Dwight priest covering World Youth Day for EWTN

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BY CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star

Within weeks of starting his new job as pastor at Assumption Catholic Church in Dwight, the Rev. Peter Mitchell had already become a regular at local baseball games.

He organized a barbecue for the players, high school boys, many of whom are parishioners. And he's spent a lot of time visiting with community members both in Dwight and at his other parish, St. Wenceslaus in Bee, said longtime Assumption Church secretary Sharon Nemec.

But that's not why people are talking about Mitchell.

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Mitchell

Mitchell

Mitchell, 31, is in Cologne, Germany, for World Youth Day this week. He's one of four co-anchors covering the event for the Catholic television network EWTN.

"Everyone's really excited about it, to know that our father is in Germany and he's going to be on TV," Nemec said. "People have been talking about setting their VCRs."

Mitchell, who started at both parishes on June 13, just recently made his television debut. He was in Rome working on his church history degree when Pope John Paul II died in April. He started e-mailing friends and family about his experiences of being in Rome during such a dramatic time. Those e-mails soon started running on a Web site called Godspy.com. A network affiliate in his hometown of Milwaukee ran across his e-mails and asked him to deliver live reports from the Vatican, which he did.

To Mitchell, working in news felt natural.

"I felt God wanted me there," he told the Southern Nebraska Register, a publication of the Diocese of Lincoln, last month. "I had a real sense of getting an extraordinary grace."

And the young priest became a bit of a celebrity, in Dwight, Bee and beyond.

"We're certainly very proud of him," said Monsignor Timothy Thorburn of the diocese.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Thorburn hadn't caught Mitchell on television yet.

"But I haven't been watching 24-7 either," he said.

Those who want to catch Mitchell still have a chance. He will co-host a EWTN show called "Life on the Rock Live" tonight at 7. He'll also work on other stories about World Youth Day through Friday.

And then he'll return to Nebraska, where his new parishioners will be waiting for him.

Nemec is excited for his return.

She's eager to hear about World Youth Day, the first with Pope Benedict XVI.

And she's also interested to see how having such a worldly priest will affect her parish.

"I think it teaches the people here that the church goes beyond little Dwight, Nebraska," she said, "that it's worldwide."

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com. Correspondent Nick Benes contributed to this story.