July 24, 2023 // Diocese

Father Wilson Corzo Celebrates 25 Years of Priesthood

Denise Fedorow

Freelance Writer

Father Wilson Corzo

Father Wilson Corzo, Pastor of Our Lady of Hungary, South Bend, said his vocation to the priesthood began as a young teen.

He recalled that he was about 14 years old when a priest came to his school – the Director of Vocations – and he spoke to each class. That was when Father Corzo first felt he was called to the priesthood. The priest invited the young men if they were interested in entering the seminary to speak to him afterward. Father Corzo did speak to him after school, stayed in touch, and after completing 9th grade, he entered the minor seminary.

He lived at the minor seminary in Colombia, his native country, for the rest of his high school years and then entered the seminary. He was ordained on December 12, 1998, and served a year and a half as a parish priest and also as chaplain at a hospital run by the Dominican sisters.

He came to the United States in July of 2000. He served as Parochial Vicar at St. Vincent de Paul in Elkhart for eight years, then was installed as Pastor at St. Patrick in Ligonier, where he served 14 years, including one year also serving at Blessed Sacrament in Albion. He was called to Our Lady of Hungary last summer.

Father Corzo spoke about the most meaningful part of being a priest. “Celebrating the Eucharist for me is the most special – celebrating all the sacraments, but especially the Eucharist. Not everybody has the gift to be able to transform bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the most special.”

Father Corzo said that throughout his 25 years as a priest, he’s had “generally good experiences at all the parishes. They’ve been very good communities and people.”

He said there aren’t any plans yet to celebrate his 25th jubilee, but said maybe he’d like to celebrate Mass and have a meal with the community at Our Lady of Hungary. He said he would also wish to go back and do the same with the community at St. Patrick, where he served the longest.

Father Corzo encourages young men to “think about the vocation of priesthood. It’s very nice, the ministry of priesthood, to be able to celebrate the sacraments and it’s amazing to help so many people and the community.”

“We need more priests, so I invite young men to think about it and come to the priesthood,” said Father Corzo.