New Guadalupe Shrine director Leif Arvidson - Press Release

The Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, President of the Board of Directors of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at La Crosse, announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Leif E. Arvidson of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, to the position of Executive Director of the Shrine. Mr. Arvidson succeeds Sister Christa Marie Halligan, F.S.G.M., who was transferred to Saint James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas, effective May 31st. Mr. Arvidson will begin his service at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on June 21st[next Monday].

Mr. Arvidson is a third-generation Alaskan fisherman who completed his undergraduate degree in history[Like], with a minor in theology, at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, including a year of studies abroad at Franciscan University’s campus in Gaming, Austria. He obtained his law degree from Notre Dame Law School. He has also undertaken intense personal study of the Sacred Scriptures, the official teaching of the Catholic Church, and Church history, including the lives and writings of the Saints.

From the beginning of their marriage, which has been blessed with six children, Mr. Arvidson and his wife, Karen, have been dedicated to the mission of the Catholic Church. Shortly after their marriage, they served for nearly two years as Catholic lay missionaries in Japan. In recent years, they have been active in both their parish and in the Diocese of Madison, in which they presently reside. They have been involved in pro-life activities, the local food pantry, Eucharistic adoration, the preparation of adults for the reception of the Sacraments of Christian Initiation, and the preparation of couples for the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage. Mr. Arvidson has served on the Parish Pastoral Council at Sacred Heart Church in Reedsburg.

In announcing the appointment of Mr. Arvidson to the position of Executive Director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Archbishop Burke observed: “Our Lord and His Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who have watched over and guided the work of the Shrine, since its inception, have provided in Mr. Arvidson a worthy and well-prepared Executive Director. With the other members of the Board of Directors, I look forward to working with Mr. Arvidson in carrying forward the important spiritual mission of the Shrine.”

He sounds in line with the mission of the Shrine.  The next step is to build a Catechetical Center for the Marian Catechists and move beyond the construction phase of the Shrine and to its true mission which is catechesis and evangelization.

On an aside.... it would be nice if someone took on the task of building a functional website for the Shrine, it is terrible as is.  The press release was put on the website as a Microsoft Word 2000 document.  The Vatican has publicly stated 

Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and services available without charge to all

Microsoft Office is $150, not everyone can spend that kind of money to open a press release.  It takes only a few seconds to convert it to a pdf.   Am I a nit picker or what!?  It is very difficult to spread the word about their events without a web savey person in place.