by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — If the walls of Savior Pastoral and Retreat Center here could talk, they might tell the story of four young priests on site before the building opened in 1965.
Father Ray Burger, Father Thomas Culhane, Father Michael Mullen and Father Al Rockers were getting ready to welcome students to Savior of the World Seminary.
“We stood there and said, ‘Have we got anything else to do?’” recalled Msgr. Mullen.
“Yeah, we’ve got to bless this building,” one of the priests said.
“Where are we going to get holy water?” another asked.
“Here are four priests standing right there,” said Msgr. Mullen, who realized they could bless the water themselves. “We laughed and laughed!”
Savior holds many memories for Msgr. Mullen, who served on the faculty during the 22 years it was a high school (minor) seminary.
As it grew into a pastoral and retreat center, Savior welcomed thousands who walked through its doors to retreat from the world, prepare for marriage, participate in diaconate formation, compete in sports and much more.
“Its legacy is not simply found in what stood on this campus, but in the people who came here, the faith they carried with them and the lives that were forever changed because of it,” said Greg Mies, director of Savior.
After serving the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas for 62 years, Savior’s doors will close in the summer of 2027.
Adaptable vision
Savior was built under the leadership of Archbishop Edward J. Hunkeler as a high school seminary for boys from across Kansas.
The facility cost $4 million and was constructed on 100 acres of donated farmland.
A chapel was built at the center, and connecting corridors bridged six buildings, which housed an auditorium, classrooms, dorms, gym and pool so the boys had space to pray, study and live.
Construction took place in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, which is reflected in the chapel’s design.
“With the altar, right from the beginning, you could face the congregation as well as the wall,” said Msgr. Mullen.
The chapel’s bronze crucifix is also unique.
“It was a replica of what Archbishop Hunkeler had at the cathedral in Omaha [where he was rector],” said Msgr. Mullen. “It’s Jesus on a cross, but he’s looking up — a sign of hope.”
Father Luke Turner, OSB, a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison who’s currently serving as associate pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Dallas, attended the seminary his junior and senior years.
He wasn’t ordained until 2019, making him the last priest who graduated from Savior to be ordained.
“I thrived in many ways,” he said of his time there. “I ran cross country. It was small — there were 21 or so in my graduating class.”
Father Luke was inspired by the mentors he encountered at Savior, including Msgr. Mullen and Msgr. Thomas Tank.
“For you to put up with high school boys, you are on the fast track to heaven,” he said.
In 1987, the seminary program was transferred to Maur Hill Prep in Atchison, where it continued for three more years, and the building was renamed Savior Pastoral Center.
By that time, it was already being used as a pastoral center and church offices building.
Peaceful retreat
Groups like St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park found a home at Savior. The school held its first Kairos retreat there, K-33, in 2003.
“It was all in one enclosed space,” recalled Courtney DeNegri, a student on the retreat, “so there was no disruption with the weather. There were no outside influences.”
DeNegri is now Aquinas’s business and technology department head and director of Kairos, a two-day retreat for seniors designed to help them deepen their relationship with their faith, friends and family.
“We say here at Aquinas that Kairos is probably the most important thing that we do,” said DeNegri, “because we catch [the students] right before they’re leaving.
“We make sure that they’re grounded in their faith, that they understand that they’re not alone, that other people are there for them and Jesus is always going to be there for them.”
Aquinas is seeking a new space for future retreats but will cherish the ones it had at Savior.
“The memories and the history that we have there is something special,” said DeNegri.
Savior also hosted Holy Family School of Faith’s Catholic Spiritual Mentors Program intensives, which took place twice a year for one week. More than 600 men and women have participated since the program launched in 2011.
“Everyone appreciates the convenience of having a space that accommodates the entire event while also providing on-site lodging,” said program director Stephanie Jacobson.
“The staff is phenomenal, always helpful and gracious,” she added.
Jacobson said the chapel in particular was a peaceful place to pray.
“The natural light streaming in from above draws our eyes heavenward,” she said, “and one of my favorite things is watching the incense curl in front of the high windows, as if carrying our thoughts and prayers up to heaven.”
Sound decision
Although Savior has been a treasured place for visitors from the archdiocese and beyond, its operating deficit and deterioration issues have been stacking up and depleting reserves meant for archdiocesan ministry.
After years of efforts to grow revenue by increasing business and reducing deficit, Archbishop Shawn McKnight formed an ad hoc committee to evaluate options.
JE Dunn Construction evaluated the facility and found that it would cost at least $50 million in deferred maintenance and accessibility improvements.
Archbishop McKnight sought the advice of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, which recommended the archdiocese seek a new, temporary location for the chancery offices so that the complex’s operation could cease and the buildings be demolished.
Finally, he created the Archdiocesan Building Commission — a 13-member group with expertise in architecture, construction, finance, fundraising and real estate — to review all the information, and they made the same recommendation.
Pat Regan, owner of Coldwell Banker Regan Realtors and a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee, is a member of the building commission and no stranger to Savior.
As a student at St. Joseph School, he participated in CYO basketball and attended an eighth grade retreat at the center, where he was given a letter from his parents to read in a private area of the chapel.
“I have that letter in my desk to this day, and I’m 60 years old,” said Regan. “Savior has just been a big part of my life in big parts of it.”
He and his wife attended a marriage preparation weekend at Savior.
“There were some things I really learned about faith and marriage,” he said, “and it must’ve worked, because we’re going on 35 years.”
He believes the archdiocese is being prudent with the decision to close the facility and sees the potential in a possible new build down the line.
“Those decisions have not been made,” he said. “But right now, it seems we’ve been given this incredible opportunity — because of the foresight of owning that ground and building that building all those decades ago — that could be such a positive economic impact for the church.”
Regan is grateful for all that Savior has offered throughout the years.
“It gave so much to so many for so long that it’s our duty for our generation now to create [or purchase] a facility that is going to help the archdiocese for generations to come,” he said.
Living legacy
“The closing of Savior Pastoral and Retreat Center marks the end of an extraordinary era,” said Mies, “one that spans more than 60 years of faith, formation, fellowship and service to the archdiocese.”
He is especially grateful to the staff of Savior, “who worked diligently — often with limited resources — to care for these buildings and the people who entered them.”
“Their commitment went well beyond maintenance and daily operations,” he said. “They worked tirelessly to ensure that Savior remained a place where people could feel physically, spiritually and emotionally safe — a place of welcome, hospitality and peace.”
Mies believes the blessings that have come out of Savior will continue on.
“Savior Pastoral and Retreat Center will forever remain a part of the story of faith, hope and service in this archdiocese,” he said.
