The First Bishop of the Diocese of Agats, Indonesia, Monsignor Alphonsus Augustus Sowada OSC., was born on June 23, 1933, in Avon, Minnesota, the son of Alphonse B. Sowada and Monica Pierskalla. He attended District #52 (rural Elmdale) grade school, the Crosier Seminary High School, Onamia, and received his seminary formation at the Crosier House in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sowada took his Vows with the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross on August 28, 1953, and was ordained to the priesthood at Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 31, 1958, by Bishop Leo Pursley. Following his ordination he received a master's degree in cultural anthropology from the Catholic University of America in 1961. Assigned to the Asmat Mission in May 1961, he served as pastor of Erma parish between 1962 and 1965 and pastor in Agats from 1965 until 1969. Regional Superior for the Crosiers in Agats, at the early age of 35 he was appointed the First Bishop of the newly erected See of Agats by Pope Paul VI on May 29, 1969, receiving his episcopal consecration from Archbishop Joseph Mees, assisted by Archbishop Herman Tillemans MSC., and Bishop Rudolf Joseph Manfred Staverman OFM., on November 23 of that year.
Instrumental in helping to assemble a collection of Asmat cultural artifacts that served as the core of the American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, a gallery at the museum is named in his honor.
Bishop Sowada resigned from office on May 9, 2001. Returning back to the United States, he died on Saturday morning, January 11, 2014, at the Mille Lacs Health System, Onamia, Minnesota, aged 80.
Reception of the body of Bishop Sowada took place on Thursday, January 16, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary, St. Cloud, where funeral Mass was held the next morning, presided by Msgr. Donald J. Kettler, Bishop of Saint Cloud. Private family burial followed at the Crosier Priory Cemetery, Onamia.
Instrumental in helping to assemble a collection of Asmat cultural artifacts that served as the core of the American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, a gallery at the museum is named in his honor.
Bishop Sowada resigned from office on May 9, 2001. Returning back to the United States, he died on Saturday morning, January 11, 2014, at the Mille Lacs Health System, Onamia, Minnesota, aged 80.
Reception of the body of Bishop Sowada took place on Thursday, January 16, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary, St. Cloud, where funeral Mass was held the next morning, presided by Msgr. Donald J. Kettler, Bishop of Saint Cloud. Private family burial followed at the Crosier Priory Cemetery, Onamia.
The First Bishop of the Diocese of Agats, Indonesia, Monsignor Alphonsus Augustus Sowada OSC., was born on June 23, 1933, in Avon, Minnesota, the son of Alphonse B. Sowada and Monica Pierskalla. He attended District #52 (rural Elmdale) grade school, the Crosier Seminary High School, Onamia, and received his seminary formation at the Crosier House in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sowada took his Vows with the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross on August 28, 1953, and was ordained to the priesthood at Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 31, 1958, by Bishop Leo Pursley. Following his ordination he received a master's degree in cultural anthropology from the Catholic University of America in 1961. Assigned to the Asmat Mission in May 1961, he served as pastor of Erma parish between 1962 and 1965 and pastor in Agats from 1965 until 1969. Regional Superior for the Crosiers in Agats, at the early age of 35 he was appointed the First Bishop of the newly erected See of Agats by Pope Paul VI on May 29, 1969, receiving his episcopal consecration from Archbishop Joseph Mees, assisted by Archbishop Herman Tillemans MSC., and Bishop Rudolf Joseph Manfred Staverman OFM., on November 23 of that year.
Instrumental in helping to assemble a collection of Asmat cultural artifacts that served as the core of the American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, a gallery at the museum is named in his honor.
Bishop Sowada resigned from office on May 9, 2001. Returning back to the United States, he died on Saturday morning, January 11, 2014, at the Mille Lacs Health System, Onamia, Minnesota, aged 80.
Reception of the body of Bishop Sowada took place on Thursday, January 16, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary, St. Cloud, where funeral Mass was held the next morning, presided by Msgr. Donald J. Kettler, Bishop of Saint Cloud. Private family burial followed at the Crosier Priory Cemetery, Onamia.
Instrumental in helping to assemble a collection of Asmat cultural artifacts that served as the core of the American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, a gallery at the museum is named in his honor.
Bishop Sowada resigned from office on May 9, 2001. Returning back to the United States, he died on Saturday morning, January 11, 2014, at the Mille Lacs Health System, Onamia, Minnesota, aged 80.
Reception of the body of Bishop Sowada took place on Thursday, January 16, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary, St. Cloud, where funeral Mass was held the next morning, presided by Msgr. Donald J. Kettler, Bishop of Saint Cloud. Private family burial followed at the Crosier Priory Cemetery, Onamia.
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