Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What a delight and privilege to be your Sacramental Minister at St. Pio Parish. I will be with you as long as I can until determined otherwise by higher ups. I want to make it very clear. I am with you as a Sacramental Minister NOT as a Pastor. I do not have nor do I seek any Administrative duties. These are things from which I retired. Thank you Jesus.

Here is a thumbnail biography. You'll learn more about me as I draw upon my life's experiences in my preaching and other comments.I was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 5, 1950. My parents, now deceased, were Antony and Mary Gruden nee Grajzar. I have an older sister, Louise and a younger brother Joe. I attended a Catholic Grade School, a Catholic High School, a Catholic College and two, yes two, Catholic Seminaries. One Seminary in Kensington, NSW, Australia, St. Paul's National Seminary and the Toronto School of Theology. The Kensington Seminary was a stone's throw from the Sydney Opera House. More about Australia later.

At one time, for twenty-five plus years, I was a member of the Society of Mary aka Marianists. We are an order of Priests and Brothers. I entered the Novitiate right after High School and eventually became a teaching Brother. Upon graduation I offered to go to Australia where my Order administered two schools for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. In 1988 I returned to the States after fourteen years only because we had to withdraw our services to the Archdiocese because of dropping numbers of Religious. It was then that I switched over to Parish work.

I left the Marianist Order and was accepted into the Diocese of Saginaw in 1993 and served there until the stroke of midnight June 30, 2022. Those midnight bells announced my retirement. I moved down here to Clinton Twp on June 27, 2022. Before moving I got all my clearances and paperwork from my Diocese and had them sent to this Archdiocese. Basically the paperwork states I'm "kosher" i.e. a priest in good standing and qualified and cleared to minister in the Archdiocese of Detroit. So here I am.
Stay tuned.

In Christ and Mary,

Fr. Bill Gruden
Sacramental Minister