Home

Dear parishioners,

Many of you know that the associate pastor at the Immaculate Conception parish has changed. You said goodbye to your dear Father Aaron and now you are saying hello to me, Father Al Volskis.

I was born on 12 October 1956 in Kaunas, Lithuania, to a family of public servants. My father was a hydrometeorological engineer, having studied in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He passed away in 1991. My mother spent her entire career as an accountant in the school system. I have a brother, 13 months my junior. He is married and has two sons, 25 and 23 years of age.

I was born and raised in a Lithuania occupied by the Soviet Union. Both my parents were practicing Catholics and fervent patriots, deeply opposed to the occupation. As a result, my entire family was always under the eye of the KGB and we were constantly persecuted for our religious beliefs and nationalistic convictions.

I felt the call to the priesthood at a very early age. We lived at my grandmother’s, my father’s mother’s, place. My brother and I did not have to go to daycare, because Grandmother would mind us when our parents went to work. (Grandmother’s husband had passed away before I was born.) She had a lot of friends, and they would visit each other.

When I was 7 or 8, Grandmother asked if I remembered what I used to tell her friends when they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told her that I could not remember. She told me that whenever anyone would ask, I always answered that I wanted to be a priest. So my vocation was longstanding from my very childhood.

Because Lithuania was occupied, everyone had to follow the dictates of the communist government. I therefore had to serve in the soviet armed forces after finishing high school. You can understand that every effort was made to indoctrinate young people into communist ideology. After serving my two years as a conscript, I entered the seminary. Along the way, there were various interruptions and hardships caused by the soviet government. I could easily write a separate chapter about each stage of my life.

I graduated from the seminary in 1985 and was ordained on 14 April of that year. I served for eight years in Lithuania and in 1993 was sent to Saint Casimir’s Lithuanian parish in Los Angeles. In 1997 I was transferred to Divine Providence Lithuanian parish in Southfield, Michigan. And from 2004 until this summer I worked at Saint Casimir’s Lithuanian parish in Montreal, Canada.

After 25 years in the priesthood, I asked permission of my bishop in Lithuania to be incardinated in the archdiocese of Detroit. Having already worked in the archdiocese, I requested His Excellency, Archbishop Allen Vigneron to accept me in his diocese. Thus starts the three-year process of incardination. I have been assigned to Immaculate Conception parish for two years.

I am very pleased and fortunate to be able to live among and work with you. I have been very warmly received by our dear pastor Father Douglas J. Terrien, the personnel of the parish and the parishioners I have so far been able to meet. I am impressed by your active parish life, especially by your ardent religious activities, the highlight of which is the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

I will participate in all parish activities to the best of my abilities and shall willingly and joyfully follow the path to salvation with you. I ask for your patience and forgiveness for my poor command of English, a weakness which I intend to overcome. As you may have noticed, I am somewhat shy and reserved and value peace and tranquility. I do not have time for television and much prefer the outdoors. I enjoy playing tennis, rollerblading and cycling. If any among you would like to join me for a game of tennis, 5 to 7 miles of rollerblading or 20 miles of cycling, I would be very grateful.

I wish you all God’s blessing, the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a pleasant summer.

With love,

Father Al