Father Fred Bugarin is one of very few priests ever ordained in Alaska. He immigrated from the Philippines with his father in 1963 and attended Anchorage’s first Catholic junior high school before graduating from West High School in 1967. Ordained to the priesthood in 1975, he served four decades in parishes from Wasilla to Kodiak to Anchorage. Father Fred retired as pastor at St. Anthony’s in Anchorage in 2015. For the past year he’s been working in his native Philippines with an environmental project called “Eco Genesis” -- partly inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, “On Care for Our Common Home.”

Note that the 11:00 AM service is a traditional service. There is music, inspirational readings, a presentation by the speaker usually followed by discussion.