Joy is getting to know people

June 19, 2024

As he prepares to observe 50 years of priestly ministry, Father John Ludwig’s joy is compounded by the relationships he has built over five decades.

“Getting to know people – individuals and families – and working with them for weddings and baptisms and funerals. Hospital calls, where you get to be with people at very vulnerable times. To be trusted and accepted in those situations,” he said. “We get to do that.”

Father Ludwig looks forward to greeting many of those people at an open house that will be hosted by Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in Ankeny for him and his classmate, Monsignor Stephen Orr, on Sunday, July 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. The afternoon will end with sung evening prayer at 4 p.m.

Father Ludwig and Msgr. Orr have been classmates since the first grade at St. Augustin School in Des Moines. They went on to Dowling High School and Loras College in Dubuque, where they studied philosophy, and then parted ways for their formation in theology.

Father Ludwig was sent to the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and returned with a Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology (STB) and a master’s degree in theology.

He and Msgr. Orr were ordained by Bishop Maurice Dingman on July 27, 1974, at their home church of St. Augustin.
Father Ludwig’s first assignment sent him back to Dowling High School in West Des Moines to teach religion. After two years, he was named director of religious education for the Diocese of Des Moines.

Parish ministry followed at Holy Trinity, Des Moines, where he was associate pastor for three years; St. Mary of Nazareth, Des Moines, as pastor for seven years; and St. Joseph, Des Moines, as associate pastor for two years.

When Father Ludwig was named pastor of the Newman Center at Drake University, he knew the community needed a permanent, identifiable place for students to gather for Mass and ministry. He oversaw construction of the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center, which was dedicated in 1997.

“When I got to the Newman Center, somebody said, ‘Don’t you find college students kind of intimidating?’ And I said, ‘To be real honest, I have found them to be like lambs.’ The nicest kids.”

After a short sabbatical, he was building again – St. John the Apostle Church in Norwalk, to serve the Cumming and Norwalk faith communities. It was dedicated in 2005 and Father Ludwig stayed as pastor until he retired in 2018.

In addition to his service in parishes, he has served the diocesan Tribunal since 1978 with annulment cases.

Since then, Father Ludwig has helped to cover Masses at St. Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines, and St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines, as well as Wesley on Grand, a senior living facility, once a month, and a school Masses as needed for Our Lady of the Americas.

Father Ludwig has been writing a question-and-answer column for The Catholic Mirror since 2017.
Cards may be sent to him at 1390 Buffalo Road, West Des Moines, Iowa 50265.