The Nation - News from July 18, 1986

The Roman Catholic Church, in what is believed to be a first, named a lay woman to share the ministry of an established parish. Elaine Blondin Kriedel, a Yale Divinity School graduate, and Father Daniel F. McSheffery will work together at the 1,100-family St. Augustine’s parish in North Branford, Conn., starting Aug. 1, McSheffery said. The appointment grew out of a program established in 1981 by the Most Rev. John F. Whealon, archbishop of Hartford. The archdiocese said the Vatican had no direct role in the appointment.