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop O’Connell following completion of his studies at Mundelein Seminary.

After his ordination, Father Cummins was associate pastor at All Saints Parish in Knoxville until he was named full-time campus minister at Knoxville Catholic High School beginning with the 1999-2000 school year.

He succeeded Father Boettner as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens and has served as chaplain at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. He also was chaplain at East Tennessee State University and was named an associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Johnson City.

Other positions Father Cummins has held in the diocese are director of deaf ministry, youth ministry coordinator, director of youth ministry, associate director of vocations and director of vocations, dean of the Five Rivers Deanery, and co-chair of the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee.

He currently serves as diocesan Vicar for Priests, a member of the College of Consultors, and a member of the Presbyteral Council.

Father Boettner and Father Cummins will continue to serve in their roles as diocesan vicars.

Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, who has been pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville since July 1, 2019, has been named pastor of St. Dominic Parish and School.

Father Kuzhupil is a member of the religious order Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales. He completed his primary and secondary education as well as religious and seminary formation in his native country, India.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1985 in his home parish in Kerala, India, and has been a priest for more than 40 years. He has been in the United States since 2004 and became a U.S. citizen on Aug. 18, 2015.

After ministering in various parts of India as a missionary, Father Kuzhupil was sent by his religious order to the United States, first as chaplain at Alexian Village in Signal Mountain for five years and then as the pastor of St. Augustine Parish, also in Signal Mountain, where he was assigned on Oct. 18, 2010, and served for nine years before being assigned to Notre Dame.

He also was an associate pastor at St. Augustine and at St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut.

Father Zach Griffith is following Father Kuzhupil and will serve at Notre Dame as parochial administrator.

Father Griffith will be leaving his positions as part-time associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Johnson City and as chaplain of the Catholic Center at East Tennessee State University.

He was ordained to the priesthood on Aug. 29, 2020, at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop Richard F. Stika. He was ordained with Father Alex Hernandez, associate pastor of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, and at the time they were the 54th and 55th priests ordained in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Father Griffith’s first assignment as a priest following his ordination was as associate pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga, where he served for nearly four years before taking the Johnson City assignments.

Father Griffith’s father, Deacon Donald Griffith Jr., serves at St. Mary Parish in Johnson City.

Father Marcin “Martin” Gladysz, who has served as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral since Jan. 7, 2019, has been named pastor of St. Therese Parish in Clinton.

The assignment will be Father Gladysz’s first pastorate since he arrived in the Diocese of Knoxville in January 2019.

Father Gladysz, who was incardinated into the Diocese of Knoxville on May 19, 2020, was ordained a priest on May 18, 2002, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family in Czestochowa, Poland, which is his native country.

He was born in 1976 in Krakow, Poland, where he completed primary and secondary education. In 1995, he began his seminary studies, and in 2002 he earned a master’s degree at the Pontifical Academy of Theology (currently the Pontifical University of John Paul II) in Krakow.

He first served as an associate pastor and catechist in the parish of St. John the Baptist in Nowa Brzeznica (Archdiocese of Czestochowa). After three years of service, he went on a mission to Papua New Guinea. In 2006, he began his Papua New Guinea missionary work in the Diocese of Mendi, where he was a parish priest. In 2012, he moved from the Mendi mountain diocese to the Madang Archdiocese on the Pacific coast, where he served as a parish priest.

In 2014, Father Gladysz took a sabbatical leave, and during that time he visited the United States, where he became an associate pastor at St. Priscilla Parish in Chicago. From July to December 2018, he served as the administrator of St. Priscilla.

In the Diocese of Knoxville, Father Gladysz serves as chaplain to the Polish Catholic community and has been a member of the College of Consultors.

Father Joseph Austin, who is currently associate pastor at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa, has been named associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Elizabethton and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City as well as chaplain at ETSU.

Father Austin was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 2023, at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop Stika. He was assigned to Our Lady of Fatima on July 1, 2023, where he has continued to minister.

He will be working with St. Elizabeth and St. Anthony of Padua pastor Father Jesús Guerrero.

Father Austin attended Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, where he majored in computer science, and spent his six-year seminary formation at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana.

