Our Pastor

 

Fr. Carl Wertin became our eighth Pastor on July 1, 2021.  He celebrated his seventh anniversary as a priest on June 19, 2022.

Rev. Carl Wertin
Pastor
(719) 542-9248 Ext. 116
cwertin@ctkpueblo.org

Hello Christ The King Parish Family! May Christ bless you, give you all good, and welcome you into the fullness of His church in this parish family by building us up to be on mission for Him and our sisters and brothers.

I am excited to begin serving you as pastor at Christ The King Parish. We are all truly blessed by the incredible ministry of Father John Ozella. His joy, his dedication, his care has truly been and will continue to be a source of grace for our parish. Be assured that we will be seeing him around frequently after he has a month straight of pure vacation.  As he is always welcome and has our prayers. Happy retirement Fr John!

Before sharing some thoughts of who I am, I’d like to share about my connection with Christ The King. I first set foot in this church one of the first weekends that I lived in Pueblo upon starting studies at CSU- Pueblo. Monsignor Tom Adrians invited me to dinner after the first Mass I attended. From there I enjoyed praying with and seeing Monsignor Tom, Monsignor Howard Delaney, and Monsignor Len Racki who all would offer Masses that I attended throughout my three years of college. The reality that I am walking in the footsteps of giants is not lost to me.  Some of your faces I even remember from morning Mass those 15 years ago. Thank you for your prayers then and now.

As for a brief introduction, I was born and raised in Lamar, Colorado. My family has always been and remains a strong support and a true gift from our Lord. I grew up hunting and fishing, enjoying outdoor activities, skateboarding, working construction and wildlife management. I began playing guitar later in life. Upon discerning my call to the priesthood while in college, Bishop Tafoya accepted me as a Seminarian and sent me for formation in Indiana at Saint Meinrad Seminary. I was thrilled to be able to come back to Colorado as a priest after seven years of philosophy and theology studies.  I had various summer assignments involving Spanish studies, parish living, helping at Catholic Charities here in Pueblo, and assisting at the Catholic Summer Camp in Texas. This past June 19 I celebrated my sixth anniversary of priesthood. I love being a priest!

The role as Pastor of Christ the King is not something I take lightly. This will be my first assignment that I serve as Pastor.  However, rest assured that the opportunity to serve as Associate Pastor with Father Steve Murray at Holy Trinity in Trinidad Colorado as well as Vocation Director of the Diocese of Pueblo has afforded me many graces and much growth so as to humbly step into this new beautiful opportunity.

I will remain full time Vocations Director alongside being full time Pastor at the parish. I will be leaning heavily on the Vocations Coordinator at the Diocese and the staff at the parish, for whom I am very grateful. 

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

Luke 12:48b

You and I have been entrusted with much and more. Let us love well so as to express gratitude for such riches, to accompany one another as we seek to be missionary disciples of Jesus Christ. 

With love and prayers,

Fr. Carl Wertin