Priest’s first pastor job will be at Port parish

St. John XXIII Catholic Parish in Port Washington and Saukville has a new pastor — Father Matthew Kirk.

Kirk’s six-year assignment to St. John XXIII, which begins June 16, was announced by Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob last week.

Kirk will take over for Father Patrick Wendt, who came to Port as pastor of St. Peter of Alcantara Catholic Church in 2005 and is retiring effective June 30.

Kirk, who grew up in Nashotah, is currently the parochial vicar at Holy Family Catholic Church in Fond du Lac.

This is his first assignment as pastor, he said Tuesday, adding he visited Port Washington last week and was impressed by the area’s beauty.

“I’m very excited to be there full time,” he said in an interview. “I’m most looking forward to meeting the people and leading them to Jesus.”

Kirk, who was ordained five years ago, said his path to the priesthood was circuitous.

He said a retreat he attended while a senior at Arrowhead High School set the stage.

“I had this realization God is real,” he said. “It kind of changed my life.”

He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a degree in mechanical engineering, but said he kept feeling that his path was elsewhere.

“The Lord kept tugging at my heart,” Kirk said. “I knew the Lord wanted me to take this step.”

His faith deepened as he became involved with St. Paul Catholic Student Center and founded a Catholic fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta.

When he graduated in 2016, Kirk was accepted to St. Francis de Sales Seminary.

During his studies, he served at St. Mary’s Visitation Church in Elm Grove, and following his ordination in May 2022 he became an associate pastor in West Allis, serving there until he came to Holy Trinity Church.

“Mechanical engineering taught me there’s a definitive truth, and we need to orient our lives to the truth,” Kirk said.

“One of my great joys is helping people come to see the truth and reasonability of our faith.”

Even as a priest, he said, he put his engineering skills to work, building a warming shelter and renovating a church in Fond du Lac and serving on the community’s downtown architectural review board.

A retirement party for Wendt will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, in the St. John XXIII Catholic School cafeteria, and the parish has established the Father Patrick Wendt Fund to support unique parish initiatives that fall outside traditional funding, such as modernizing youth facilities and enhancing event spaces.

As Kirk joins St. John XXIII Parish, a native son of the parish has been assigned to his soon-to-be former church. Transitional Deacon Alex Becker, who will be ordained next month, has been assigned to Holy Family Catholic Church in Fond du Lac.