COLORADO SPRINGS. Father Kirk Slattery, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Cheyenne Wells and St. Augustine Parish in Kit Carson, has been named the new pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Church in Colorado Springs.
Bishop Michael Sheridan has named Father Carlos Gallardo-Morales, parochial vicar of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Castle Rock, as temporary administrator of Sacred Heart and St. Augustine parishes, located in the eastern plains of the diocese.
The appointments are effective March 4.
Father Slattery replaces Father Robert Manning, who was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 4 after the diocese received an allegation concerning possible sexual abuse of a minor. He resigned as St. Gabriel pastor on Jan. 23 and subsequently retired as the Colorado Springs Police Department conducts an investigation on the matter.
Father Manning’s priestly faculties are temporarily suspended by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, where he was ordained on Jan. 18, 1997. He had been pastor of St. Gabriel since joining the Diocese of Colorado Springs in August 2007.
Father Slattery was ordained the priesthood May 17, 2008, and he had served at Sacred Heart and St. Augustine since October 2009. He will inherit a parish that has more than 1,000 registered families and, located in the northern end of Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest-growing parishes in the diocese. St. Gabriel Parish was established in 1998, and its current worship space was dedicated on Dec. 19, 2004.
Father Slattery will be aided by Father Rafael Torres-Rico, parochial vicar, who has been leading St. Gabriel Parish since the removal of Father Manning.
Father Gallardo, who was ordained to the priesthood last June, will administrate two of the diocese’s oldest parishes, which, combined, have approximately 140 registered families. St. Augustine celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009 and Sacred Heart will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.
The parishes are located in the heart of cattle ranches and wheat crop farms. Some Eastern Plains parishes were featured last fall in a series of articles in The Colorado Catholic Herald called “Faith in the Plains.”