Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend Paul J. Swain from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Sioux Falls and has appointed Reverend Donald Edward DeGrood to succeed him. Father DeGrood is a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Father DeGrood was born February 14, 1965, in Fairbault, MN, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on May 31, 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul and attended St. Paul Seminary, where he graduated in 1997. In 2009, he participated in the Institute for Continuing Education at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
Assignments after ordination include Parochial Vicar at All Saints Parish in Lakeville (1997-2000); Spiritual Director at Saint John Vianney Seminary (2000-2004); Pastor at Church of St. Peter in Forest Lake (2004-2013); Vicar for Clergy (2013-2017); Pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Saint Paul (2013-2015). Since 2017, he has been Pastor at St. John the Baptist Parish in Savage.
Bishop-elect DeGrood has also served on the Archdiocesan Incardination Committee, the Ministerial Review Board, the Ministerial Standards Board, the Pastors Review Board, and the Clergy Review Board. He has also been a member of the ad hoc committees related to the Archdiocesan Clergy Support Initiative (mentoring, continuing education, substance abuse, and addiction, etc.). He presently serves on the board of the Seminaries of Saint Paul.
The Diocese of Sioux Falls is comprised of 35,091 square miles in the state of South Dakota and has a total population of 570,605 of which 110,386 are Catholic.
