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Fr. Anthony Craig, Guild Chaplain 2/8/25 -
Father Anthony is the son of Deacon David and Cheryl Craig of Pequot Lakes. He was an altar server at St. Alice Catholic Church. During high school, he competed in football, basketball, golf and track and field. He also acted in a number of theatre productions in high school and also at Central Lakes College while enrolled in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program.
After graduating from Pequot Lakes High School, he attended St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas where he majored in Catholic Studies and Philosophy. He earned a theology degree from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also studied in Rome at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He was ordained on July 15, 2011 for the Diocese of Duluth. He continued his studies at John Paul II Institute in Washington D.C. where he earned a Licentiate degree of Sacred Theology.
Father Anthony has served as an associate pastor in Hibbing, a pastor in Deer River, Ball Club and Federal Dam, pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Chisholm and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Buhl, and most recently Pastor of St. Joseph’s in Crosby and Our Lady of Fatima in Garrison. Since 2015 he has also worked as an assistant in the Office of Marriage, Family and life for the Diocese of Duluth. He is currently Pastor of Holy Family in Duluth.
Father Anthony has three brothers, two sisters and eleven nieces and nephews.
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Fr. Tony, Guild chaplain 8/4/20 - 2/8/25
The following is Fr. Tony’s auto-bio as written for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish newsletter from 7/30/20, as well as a snippet from an email:
...This Coronavirus isn’t helping us to get to meet and know each other. But hopefully this is a start. I was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, though my family spent much of our summers in the Brainerd Lakes Area, where my parents bought a lake-place when I was about 6 years old. Some of my happiest memories come from my years “on the lake.” My parents were born in Poland and then eventually immigrated to this nation after World War II, in very circuitous routes. So Polish language, culture, traditions and food were always a part of our family’s time together, and still are to this day. Of course, being Polish, it was almost automatic that my Catholic Faith would play a large role in my upbringing. We attended St. Casimir Church in St. Paul during most of the year, and then St. Emily’s in Emily when we were up at the cabin.
I always loved my Catholic Faith, and loved being involved in many aspects of Church life, so I guess it wasn’t a surprise to those who know me that I eventually entered the Seminary. Because the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate had served at St. Casimir’s since my birth, I entered their formation program at Creighton University, where I earned my undergraduate degree. Seminary was in Chicago at Catholic Theological Union. I did take 3 years out of formation from 1990-1993, not ready to make a lifetime commitment as a priest. After re-entering formation in 1993, I was ordained a priest on June 10, 1995.
Since then, I have served as Associate Pastor and then Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Duluth, Minnesota, at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois, and after I joined the Diocese of Duluth as a diocesan priest as Pastor of the Brainerd area Catholic Churches of St. Francis, St. Mathias, St. Andrew’s, All Saints and St. Thomas. My parents permanently moved to Emily in 1995, and still live on the Lake in retirement. I have 2 sisters, both who live in the St. Paul area; one is a retired Police officer, and the other does communications and education consulting. That’s just a small snippet of my life. I hope to have many years with you, so that we can come to know each other much better.
[Regarding being the Chaplain of St. Raphael’s Guild,] Bishop Muhich asked me to consider it. He knows that I obtained Certification through the NCBC for Biomedical Ethics. I served on the Ethics Committee of St. Joseph Hospital in Brainerd for 12 years. So it should be a good fit. The answer is yes, and I am looking forward to it.
-Fr. Tony