Diocese of Covington - Messenger at 402 E. 21st Street, Covington, KY 41015 US - Pastor of St. Timothy says priesthood has been 'a real gift'

Father Richard Bolte, Msgr. William Neuhaus and Father George Panthananickal, C.M.I., this year are observing their 25th anniversaries of their ordination to the priesthood. They join the other jubilarians, Father Robert Reinke and Father Robert Urlage (50th anniversaries), and Father Raymond Hartman (40th). Father Bolte is the last to be profiled in the Messenger.

The ministry of Father Richard Bolte, ordained in 1983, can be divided roughly in half. For the first 10 years he focused on the needs of students at Holy Cross District High School, Latonia. For the first two years he taught religion part time and served at St. Cecilia Church, Independence, but his role expanded. He became a full-time religion teacher and, soon after, head of the guidance and counseling department. (During a sabbatical from his seminary training he earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Xavier University, Cincinnati.)

In 1993 he began a full-time ministry at a parish, as associate at St. Paul Church, Florence. Two years later he was appointed pastor of Corpus Christi Church, Newport, the beginning of a 10-year span as pastor in the northern Campbell County city. He was also briefly sacramental minister at Our Savior Church, Covington and chaplain at Newport Central Catholic High School.

In 1997 he became pastor of a new parish, Holy Spirit, formed from four parishes in Newport, including Corpus Christi. He admits that the merger process was a big challenge for him and the parishioners, but “I am impressed with how well they came through it all. I think most people, once it was over, would have agreed that we were better off combined rather than separate. Of course, no one saw that at the time.”
When, in 2005, he was appointed pastor of St. Timothy Church, Union, one of the diocese’s newest and largest suburban parishes, he was delighted to find that the parish already had a very active ministry to parishes and schools in the diocese’s urban areas, such as to the St. Augustine Outreach Center in Covington’s City Heights neighborhood. For a long time he has had a “particular interest in working in urban areas with the poor.”

“One of the things I really like about (St. Timothy) is that it has a really active outreach ministry. A challenge for any suburban church is to remember that call to service, to serve not just as individuals but as a parish,” he said.

Father Bolte’s family lived in Erlanger and attended St. Henry Church. He attended St. Henry elementary school, Elsmere, and graduated from Covington Latin School. He attended St. Pius X Seminary, Christ the King Seminary near Buffalo, New York, and Catholic University on Washington, D.C.
As a youngster he said he thought about being a priest and became more confirmed in his vocation through the influence of two priests, one at his parish and another at the Latin School.

“I feel my time as a priest has been a real gift, and I’ve really been blessed by the people that I have worked with in the parishes and the school. A lot of things really came together that enriched my faith through what they were doing. The biggest thing I notice is how much they were part of making me who I am as a priest today.”

What he enjoys most as a priest is “sharing the life with the people. I don’t mean by that just doing things together, but life at a deeper level, what life is really about for people as they grow and, especially oddly enough, when they struggle. We encounter more of what life is about when life isn’t easy and we have to say what really matters. I find that to be particularly meaningful and growthful experience for me. … Even though they may be thankful to me, I find that what they share has been inspiring and challenging and, ultimately, a gift for me.”

To any young man contemplating a priestly vocation Father Bolte says the priesthood “changes your life and brings out the best in you, I really think, if you let it. I really can’t imagine any other path I could have taken that has brought me to where I am today.”

His favorite hobby, photography, is another gift he brings wherever he goes. He photographs a lot of parish activities, and the results are often used on the parish website, in weekly bulletins and monthly newsletters, and for displays in the church’s gathering space. He occasionally matches a shot with a scriptural quote to give as a gift.

“I heartily congratulate Father Bolte on the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood,” said Bishop Roger Foys, “and thank God for the gift he is to our diocese. He has served the Lord and the parishioners of our diocese in many ways.

“In my time here as bishop, Father Bolte has always been most accommodating and willing to accept whatever responsibilities I have asked him to undertake. He has a great love for the poor and ministered faithfully in our urban area before I asked him to take up the pastorate at St. Timothy. His willingness to be of service wherever needed is a witness to his faith and his trust in God. I pray God will bless him as he continues to serve in the name of the Lord.”

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