Father Joseph Akkara, CMI, has been appointed associate pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa.

Father Akkara is a native of Trichur, Kerala, India, and was ordained a priest on Jan. 2, 1994, as a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate. He attended major seminary at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India.

In the Kalyan Diocese in Mumbai, India, Father Akkara served as a parish priest, school headmaster, and director of an orphanage. For 11 years, he ministered in New Zealand as an English-speaking parish priest, and he established eight parish communities throughout New Zealand that he supported by celebrating Mass monthly for each one during his time there. In the Jalgaon District of India, Father Akkara again served as a parish priest and director of an orphanage.

Father Akkara arrived in the United States in November 2024 and became administrator of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in the Archdiocese of Louisville on Dec. 16, 2024, where he has continued to serve.

Father Vinod Kanattu, MSFS, has been appointed associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City.

Father Kanattu is a native of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, and is a member of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales religious congregation. He was ordained to the priesthood on Jan. 3, 2004, at Little Flower Church, Birikulam, in the Archdiocese of Tellicherry, Kerala, India.

He attended SFS Seminary in Kerala as well as Suvidya College and St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. In addition, he completed studies in electrical engineering and received his master’s degree in business administration from DeSales University in Allentown, Pa., in 2012.

From 2011-13, Father Kanattu ministered and was in residence at Assumption BVM Church in Bethlehem, Pa., in the Diocese of Allentown. He also taught at DeSales University in Allentown.

In India, Father Kanattu worked as finance administrator for SFS Institutions in Bangalore from 2004-10 and taught at SFS School and SFS Degree College in Bangalore, was associate pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Bangalore during that same time, and also has been serving in financial management with SFS Industries and SFS PU College-Kolar as well as the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales congregation.

Father Dennis Kress, who has served as pastor of St. Therese in Clinton and also St. Joseph Parish in Norris since July 1, 2023, will continue as pastor of St. Joseph while vacating his pastorate at St. Therese to Father Gladysz.

Prior to serving the Clinton and Norris parishes, Father Kress served as administrator of St. Elizabeth beginning on Aug. 1, 2002, and then as pastor of the Elizabethton parish beginning on July 1, 2003.

Before serving St. Elizabeth and St. Anthony of Padua, Father Kress was an associate pastor at St. Dominic beginning on July 14, 1999.

He was ordained a priest on June 12, 1999, at St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Cleveland by Bishop O’Connell.

Father Sam Sturm, who has pastored Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in LaFollette, Christ the King Parish in Tazewell, and St. Jude Parish in Helenwood since Oct. 1, 2020, will continue pastoring Christ the King but will vacate his assignments in LaFollette and Helenwood to Father Henry Makawa.

Father Sturm became pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Dayton on July 1, 2007, and served there until October 2020.

He was ordained a priest on June 26, 1999, at All Saints Church by Bishop O’Connell, and has served as an associate pastor at All Saints, St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Townsend, and Our Lady of Fatima.

In turn, Father Makawa will be leaving his assignments as associate pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Shepherd of the Valley, where he has been assigned since Jan. 1 and has been in residence at St. Augustine in Signal Mountain.

Father Makawa will serve as parochial administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in LaFollette and St. Jude in Helenwood. He has taken part in the University of Tennessee Medical Center’s Clinical Pastoral Education program beginning in December 2023, and on March 2, 2024, was granted faculties to serve as needed at Our Lady of Fatima, where he was in residence.

Father Makawa comes to the Diocese of Knoxville from Nigeria, where he was an extern priest in the Diocese of Dedza. He was ordained on July 17, 2010.

Father Andres Cano has been named pastor of St. Catherine Labouré Parish in Copperhill.

Father Cano has been serving as chaplain of Hispanic Ministry at Holy Trinity Parish in Jefferson City and Notre Dame Parish in Greene-ville since Sept. 9, 2020. He also has been serving as chaplain for the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, a cloistered contemplative religious order in New Market, since that date.

Father Cano was ordained a priest on June 13, 2009, at Our Lady of Carmel Church in his native Pereira, Colombia, by Bishop Stika.

