{mosimage}Father John Corredato, CSV, the last Viatorian serving as pastor of a parish in the Springfield diocese, left St. Boniface Parish in Edwardsville on July 1 for a new assignment as parochial vicar at Guardian Angel Cathedral in Las Vegas.
Father Corredato served as pastor at St. Boniface for 12 years, during which time he oversaw a major building campaign. The parish built a large new church while keeping the original St. Boniface Church as an integral part of its worship space. He also oversaw the building of a new preschool addition to the parish school.
"We see so much anymore of places closing, places merging, where people don't have a church nearby, that I was very happy when I left St. Boniface that I left it much bigger and stronger than I had found it," said Father Corredato. "It is very trying to keep a school afloat. But I have found the Edwardsville people very, very supportive of what we did in the church - very loyal to the church and very generous, not just to the church, but to the missions. St. Boniface has a very vibrant future. Whether it is a Viatorian succeeding me or not, the people there will be served very well."
There has been a Viatorian presence in the Springfield diocese for 77 years. The Viatorians came to the diocese in 1930, at the invitation of Bishop James A. Griffin, to operate and teach at the diocese's Cathedral Boys High School, and serve as administrators at St. Joseph Parish in Springfield. Over 150 Viatorians served as teachers, administrators, coaches, counselors, moderators and campus ministers at Cathedral Boys High School, Griffin High School, and Sacred Heart-Griffin High School.
Father Corredato, who grew up in St. Aloysius Parish in Springfield, was one of many vocations fostered at Cathedral Boys High School, where he graduated in the Class of 1959.
"We had many, many vocations from there," said the 66-year-old priest, who was ordained in 1968 in Peoria at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, by another Springfield native, Bishop John