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Our Parish Story

Our Parish Story

On August 12, 1967, the Archdiocese of Denver approved a new parish in Fort Collins, Colorado to serve Colorado State University staff, faculty, and students. Prior to this St. Joseph Catholic parish was running campus ministry in addition to a school and active family parish. The need for a dedicated parish to serve the campus was apparent. Fr. Leonard Urban became the first pastor of the then ‘Blessed’ John XXIII University Parish.

Planning and construction of a multi-use John XXIII center began and was completed in the fall of 1969. During this two-year period leading up to completion of the building, daily mass was celebrated at the rectory Fr Leonard rented and Sunday mass was held on campus.

Fr. Leonard remained the pastor of John XXIII until Fr. Tom McCormick took over from 1975-1979. Fr Tom remembers fondly the uniqueness of being the pastor of a University center. Fr. Ron Weissbeck was then assigned to John XXIII from 1979-1984. Fr Ron was remembered fondly for his dedication to prayer groups and with the lay group Jesus Caritas.

Fr. Dick Ling followed Fr Ron for a short time from 1984-1988. While his time at St. John XXIII was short, he brought the office up to date with word processing and printing equipment. Fr. Leonard Urban returned to John XXIII from 1988-1990 until Fr. Bob Amundsen became pastor in 1990. Fr Bob remained the pastor until 2002. Fr Bob built up the community and campus ministry at John XXIII during his twelve years as Pastor.

Fr. Don Willette became the pastor in 2002 and stayed at John XXIII until he retired in 2011. During this time Fr. Don continued to build up the parish and campus ministry. Fr. Don retired locally and continued to actively help at St. John XXIII and the other Northern Colorado parishes. In his retirement Fr. Don worked tirelessly to achieve a longtime goal of a chair of Catholic studies at CSU. This position was approved and official in 2018! Fr. Don passed away May 25, 2023.

Fr Rocco Porter became the pastor of Blessed John XXIII in 2011 and coined the name Ram Catholic to the campus ministry program. Fr Rocco dedicated his time at St. John XXIII to building up campus ministry and serving the students of Colorado State University. In 2014 the Parish was re-named Saint John XXIII when our Blessed Pope John XXIII was canonized. Fr Rocco remained pastor until July 2022.

Fr. Joseph Lajoie became pastor of St John XXIII in August 2022. Fr Joseph spent a few years at CSU before going to seminary which allows him to bring a new perspective to St John XXIII as pastor. He continues to grow campus ministry and is passionate about serving the students!

Campus Ministry at St. John XXIII grew over the years since 1969 to include soup suppers, ski trips, service projects, retreats, and much more. Today Ram Catholic is flourishing with programs designed to help students encounter Jesus, grow in relationship with Him and bring Him to everyone they meet.

The parish family at St. John XXIII grew with the campus ministry and today consists of dedicated individuals who partner with the clergy and staff to fulfill the mission of reaching souls on the CSU campus.

This beautiful video was created in 2018. Since its creation the world experienced a pandemic and increased inflation. As a result, St. John XXIII had to pause its efforts to build a new church. Fr Joseph Lajoie, our current pastor, hopes to relook at this possibility. Stay tuned! Also, since the making of this video Mike Demma passed away in 2020 and his funeral was celebrated at St. John XXIII (his wife remains a faithful parishioner).

Our Patron Saint

Saint John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Italy, on November 25, 1881. He graduated from University with a doctorate in theology in 1904 and was ordained to the priesthood shorty after.

Roncalli lived through and served in the Italian army during World War I. After the war he was appointed to be the Italian president of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and later the Apostolic visitor and delegate to Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. He was then made archbishop of Mesembria.

In 1935, Roncalli started using his influence to save what people he could from the depredation of both local authorities and later the Nazis. During his tenure as archbishop, Roncalli saved thousands of Jews.

After the war, Roncalli was appointed as the new papal Nuncio and sent to France to negotiate the retirement of bishops who were involved with the Nazis. Later he became the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca.

Roncalli was selected as the new Pope after the death of his predecessor on Oct 9, 1958. As Pope, he visited the sick, the poor, and prisoners. Perhaps his most influential decision was the call for an ecumenical council which would be known as Vatican II. As a result of this council, many practices of the classic Church would be altered with a new emphasis on ecumenism and a new liturgy.

On June 3, 1963, Pope John XXIII died in his bed at age 81. On September 3, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified him. Miracles were attributed to him and his body was found to be in an uncorrupted state, a phenomenon consistent with sainthood. Pope Francis approved John XXIII for canonization on June 3, 2013, the 50th anniversary of his death. St. John XXIII was canonized on April 27, 2014 his feast day is October 11.