He was named associate pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish on July 15, 2019, where he served before his service in Jefferson City, Greene-ville, and New Market.

His previous assignments include serving as associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gatlinburg, as pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Pigeon Forge, and as associate pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral and St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge. He also has served as chaplain to the Hispanic community of St. Alphonsus in Crossville.

In addition, he has been the diocese’s primary bilingual substitute priest.

Father Bede Aboh will succeed Father Cano as chaplain of Hispanic Ministry at Holy Trinity and chaplain of the Handmaids of the Precious Blood as he vacates his current position as associate pastor at St. Dominic Parish.

Father Aboh has been serving at St. Dominic since June 1, 2024. Prior to that, he served as chaplain of the Catholic Center at ETSU from July 1, 2015-May 31, 2024, and as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge from July 1, 2011-June 30, 2015.

Following his Aug. 13, 1988, ordination as a priest, Father Aboh served as a chaplain with Alexian Brothers in Signal Mountain. He joined the Diocese of Knoxville priesthood in September 2008, when he was incardinated. In July 2006, he was assigned to St. John Neumann Parish as an associate pastor, then in November 2008, he was named pastor of Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa, and St. Francis of Assisi in Townsend.

He also served as pastor of St. Catherine Labouré and associate pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Madisonville.

Father Jerry Daniels has been appointed full-time chaplain at Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton. He will be vacating his current position as pastor of St. Catherine Labouré, where Father Cano will be ministering.

Father Daniels came to the Diocese of Knoxville from the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., and, in addition to St. Catherine Labouré, has served as parochial administrator and parochial vicar of St. Francis of Assisi in Townsend.

Father Tom Moser is relocating from St. Catherine Labouré to Holy Cross Parish in Pigeon Forge, where he will be in residence.

Father Moser retired from active ministry on Sept. 9, 2020, but continued to serve St. Catherine Labouré in weekday ministry. He was pastor of the Copperhill parish from 2014 to 2019, when he was appointed associate pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga. Prior to that, he was associate pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Cleveland.

Father Moser was ordained a priest on June 11, 1994, by Bishop O’Connell at St. Leo Church in St. Paul, Minn., where Father Moser was born. Father Moser has served in several diocesan assignments, including as associate pastor at St. Dominic, St. Stephen in Chattanooga, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Our Lady of Fatima, and All Saints, and as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and Shepherd of the Valley.

In a continuation of out-of-state ministry roles, Father Brent Shelton will continue to provide pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Tyler in Texas for three additional years.

And Father Michael Maples will continue to serve at Conception Seminary College in Missouri for an additional year as he transitions into the position of director of counseling services for the seminary college.

Father Shelton, a Texas native, was first assigned to St. Mary Parish in Johnson City in 2001 as an associate pastor. In August 2002, he was assigned to All Saints Parish. Then in July 2004, he became an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral, and in August 2005, he was named associate pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville. In November 2008, he became associate pastor of Our Lady of Fatima.

Father Shelton’s first appointment as pastor began in March 2012 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Townsend. He was first appointed to St. Francis of Assisi in July 2011 as parochial administrator. He served in the Blount County parish until he was named pastor of St. Mary Parish and School in Oak Ridge in July 2015, where he served until taking a leave of absence in 2023.

He was ordained a priest on June 16, 2001, at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop Kurtz. Among the additional roles he has served in the diocese are as dean of the Cumberland Mountain Deanery and as a member of the Diocesan Consultors and the Presbyteral Council.

Father Maples served as an associate pastor at St. John Neumann, and he was a licensed psychologist who provided counseling to adult individuals and couples at Catholic Charities of East Tennessee before going to Conception Seminary College in August 2025.

He was ordained to the priesthood on July 1, 2005, at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop Kurtz. Previously, he has served as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission in Seymour.

Father Maples has bi-ritual faculties to celebrate the sacraments for Byzantine Catholics. He also is a Benedictine oblate of St. Meinrad Archabbey.

Deacon Daniel Cooper, who will be ordained a priest on June 6 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, has been appointed associate pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade.

Deacon Cooper has completed his studies at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.