Fr. Dan Belanger, CSV, has answered a call to a new ministry: hospital chaplaincy.
He has begun ministering as a part-time chaplain at the Dignity Health – St. Rose Dominican hospitals, the only Catholic hospitals in the Las Vegas area. They have three sites, one in Las Vegas and two in neighboring Henderson.
Fr. Dan has begun reporting for chaplaincy duty at St. Rose Dominican.
He is Parochial Vicar for St. Viator Catholic Community, with Pastor Fr. Edgar Suárez, CSV, and Fr. Dan is embracing a shift after 15 years as pastor of parishes in the Bourbonnais-Kankakee region. “I feel I’m being called now to be more of a listener than an administrator,” Fr. Dan said.
Fr. Dan was assigned to St. Viator Las Vegas last summer. As he got settled, he looked into the possibility of chaplaincy. “When I first got here, I approached them, and they created a position for me,” Fr. Dan said. “They were accommodating and wanted to have me on here.”
He began his professional training last year, and he has completed enough units to begin ministry while he works toward completing the program. He’ll minister in chaplaincy services part-time.
In a way, he follows in the footsteps of his brother priests. The Viatorians founded St. Thomas More Catholic Community in Henderson, a now-archdiocesan parish just down Pecos Rd. from one of these hospital sites. Our priests at St. Thomas More often made pastoral visits to hospitalized parishioners during our 35 years of ministry there.
He’s official!
Today, our Viatorian connections continue in different ways. Dignity Health is a corporate partner to Cristo Rey St. Viator College Prep and its Corporate Work Study Program, so Viatorian students work there. Additionally, Pre-Associate Randy Boynton from St. Viator Catholic Community is a marketing executive for Dignity Health.
Now, with Fr. Dan joining the chaplaincy service, the Viatorian connections deepen, and he is excited to dive into this new way to serve. “I want to get back to what it means to work with Christ and find something simpler with people,” Fr. Dan said. “Getting older helps me realize more and more that ministry is more practically about just being with people – and that’s what chaplaincy is about.”