Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church in Flossmoor is getting a new pastor.
The Rev. Jacek “Jack” Jura, currently associate pastor at St. Michael Church in Orland Park, will assume the duties of pastor on July 1.
Parishioners learned about the transition during church services on March 5 and 6, said the Rev. Michael Nacius, IJP’s pastor since 2010.
“Fr. Jack is looking forward to coming to IJP,” Nacius wrote in the church bulletin earlier this month. “I have spoken with him and we will be in dialogue in the coming weeks and months working on a plan to help his transition to IJP.”
Nacius said he has been reassigned to St. Mary Church in north suburban Lake Forest.
Making the move from IJP is “bittersweet,” Nacius told the H-F Chronicle.
“I have been blessed by the faithfulness, generosity and compassion of the people of Infant Jesus of Prague,” he said. “Leaving a parish community you have served over the years is not easy. I look forward to the remaining months of ministry with the parishioners.”
In Lake Forest Nacius will be the 17th pastor at a church that was founded in 1865. He grew up in Waukegan and said his new assignment will bring him one hour closer to his mother and other family members.
Jura, who is 43, will be the seventh pastor at IJP, which was founded in 1957 as a mission church of St. Joseph in Homewood. He was ordained in 2004.
Nacius was first assigned to IJP as an associate pastor in 2008. Prior to coming to IJP, he served as pastor of St. Lawrence O’Toole Church in Matteson between 1999 and 2008. He was ordained in 1989.
Nacius said he would keep members of the parish informed about future plans and opportunities to meet Jura in the coming weeks.
“All of us have been through transitions in our lives,” Nacius wrote in the March 13 bulletin. “Transitions are always messy, but we make our way through them. Working together and praying together will help everyone progress through this current transition at our parish.”
Planning is underway for a Mass of Thanksgiving commemorating the time Nacius shared with the IJP community. It is to take place at 5 p.m. on June 18.
