Father Richard Bayuk, C.PP.S, celebrates 50 years

Father Richard Bayuk, C.PP.S., was born in 1947 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He was a member of Holy Family Parish in Willard, Wisconsin, where he was baptized and confirmed. In 1961, he began studies for the Diocese of La Crosse at Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and in 1967, continued his studies at St. John’s Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Fr. Bayuk began formation with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood at St. John’s on March 20, 1972. He made Temporary Incorporation on May 23, 1973, and Definitive Incorporation on April 13, 1974, and was ordained to the diaconate on April 27, 1974, all at Precious Blood Seminary. On June 21, 1975, he was ordained to the priesthood at Holy Family Parish in Willard, Wisconsin.

From 1975 to 1978, Fr. Bayuk was a member of the faculty at Precious Blood Seminary in Liberty, Missouri, during which time he began further studies at St. John’s School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota. From 1978 to 1979, he was the associate pastor at St. Mary’s Parish in Garden City, Kansas. In 1979, he graduated with a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies from St. John’s School of Theology.  

From January to June of 1980, Fr. Bayuk was an adjunct instructor for the Center of Pastoral Life and Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri, and part-time faculty member at Precious Blood Seminary. 

Fr. Bayuk then served as Archdiocesan Liturgist for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas from 1980 to 1984. He was also the pastor of St. Joseph of the Valley Parish in Leavenworth, Kansas, from July 1983 to July 1984. He then became pastor at St. Mary’s Parish in Centerville, Iowa, where he served until 1987. During this time, he also began studies at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from there in 1988 with a Master of Science in Counseling.

From 1988 to 1990, Fr. Bayuk worked as a counselor at Comprehensive Mental Health Services in Independence, Missouri, and then as chaplain at Trinity Lutheran Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. He then served as chaplain and adjunct faculty member at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1990 to 1994. He was the pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Butternut, Wisconsin, from 1994 to 1995.

From 1996 to 2017, Fr. Bayuk was a weekend preacher for Unbound in hundreds of parishes across the United States. During part of this time, he also graduated with a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri; served as the director of Advanced Formation at CTU in Chicago from 1997 to 2003; was an adjunct instructor in Homiletics at CTU from 2000 to 2004; and taught homiletics in the deacon formation program for the Diocese of Gary, Indiana, from 2001 to 2004.

Fr. Bayuk served the Kansas City Province as provincial treasurer from 2005 to 2022; provincial councilor from 2007 to 2019; and vice-provincial director from 2011 to 2019. Since 2018, he has been a part-time chaplain at Our Lady of Mercy Country Home in Liberty, Missouri. 

Favorite bible quote: 
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me … Whatever you did for one of these least ones, you did for me.”  
Matthew 25:34-36, 40