‘He’s just a good, sincere, heartfelt servant of Christ’
By Jeff Kurowski | For On Mission
GREEN BAY, WI — While there are several special moments during the Mass of ordination to the priesthood, newly ordained Fr. Nicholas “Nico” Stellpflug pointed to one in particular.
Fr. Stellpflug was ordained a priest by Bishop David Ricken on Saturday, June 28, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. Following the Mass and his first priestly blessings to a line of well over a hundred faithful, he reflected on the litany of supplication from the Mass, where the candidate prostrates himself.
“There’s nothing quite like lying on the floor during the litany,” Fr. Stellpflug said. “Being there, laying my life down and having the prayers of the community and the saints surrounding me, what a great gift.”
Family, friends, priests, religious sisters, classmates and supporters from his faith journey filled the cathedral.
Ordination marked a homecoming. Fr. Stellpflug studied at Pontifical North American College in Rome from the fall of 2021 through the spring of this year. He was ordained a deacon on Oct. 3, 2024, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
“It’s coming home, and it’s a gift to be here in the cathedral of my diocese to be with the people who mean so much to me, who’ve helped me, prayed for me, loved me,” Fr. Stellpflug said. “They’ve helped me to be where I am today.”
Fr. Stellpflug grew up as a member of St. Paul Parish, Combined Locks. Fr. Andy Kysely, who served as pastor in Combined Locks for 10 years, helped plant the seed for a priestly vocation.
“I said, ‘Nicholas, you should think about becoming a priest,’” said Fr. Kysely, now pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Big Bend in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. “I always encouraged him even when he didn’t want me to encourage him.”
Fr. Kysely, who also attended Fr. Stellpflug’s deacon ordination, added that he recognized Fr. Stellpflug’s “desire to serve.”
“When I first came to Combined Locks, he was in seventh grade,” Fr. Kysely said. “We went to a fish fry at Holy Spirit School (Darboy). He was busing tables and was all smiles. He always seemed to have a servant’s heart.”
Fr. Daniel Schuster, pastor of St. Mary Parish, Luxemburg, and Holy Trinity Parish, Casco, vested Fr. Stellpflug at the ordination Mass. Fr. Stellpflug served in Luxemburg-Casco last summer. Fr. Schuster met the newly ordained priest when filling in as a visiting priest at St. Paul Parish.
“I was vocation director at the time,” Fr. Schuster said. “His mother and father (Stephanie and Mike Murray) brought this young man up to me after Mass. His mother, with some emotion, said, ‘My son is going off to college, would you bless him?’ I prayed with them, and that wasn’t the end of it.”
Fr. Stellpflug studied biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Fr. Schuster said that the Newman Center at UW-Milwaukee, including guidance from Fr. Enrique Hernandez, was very influential in Fr. Stellpflug’s vocation. He received a “profound call in Eucharistic adoration at the Newman Center,” Fr. Schuster said.
Seminarians from the Pontifical North American College are required to complete summer projects. For the Luxemburg-Casco parishes, Fr. Stellpflug was tasked with creating a sacristan program.
“He was very successful in bringing something to our parish that we never had, that I needed as a pastor,” Fr. Schuster said. “It helps the priest prepare for Mass and makes it easier for visiting priests to come to our parish. He did it from start to finish, from writing a manual to recruiting good volunteers, training and creating a schedule. He did it all. We were also in the midst of a building project, so he was able to experience a little bit of fundraising and a lot of meetings and planning, and how we let the Holy Spirit run that, not our own ambitions.”
Fr. Stellplfug will celebrate Mass in Luxemburg and Casco on Saturday, July 5, and at St. Therese Church in Appleton on Sunday, July 6. He also served a summer at St. Therese with Fr. Ryan Starks, pastor.
“He’s just a good, sincere, heartfelt servant of Christ,” Fr. Schuster said about Fr. Stellpflug.
Fr. Stellpflug is the first seminarian who Fr. Mark Mleziva, vocation director for the Diocese of Green Bay, accompanied from entry to priestly ordination.
“I started in summer of 2018, and he was first accepted in 2019,” Fr. Mleziva said. “It’s amazing. It’s a gift. It’s gone by really quickly.”
Fr. Stellpflug entered St. Francis de Sales Seminary near Milwaukee in the fall of 2019. He completed two years of priestly formation and philosophical studies before moving to Rome.
“He recognized the gift it was to study in Rome,” Fr. Mleziva said. “He took advantage of those opportunities, seeing the different churches and places. He was the deacon for Easter Sunday Mass in the square (St. Peter’s). He was able to proclaim the Gospel.”
Fr. Michael Romano, Fr. Stellpflug’s formator at Pontifical North American College, and Fr. John Baumgardner, vice rector at St. Francis de Sales Seminary, were among the concelebrants for the ordination Mass. Fr. Romano was the homilist at Fr. Stellpflug’s Mass of thanksgiving on Sunday, June 29, at St. Paul Parish in Combined Locks.
In his homily, Bishop Ricken thanked Fr. Stellpflug’s parents and older sister, Hannah, for their encouragement. He read a 1987 quote by St. John Paul II for priestly advice: “Always strive to be a man of deep gratitude and priest of deep gratitude.”
Bishop Ricken also offered wisdom he received from Bishop Arthur Tafoya, who ordained him to the priesthood on Sept. 12, 1980.
“You will learn more from the people of God than all your years in the seminary,” Bishop Ricken said, quoting Bishop Tafoya. “Walk (with them), listen to them, and bring them home.”
Bishop Ricken read a declaration from the Vatican and Pope Leo XIV to close the homily.
“Meditate often on Jesus the Good Shepherd and ask him to guide you in your priesthood” was part of the message.
Applause broke out when Bishop Ricken announced that Fr. Stellpflug’s first priestly assignment is parochial vicar of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Manitowoc. Fr. Doug LeCaptain, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, said that he invited parishioners to the ordination Mass, especially to be a part of that moment of celebration. He said that the parish is accustomed to newly ordained priests serving the community and will provide a great welcome.
“(Fr. Stellplfug) visited so he could see the rectory,” Fr. LeCaptain said. “I showed him two of our three worship sites. We have a Mass in Spanish. He will serve in that ministry. Part of his ministry will also be as chaplain at Roncalli High School (Manitowoc).”
“I’m especially looking forward to celebrating Mass with the people,” said Fr. Stellpflug, who will start his assignment in Manitowoc on July 8. “Being gathered around the altar and being able to present the Word and the Bread of Life is a great gift.”
See more photos here: onmiss.io/nicoordination2025