By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Bishop Dennis Walsh has announced four more priest assignments effective July 1. This includes two priests from India who will serve in our diocese.
Father Louis Hammond will become pastor of Sacred Heart Parish-Newton and Immaculate Conception Parish-Colfax. Currently he serves as chaplain at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City. Born in 1966, he attended the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, Africa. He completed theology studies at St. Peter Regional Seminary in Cape Coast, Ghana, and advanced studies at Ghana Law School in Accra. On July 4, 1992, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Peter Kwaski Sarpong at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Cape Coast. Since arriving in the Diocese of Davenport in 2022, he has served as chaplain at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics-Iowa City.
Father Sijo James comes to the diocese and will serve as parochial vicar of St. John Parish-Houghton, St. James the Less Parish-St. Paul, St. Mary Parish-West Point and St. Boniface Parish-Farmington. Father James was born in 1984 and attended St. Mary Malankara Major Seminary in Nalanchira, India. He also has a licentiate and doctorate in systematic theology from Angelicum in Rome. He was ordained as a priest for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Diocese of Pathanamthitta, India, in 2010.
Father William E. Reynolds is relieved of assignment as administrator of Sacred Heart Parish-Newton and Immaculate Conception Parish-Colfax. He has been serving the parishes as administrator since September 2025.
Father Arulraj Dominic Savio is assigned as parochial vicar of Divine Mercy Parish-Burlington and St. Mary Parish-Dodgeville. He was born in 1973 and has a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Loyola College in Chennai, India; a master’s in psychology from the University of Madras in Chennai; bachelor of education from Indra Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi, India; bachelor of law from the Seshadripuram Law College in Bengaluru, India; bachelor in philosophy from Sacred Heart College in Poonamallee, Chennai; bachelor of theology from St. Paul Institute of Theology in Tiruchirappalli.
Father Savio was ordained to the priesthood in 2006 for the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, India. He speaks English, Spanish, Tamil and Indian languages.
