St. John Mary Vianney Latin Mass Community is a chaplaincy under the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas administered by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). The FSSP is a clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, canonically erected by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988. FSSP priests serve in apostolates across the world, with the faithful celebration of the traditional Latin Mass and Sacraments.

St. John Vianney Chapel (14611B Waterman Crossing Rd, Maple Hill, KS) is located near Maple Hill, Kansas roughly 20 miles west of Topeka, Kansas and 2 miles north of I-70 at the Maple Hill Exit (Exit 341).

St. John Vianney serves Catholics across this region offering the Traditional Latin Mass and Sacraments (i.e. Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite). Our community is faithful to Tradition and faithful to the Magisterium. Our priests administer to the faithful with explicit faculties from the local ordinary, Archbishop Joseph Naumann. Mass and Confession are offered daily.

Please contact us by telephone or email if you would like additional information about our community not provided elsewhere on our website.

The present Latin Mass Community of St. John Mary Vianney began with a small group of Catholic faithful who desired to attend the traditional Latin Mass in full communion with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and who persevered in their greater goal of having daily Mass and complete sacramental life in the traditional rite. The first step came in 1989 when Archbishop Ignatius Strecker, under the 1984 Papal Indult, permitted the traditional Latin Mass to be offered alternately in Kansas City and in Topeka at Most Pure Heart parish.

The spring of 1993 saw the arrival of Fr. John Rizzo who was willing to serve the group of “traditional” Catholics while seeking incardination in the diocese and Mass was offered in various places.

At Easter of 1994, Fr. Rizzo was accepted into the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Arrangements were made enabling him to offer Sunday Mass in St. Stanislaus Church, Rossville, and at St. Joseph’s in Topeka. Thanks to the support of Msgr. Arthur Trompeter, Frs. Carl and Earl Dekat, and Fr. Tim Haberkorn, the FSSP Sunday Mass continued without interruption at St. Joseph’s until 2018. Also in 1994, recently appointed Archbishop James Keleher officially invited the Fraternity to work in the Archdiocese and two FSSP communities were established: St. Philippine Duchesne in Kansas City and St. John Vianney Latin Mass Community in Maple Hill. Soon, a house in Maple Hill would be acquired for use as a rectory. From the beginning the Fraternity has supplied assistant priests and seminarians to help the chaplain at St. John Vianney.

Fr. Peter Gee became the Community’s second chaplain in 1996, followed in 1998 by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, a Franciscan working with the FSSP. At this time daily Mass was offered at St. Stanislaus, Rossville, where, by that time, the school was housed in the church basement.

The fourth chaplain, Fr. Michael Irwin, FSSP, arrived in August of 2000, and under his leadership the Community moved to acquire a permanent home. Permission was received to build in Maple Hill which had never had a Catholic church since the town’s founding in 1887. In November of 2000, ten acres were acquired, and groundbreaking took place the following July. In the spring of 2002, construction began on the chapel, adjoining school wing, and rectory. Parishioners assisted with uncounted hours of labor. School opened in the new premises in September, and the chapel was dedicated by Archbishop Keleher on October 20, 2002. With the acquisition of a permanent home, St. John Vianney has grown steadily.

Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP, appointed chaplain in 2003, acquired additional acreage, as well as prefabricated buildings to increase classroom space. In 2005, coadjutor Bishop Joseph Naumann was appointed head of the diocese, and has continued to support the work of St. John Vianney. The sixth chaplain, Fr. John Fongemie, FSSP, was followed in 2008 by Fr. James Gordon, FSSP, who enlarged the rectory to provide the priests with office space for working and receiving visitors. Fr. John Rickert, FSSP, a native Kansan, became the community’s eighth chaplain in July 2012. Fr. Carlos Casavantes arrived in July 2016, followed by the return of Fr. Eric Flood in July 2017. In July 2018 the Sunday Mass in Topeka was discontinued and an additional Mass was added in Maple Hill.

Thanks to the perseverance of a handful of faithful Catholics twenty years ago, St. John Vianney continues to flourish and grow as new families learn about the availability of the traditional Mass and school in northeast Kansas. A project to expand the Chapel was completed in November 2021 to accommodate our growing numbers.