Ministry As Catholic Priest
As a young priest, Fushek was assigned to St. Jerome's Parish in Phoenix. There he began to work toward bringing children and especially teens back into the ministry. He founded an organization called Active Christian Teens (ACT). ACT sought to expand the ministry to teens and young adults, part of the religious community whom Fushek believed felt out of place in church.
In 1983 Fushek was transferred to St. Timothy's Catholic Parish in Mesa, Arizona. There, he founded Life Teen, a program that was similar to ACT at St. Jerome's. The program Fushek developed for teens proved extremely popular and numerous other parishes and dioceses began to develop Life Teen programs of their own. Fushek is no longer involved in Life Teen as of his resignation in 2005.
Fushek was instrumental in planning and organizing the 1987 visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States. He again played the lead in the 1989 visit of Mother Teresa. On April 19, 2000, Fushek was appointed to the post of Vicar General, second in command of the Diocese of Phoenix, by then Bishop Thomas O'Brien. On February 15, 2002, Fushek was named a Monsignor, an honorary title reserved for priests of distinction.
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