On September 1, 2015, the Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert, Pastor of Visitation Parish and Dean of the Pierce County Deanery, was appointed Thirteenth Pastor of Holy Rosary Parish and priest administrator of Saint Joseph Parish.
One month later, Rev. Michael Stinson, F.S.S.P. is appointed Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish, ending a 24-year period where Saint Joseph and Holy Rosary shared a priest.
In December, the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, proclaimed by Pope Francis, begins. Holy Rosary is selected as a jubilee church, and the central doors between the narthex and the nave are proclaimed Holy Doors for the duration of the jubilee.
On Gaudete Sunday, Holy Rosary’s Holy Doors are ritually opened by Father Wichert at the Noon Mass. Throughout the next year, many hundreds of pilgrims come to Holy Rosary to pass through the Holy Doors.
In May of 2016, as part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, relics of Saint John Paul II and Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska come to Holy Rosary.
Later that year, the tradition of a Corpus Christi Eucharistic Procession from Holy Rosary to Saint Joseph and back continues. For the first time, this is done with different pastors at the two parishes celebrating two different forms of the Roman Rite. Father Wichert offers Benediction at Saint Joseph, and Father Stinson offers Benediction at Holy Rosary.
On October 16, 2016, Holy Rosary parish celebrated our Quasquicentennial – our 125th Anniversary Jubilee.
The Noon Mass was celebrated by the Most Rev. Eusebio Elizondo, M.Sp.S. Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle. Rev. Mr. Mike Teskey served as Deacon of the Mass. Concelebrating with the Bishop are Father Wichert, as well as former pastors Rev. Jacob Maurer and Rev. Tuan Nguyen, and two priests of Opus Sanctorum Angelorum, Rev. Wolfgang Seitz, O.R.C. and Rev. Matthew Hincks, O.R.C. They are assisted by 35 Altar Servers.
Former Parochial Vicar Rev. Edward Receconi O.S.B. was in attendance, as were many of the Benedictine sisters of Saint Placid Priory and the Sisters of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Go Vap. Attendance was estimated at about 750 people. A reception was held in the School Hall following the Mass.