He’s no longer simply “Father Vince.”

Now you can call him Monsignor Vince Krische.

At 7 a.m. Friday Mass, Krische shared the news with worshippers that he officially has been elevated to monsignor — a high honor in the Roman Catholic Church approved by Pope John Paul II himself.

That makes Krische, 66, the longtime director of St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Road, the first Lawrence priest to bear that title in more than 40 years. Monsignor George Towle was pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church from 1946 to 1964.

Krische also becomes the first monsignor to serve St. Lawrence, the Catholic Church’s ministry to Kansas University.

“I’m very grateful. It lends kind of an approval to everything we’ve been doing (at St. Lawrence); it lends credibility to our work. I think it will be a lot of help to us as we continue our development for the students here,” Krische said Friday afternoon.

“There is a level of respect attached to the title of monsignor. It will help people to think that St. Lawrence Center is more important.”

Archbishop Emeritus James P. Keleher announced Friday that six priests of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas — Krische among them — have been elevated to monsignor, effective immediately.

The names of the six men were submitted by Keleher to the Vatican for consideration before he retired Jan. 15, and he only recently received news that Pope John Paul II had granted his request.

Vince Krische also becomes the first monsignor to serve St. Lawrence

Four of the priests, including Krische and the Rev. Raymond Burger, a retired priest who served as pastor of Eudora’s Holy Family Catholic Church, have been named Chaplains of His Holiness, one class of the monsignor title.

Keleher named only four other monsignors during his 12 years in the archdiocese.

Of the six priests elevated to monsignor, Krische is the only one who is director of a campus ministry. Four of the other men are parish priests, and Burger is retired.

Krische, ordained 40 years ago, started his priestly ministry in parish work, but he has served full time at St. Lawrence since 1977.

St. Lawrence is considered a campus ministry, not a parish. The city has two parishes, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1234 Ky., and Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 6001 Bob Billings Parkway.

For Krische, word that he would be elevated to monsignor came largely out of the blue.

Keleher called him Monday to break the news and tell him it would be publicly announced Friday.

Back from sabbatical (02-05-05)

“He had given me a couple of hints before. I was at a couple of events, and he said, ‘I’ve got something nice in the works for you.’ But I really had no idea,” Krische said.

St. Lawrence staff actually learned about Krische’s new title before he did.

“The funny thing is that they knew more than I knew. I don’t know how; I’m trying to find that out. I think it leaked out of the (archdiocese) Chancery office,” he said, laughing.

Day to day, little will change for Krische, other than a change of attire at some events, such as a formal dinner or a visit to Lawrence by a cardinal or archbishop.

Chaplains of His Holiness are distinguished by the purple buttons, trimming and sash worn with their cassocks.

The title carries a certain weight among Catholics.

“Probably people will be calling me Monsignor Krische rather than Monsignor Vince,” Krische said.