Fr. Andrew Kurz

I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in May of 1971.  I was raised in a good Catholic family and as all who seek the Lord Jesus Christ I look forward to the end of my pilgrimage of life with Hope in Him.  I have a passion for walking pilgrimages which began from a young age in my family's spiritual experiences as we made pilgrimages to Holy Hill, The National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians. I did not know it at the time, but through these pilgrimages, I was being prepared for a walking pilgrimage from the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion to the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians, which I made in October of 2013.

I owe so much to my Mom, Mary (Doyle) Kurz and Dad, Henry Kurz, who formed me in the faith and took us on those pilgrimages as part of our faith formation.  Along with them were my traveling companions during my youth: my brothers Henry, Philip, Peter, Joseph, and Thomas.  They helped me along the way, in their own ways, to me see my way to the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ.  I thank God for my family who continue to hold a very important place in my heart.

The call to make the pilgrimage of life away from my family began when I moved to Lincoln Nebraska where I found a more suitable space for my priestly formation during the 1990s.  I owe much to the Diocese of Lincoln, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, who ordained me in May of 2002, along with all the wonderful friends I made there.  In my desire to be closer to my family as my Mom and Dad came closer to the end of their life’s pilgrimage, God’s providence amazingly brought me to the Diocese of Green Bay, home of the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, in the summer of 2012.  Thanks to the welcoming heart of Bishop Ricken, I found a home here and began my service to the Green Bay Diocese in that summer of 2012.  When I came back to Wisconsin, I saw it fit to immediately thank Our Lord and Our Lady at the shrine of Our Lady of Champion.