Beloved pastor becomes "honorary Iowan"

April 13, 2022

Father Raphael Assamah was honored by the Iowa House of Representatives for his dedication and service to the residents of Hamburg during the floods of 2019.

Now the pastor of St. Theresa Parish in Des Moines, Father Assamah was the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Hamburg when historic flooding devastated the town three years ago.

“The flood victims found strength and resolve to rebuild from a faith source in the form of Father Raphael Assamah,” the resolution said.

“When Father Assamah arrived to take his post as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hamburg, Iowa, he did not know that he would be the right man for the right job at the right time, for he was chosen to protect his parish from both the flood and COVID-19,” the resolution continued.

“While flooding rivers devastated towns and villages along their banks, they also took a toll on the spirits of residents, but the raging Missouri and Nishnabotna rivers were no match for the 5-foot, 7-inch sturdily built and energy-filled priest from the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana,” said the resolution.

“Fearing the devastation would lead his small parish to despair, Father Assamah deployed a power mightier than mere raging rivers: the power of faith, hope and charity…” it said.

“Father Assamah knew that praying together would strengthen the community’s resolve to build together, hope would make the community’s future brighter, and charity would bring the community’s members together with the larger community of the Diocese of Des Moines.”

Nick Critelli, a parishioner of St. Theresa Parish, suggested the resolution.

“When extraordinary people go unrecognized, we all lose,” he said.

A group of parishioners from St. Mary Parish in Hamburg made the three-hour drive to be at the Capitol by 8 a.m. to watch their former pastor receive the honor.