The Bishop Callahan Parish Center
The Bishop Callahan Parish Center Renovation Project aims to transform our nearly 130-year-old Parish Center into a more accessible and functional space, ensuring everyone in our community can benefit from our services.
At the Basilica of St Josaphat, we believe in serving God by serving others. This renovation will enable us to fulfill our mission of, providing a welcoming and inclusive space where all can experience God's love and care.
Over the past year and a half, parish leadership has engaged in an ongoing assessment to discern the future of the parish center building. While this planning and input process is incomplete, our current proposal has attracted interest from local foundations and parish members. We are pleased to announce a $1 million matching grant offered by a parish member committed to ensuring this dream is realized.
Our work includes building inspections and estimates by leading local construction, architecture, and design firms, along with a preliminary needs analysis. Fundamentally, the current parish center faces significant obstacles related to accessibility and its age, which must be addressed.
Any improvement plan must enable the elderly, volunteers, and those with limited mobility the opportunity to access the food pantry. Additional proposed improvements would restore the second and third levels of the building providing room for the expanding Preschool program and various parish ministries. Revitalizing the service areas within the Parish Center is a key project component. The restored spaces will be more functional and welcoming, designed to facilitate our outreach programs more effectively.
The Bishop Callahan Center Renovation Project
An accessible entrance and main-level bathroom to eliminate the current barriers posed by the building's age and structure. These improvements will provide easy access for individuals with mobility challenges, including the elderly, those using wheelchairs, and families with strollers. Outdated restroom facilities will be updated and expanded to accommodate all visitors. New classroom space, bathrooms, and fire suppression systems will allow the preschool to grow and participate in vital programming such as Wisconsin Shares.
Our Design Models Include:
Image is a proposed rendering for renovations
About Bishop William P. Callahan
William Callahan was ordained to the priesthood in Milwaukee at the Basilica of St. Josaphat on April 30, 1977. After his 1977 ordination, Callahan was assigned as curate at St. Josaphat.
He returned to Illinois in 1978 to serve as director of vocations for the Minorites for the next six years. He was then transferred back to Milwaukee in 1994 to become rector and pastor of the Basilica of St Josaphat. He oversaw the Basilica's $7.5 million restoration, earning himself a reputation as an able fundraiser.
In 2005, Callahan went to Rome to serve as spiritual director of the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
On October 30, 2007, Callahan was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee and titular bishop of Lares by Pope Benedict XVI. Callahan received his episcopal consecration on December 21, 2007, from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan.
Callahan is the first Minorite to be appointed as a bishop in the United States and was the first auxiliary bishop to be named to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since 1979.
After over 50 years of service to the Catholic Church, Pope Francis accepted Callahan's resignation from office on March 19, 2024.
