About St. Catherine · Promise, South Dakota
St. Catherine is a small Catholic mission church in Promise, South Dakota, serving the Sans Arc Lakota community on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. It is one of seven mission churches clustered into All Saints Parish, whose parish church is All Saints of Eagle Butte, with a shared pastorate and parish office. The mission shares All Saints Parish's weekend Mass rotation and is administered by the Diocese of Rapid City (formerly the Diocese of Lead, renamed 1930).
- Established
- 1906
- Patron
- St. Catherine
- Rector
- Fr. John Paul Trask
- Diocese
- Diocese of Rapid City
Why belong here
St. Catherine's is the Sunday-morning worship home for a small Sans Arc Lakota community on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, with weekly Mass offered every Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. Worshippers become part of All Saints Parish, a unified family of eight Catholic churches on the reservation that shares one pastor, one parish office, and a single mission of evangelization and pastoral care. For anyone seeking a quiet, faith-rooted Catholic mission grounded in Lakota country, St. Catherine's offers a regular liturgical rhythm, the sacraments, and the fellowship of a tight-knit multi-site parish family.
Mass times at St. Catherine
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. Catherine Mission, Promise
St. Catherine is one of seven mission churches of All Saints Parish on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in western South Dakota. The mission serves the Sans Arc Lakota community in and around Promise, and Sunday Mass is celebrated at 7:30 a.m. Worshippers, parishioners, and visitors are part of All Saints Parish, whose pastor lives in Eagle Butte and serves all seven mission communities within a roughly 20–80 mile radius. The parish office and mailing address are in Eagle Butte, while St. Catherine's itself sits along Promise Road in Promise, SD 57601.
History
Catholic mission presence at Promise dates back to the early 1900s. Marquette University's archives document St. Catherine / St. John the Evangelist Mission (Sans Arc Lakota) at Promise / Moreau River from 1906 onward. From 1933, the mission was administered by the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (S.C.J., Dehonians) as part of their Sans Arc mission band on the Cheyenne River Reservation, alongside St. Therese / St. Paul at White Horse and St. Joseph at Ridgeview. After the S.C.J. era, pastoral care of the cluster returned to diocesan clergy under the Diocese of Rapid City (originally the Diocese of Lead, renamed in 1930).
- 1906 – St. Catherine / St. John the Evangelist Mission documented at Promise / Moreau River.
- 1933 – Sacred Heart Fathers (S.C.J.) begin administration as part of the Cheyenne River Reservation missions.
- 2026 – Diocese of Rapid City designates St. Catherine, Promise, to become an oratory of All Saints Parish.
Wider All Saints Parish Pastorate
All Saints Parish spans the southern end of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and is one unified Catholic community spread across eight worship sites. The parish church is All Saints in Eagle Butte; St. Catherine in Promise is one of seven mission churches. The pastor and parochial vicars live in Eagle Butte and travel to serve each mission. The formalized beginning of Catholic institutional life in this area can be traced to 1901, when Fr. John Vogel became the first resident priest at the Old Agency on the Missouri River. All Saints Church of Eagle Butte was founded in 1910, incorporated in 1911, and Vogel became its first resident pastor in 1912.
- Parish church: All Saints, Eagle Butte
- Immaculate Conception — Bridger
- Sacred Heart — Dupree
- Sacred Heart — Red Scaffold
- St. Catherine's — Promise
- St. Joseph's — Cherry Creek
- St. Joseph's — Ridgeview
- St. Theresa's — White Horse
Clergy & Pastoral Leadership
St. Catherine's is served by the clergy of All Saints Parish under the Diocese of Rapid City. As of the 2026 clergy assignments, Fr. John Paul Trask remains Pastor of All Saints in Eagle Butte, with St. Catherine in Promise (and Sacred Heart in Red Scaffold) designated to be converted into oratories of All Saints Parish. In recent years, the parish has also been served by Holy Spirit Fathers from India's Sanjeev Sadana Society who were assigned as parochial vicars to All Saints Church and its missions.
- Fr. John Paul Trask — Pastor, All Saints Parish (2026 assignments)
- Fr. Francis Nwakile — Parochial Vicar (until 2026 reassignment to Blessed Sacrament, Rapid City)
- Fr. Dan Juelfs — former pastor of All Saints Parish
- Fr. Biju Joseph Chirathara — Superior, Sanjeev Sadana Society (Holy Spirit Fathers)
- Fr. John Praveen Kumar Itukulapati — Parochial Vicar, Holy Spirit Fathers
- Fr. George Vincent Savarimuthu — Parochial Vicar, Holy Spirit Fathers
Visiting & Contact
St. Catherine's is located on Promise Road in Promise, South Dakota 57601, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Parish administration for the cluster — including sacramental records, scheduling, and pastoral care — is handled through the All Saints Parish office in Eagle Butte.
- Address: Promise Rd., Promise, SD 57601
- Parish phone: 605-964-3391
- Parish office: All Saints Parish, 109 E. Heritage Ave., PO Box 110, Eagle Butte, SD 57625
- Diocesan listing: rapidcitydiocese.org/location/promise-st-catherine
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. John Vogel1901–1912 (first resident priest on the reservation; served the broader pastorate that today includes St. Catherine's)
First resident priest at the Old Agency on the Missouri River; became first resident pastor of All Saints Church of Eagle Butte in 1912.