Pasotti named interim director at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House
St. Pius X parishioner Sandy Pasotti, guest services manager at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis, has been named interim director of the retreat house by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein. Her appointment is effective on July 1. Rick Wagner, the current director, also a St. Pius X parishioner, recently accepted a position as principal of St. Theodore Guérin High School in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese.
By Mary Ann Wyand
Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis begins a new chapter in the history of its archdiocesan ministry on July 1 with the appointment of Sandy Pasotti as interim director.
Pasotti, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis, has served as guest services manager at Fatima Retreat House for three and a half years.
Her appointment was announced on June 14 by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein and Charles Gardner, executive director for spiritual life and worship for the archdiocese.
Gardner said Pasotti will provide firm leadership for the ministry and work with the advisory board during the search for the new executive director.
She will be responsible for supervising eight full-time and 12 part-time staff members and overseeing a variety of
one-day and weekend retreats as well as programs sponsored by outside groups.
Pasotti said retreat programs are already planned for the remainder of 2007 and spring of 2008 so the ministry will continue smoothly during the transition.
She succeeds Rick Wagner, who has served as executive director of the retreat house since March 2004.
Wagner recently accepted a position as principal of St. Theodore Guérin High School in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese., which opened three years ago and now has 375 students.
He formerly served as a teacher and athletic director at Bishop Chatard High School in the Indianapolis North Deanery from 1997 to 2004.
Pasotti worked with Wagner at Bishop Chatard as executive assistant for the athletic department before accepting the guest services position at the retreat house.
Wagner has 13 years of experience in Catholic secondary education as a teacher, coach and administrator.
“While it is very exciting to become a principal, I am leaving a lot of wonderful people at Fatima,” Wagner said. “I have appreciated the opportunity to be at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House.”
During his time as director, Wagner said, the staff worked hard to expand programs and activities to attract new people of all ages to the retreat center as well as welcome faithful participants back with more opportunities for “Spirit-driven Renewal,” Fatima’s ministry theme.
“We tried to offer as many different types of programs as we could here,” he said. “We’re particularly proud of programs such as the Mornings for Moms.”
Father James Moriarty, who was named Fatima’s first director in 1950, coordinated a fundraising campaign to move the retreat house debt-free from the former Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Convent on Raymond Street to a new retreat facility on a 13-acre wooded site at 5353 E. 56th St. in 1963.
He was succeeded by Msgr. Kenny C. Sweeney, who directed Fatima’s retreat ministry from 1967 to 1976.
Since then, lay people have directed the archdiocese’s now
57-year-old retreat ministry.
Gardner, who oversees the archdiocesan Office of Worship and the retreat house, said it has been a pleasure to work with Wagner during a transitional time in Fatima’s history.
“He has done a very fine job during that time,” Gardner said. “He brought new faces to the retreat house by capitalizing on some of his connections within Catholic education. He also assembled a superb staff, and they work extremely well together. We’re sorry to lose him, but I understand the depth of his dedication to Catholic education.”
Gardner said Pasotti has been responsible for managing many of the day-to-day operations of the retreat center, including the kitchen and housekeeping staffs, as well as scheduling groups that are not Fatima-generated programs.
Cheryl McSweeney, program director, coordinates Fatima’s retreat schedule.
Gardner said Pasotti is “very personable, welcoming and cares very much about the retreat ministry.”
He said an interim director was named because the archbishop would like to spend more time making a decision about a permanent director.
Pasotti and her husband, Dave, are the parents of three sons. David attends Purdue University, Nick is an Indiana University student and Michael attends Bishop Chatard High School.
“It’s really fulfilling for me to be a part of people’s experiences here,” she said. “It’s been a blessing to be able to meet and get to know so many people from the community.”
Pasotti said Fatima’s “very dedicated staff and 110 active volunteers” are looking forward to the fall and winter program schedule as well as the installation of a new elevator and handicap-accessible restroom this summer.
“The archdiocese has been very supportive of what we have done here,” she said. “We want to continue in that direction and build on that to add new programs … always trying to meet people where they are in their faith life and offer programs that will appeal to many different groups. I hope people don’t notice the change too much. We’re a team and … we all do our part to help keep Fatima a living and growing place.”
(For more information about retreats and other programs at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House, call 317-545-7681 or check the Web site at www.archindy.org/fatima.) †
