On August 1, 1998, Rev. John Wilkie was officially appointed Tenth Pastor of Holy Rosary Parish and Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish. He was the first pastor not to be a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Later that same month, the last two Benedictine sisters at Holy Rosary, Sisters Nathalie Karels and Margaret Ann Rohling, O.S.B., announce their retirement to Saint Placid Priory.
Holy Rosary is without resident nuns for the first time since 1891, and the parish’s 107-year Benedictine tradition passes into history.
On December 12, 1998, a procession for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, including a statue of the Blessed Virgin, begins at Saint Joseph and ends at Holy Rosary in time for the Noon Mass. This tradition continued until 2005.