June 22, 2025
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Twin priests celebrate 50th anniversary, lead St. Joseph mission

Mission concludes Saturday with statue dedication, picnic

By Tom Collins

The Rev. Richard Gielow, C.M. (left) and his brother the Rev. Robert Gielow, C.M. stand below an image of their order's founder, St. Vincent de Paul, in the chapel of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in La Salle. To their knowledge, there are only 11 sets of priests who are twins in the Catholic Church in the United States and the only twins in the Vincentian Order, founded in the early 17th century. They both recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their ordination. (Scott Anderson)

Know any priests who also are twin brothers? The odds are slim — there are just 11 known sets in the United States — but one of the priestly pairs is in La Salle this week completing a mission honoring St. Joseph.

The Rev. Richard Gielow and the Rev. Robert Gielow, both members of the Vincentian order, are in town celebrating the 50th anniversary of their ordination as well as to help their home parish conclude a holy year dedicated to the guardian of Christ.

“This is the 150th anniversary celebration of St. Joseph being named patron of the church,” said Fr. Robert Gielow. “This parish, La Salle Catholic, decided to have this week honoring St. Joseph.”

“They invited us to conduct a parish missions to conduct a parish mission and to complete (the observance),” Fr. Richard said.

The current pastor of the La Salle Catholic Parishes is encouraging members of the public to meet the twins and to fill their bellies at a Saturday picnic at St. Hyacinth Church. There, parishioners will ply guests with free German food and free Mexican food — a nod to two of the ethnic groups that have filled La Salle churches — and witness the dedication of a statue to St. Joseph.

The Very Rev. Thomas Otto, pastor, explained the statue will be blessed “to commemorate old St. Joseph and Resurrection parishes, which were such a part of people’s lives.”

And a special guest will be brought in to preside over the consecration. The Gielow brothers are perhaps the best known vocations produced by the La Salle Catholic Parishes and the parish schools, but they weren’t the most recent. That honor belongs to the Rev. Glenn Harris, a La Salle native who currently ministers near the Quad Cities.

Harris, who next year celebrates the 30th anniversary of his ordination, was asked to bless the statue of St. Joseph.

“I’m delighted to be asked,” Harris said. “I will always have a special place in my heart for St. Hyacinth’s and La Salle.”