Fr. Mark DeSutter, Pastor

Fr. Mark DeSutter is a priest of the Diocese of Peoria. He received his B.A. in history with a minor in Philosophy from St. Meinrad College, St. Meinrad, Indiana. He also did his post graduate work at St. Meinrad School of Theology receiving a Master of Divinity from there in 1982. He was ordained the same year. Fr. DeSutter went on to study at Creighton University in their Christian Spirituality program and he received a Masters in Christian Spirituality from that institution in 1998. He also received a certification in Spiritual Direction and is certified to direct Ignatian retreats. Both of these certifications were conferred by Creighton University.

Fr. Mark has served in parishes throughout the Peoria Diocese. He was a campus minister at the University of Illinois, Champaign and was the Newman Director at Western Illinois University for seven years.

He was the Pastor of Blessed Sacrament, Morton, Illinois for 14 years before he came to Sacred Heart Parish in June of 2014. Fr. Mark has given numerous people spiritual direction and he has been retreat master for many retreats and has presented many workshops throughout the diocese.

Fr. Mark is a native of Kewanee Illinois and is of Belgium descent. He has one sister (Josephine) who lives in Quincy, Illinois with her husband Tom. They have three children and four grandchildren.