A product of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Amarillo has been appointed Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo, according to Father Phu T. Phan, JCL, BeL, Vicar General of the Diocese of Amarillo.
Father Scott L. Raef, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Amarillo, will begin his new assignment on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
The appointment was one of seven announced Aug. 29, and all appointments will take effect on Oct. 1.
Replacing Father Raef as Pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church will be Father John Valdez, formerly Pastor at St. Anthony’s Church, Hereford. Father Tony Neusch, Parochial Administrator at St. Patrick’s Church, Shamrock and Our Mother of Mercy Church, Wellington, succeeds Father Valdez in Hereford. Father Anthony Kowtiki, new to the Diocese of Amarillo, is the new Parochial Administrator for the Shamrock and Wellington parishes.
Father Haider Quintero, Parochial Administrator at Blessed Sacrament Church, Amarillo, has been appointed Pastor.
With Father Valdez being assigned to the Central Deanery, Monsignor Joe Bixenman, pastor at San Jose Church, Hereford, has been named the new Dean of the South Deanery.
Father Raef, 45, is a 1986 graduate of Alamo Catholic High School (now Holy Cross Catholic Academy), Amarillo. Prior to his appointment at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, he was pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church, Dalhart and St. Mary’s Church, Texline.
Father Raef was ordained to the priesthood on July 23, 1994 at St. Joseph’s Church, Amarillo, by then-Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen. He has also served the Diocese of Amarillo at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pampa; Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Spearman; Cristo Redentor, Gruver; St, Mary’s Church, Umbarger; Church of the Holy Spirit, Tulia; and St. Paul the Apostle Church, Kress. Father Raef also served a chaplain for the Catholic Student Center at West Texas A&M University, Canyon, from June 30, 2001 to June 23, 2008. He has served as Diocesan Vocations Director since Nov. 24, 2008.
Ordained to the priesthood on Jan. 19, 1991 by then-Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen at St. Laurence Cathedral (Now St. Laurence Church), Amarillo, Father Valdez has served at Immaculate Conception Church, Perryton; St. Peter’s Church, Booker; St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pampa; and, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Amarillo.
He has also served at Sacred Heart Church, Canadian; Sacred Heart Church, White Deer; St. Mary’s Church, Wheeler; St. Ann’s Church, Bovina; and St. Teresa of Jesus Church, Friona. He had been the Pastor at St. Anthony’s Church, Hereford, since Jan. 2004.
A native of Panhandle, Father Neusch was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Amarillo on May 29, 2004 at St. Laurence Cathedral (now St. Laurence Church), Amarillo, by then-Bishop John W. Yanta.
Prior to his appointment as Parochial Administrator of St. Patrick’s Church, Shamrock and Our Mother of Mercy Church, Wellington, on Sept. 1, 2009, Father Neusch served at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pampa; St. Mary’s Church (now St. Mary’s Cathedral), Amarillo; Church of the Holy Spirit, Tulia; and, St. Paul the Apostle Church, Kress. He has also served as Chaplain at Northwest Texas Hospital, Amarillo.
New to the Diocese of Amarillo, Father Kowtiki, 39, was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Kurnool, India, on Jan. 26, 2002 at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral. He served at Our Lady of Lourdes until 2008 and also served for four years at a parish in Peddakottala prior to arriving in the Texas Panhandle.
Father Quintero, 41, was born March 25, 1972 in Ocaña, Colombia, South America.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek on May 13, 2011 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo. He comes to Blessed Sacrament Church after nearly a year as Parochial Vicar at St. Anthony’s Church, Hereford. During his stint in Hereford, Father Quintero also served for a short time at St. Teresa of Jesus Church, Friona and St. Ann’s Church, Bovina.
A product of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Amarillo, Monsignor Bixenman was ordained to the priesthood on June 9, 1972 at St. Laurence Church by then-Bishop Lawrence M. DeFalco. He has served at parishes in Lubbock, Lockney and Floydada in what is now the Diocese of Lubbock and at parishes in Pampa, Canadian, Wheeler, Dalhart, Texline, Amarillo, Perryton and Booker in the Diocese of Amarillo. Monsignor Bixenman served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Amarillo from June 1, 1997 to Aug. 8, 2003. He was appointed Pastor of San Jose Church, Hereford, where he served from 1983 to 1991, for a second stint on Sept. 1, 2011. He was named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II on May 21, 1999, with the title of Monsignor.
Father Christopher Schwind, Parochial Vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pampa, has been appointed Spiritual Chaplain to the Marriage Encounter Program.
An Amarillo native, Father Schwind, 45, is a 1985 graduate of Alamo Catholic High School (now Holy Cross Catholic Academy), Amarillo. Schwind is a 1989 graduate of West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Math and Physics. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 24 by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo.