Msgr. Richard Oswald
Msgr. Richard Oswald, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith and its mission in Hartford, suffered a stroke Friday, Jan. 2, and has been hospitalized at Sparks Health System.
Deacon Greg Pair, director of lay ministry at Immaculate Conception Church, said, “Msgr. Rich is improving, and that is a positive sign. He’s still in critical condition and has some hurdles to get over. We know he feels the prayers of the community, both local and statewide, and the doctors are encouraged. Please continue to pray for Monsignor, his family and the caregivers.”
The pastor comes from a large extended family who rallied around him at the hospital, and relatives set up a Web page at www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardoswald to post regular journal entries on his condition.
For the first entry, dated Jan. 5, it said, “His condition remains very serious … His most serious problem for the moment is his kidneys, which were damaged after the stroke.”
By Jan. 6 more than 34 messages, mainly from parishioners in Fort Smith and former parishioners in Rogers, were posted on the Web page for the priest.
Msgr. Oswald has served Fort Smith since 2006. From 1988 to 2006 he was the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers. The Little Rock native celebrated his 69th birthday on Dec. 26.
