CATALDO - For more than 30 years, Father Thomas Connolly, S.J., has come here to the Cataldo Mission for the annual Feast of Assumption, celebrated by the Catholic church and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

For the 81-year-old priest, Sunday marked his last Feast of Assumption as the priest who serves DeSmet, Plummer and Worley. He's retiring.

"Each year it kind of reinforces the feelings of the past, except so many of those old-timers that I knew so well are not here this year," Connolly said.

During the event, mass was held in the shade below the trees in the grassy area beside the Mission building, which was constructed between 1850 and 1853 by Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

Bishop Michael Driscoll of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, who attended the event, said Connolly has been important to the Tribe for a long time.

Driscoll said, "I call him a shaman, in the sense that he is such a key personal and spiritual figure, especially among the Coeur d'Alene peoples."

Connolly said, "I've been here with the Coeur d'Alenes for 33 years. I'm sure I'll come back for the feast day, but I won't have to worry about trying to put everything together for all the ceremonies."

Calvin Nomee, a member of the tribe and the DeSmet Catholic church, called the more than 30 years he's spent working with Connolly "the greatest treasure in the world."

Nomee said, "He's one of my people. He knows the language - better than some of my people know the language."

Nomee, 55, said it will be hard to lose his "brother."

Connolly said there is some sadness in leaving.

But, "There's a certain joy in remembrances of all the wonderful people and the great things we've done over the years," he said.

Father Jerry Graham, S.J., will be the new priest at DeSmet, Plummer, and Worley. He'll be starting next month, he said.

The Feast of Assumption event included tribe dances and music, with some younger members of the tribe wearing colorful dancing regalia.

About 200 people attended the religious ceremonies and lunch.

Connolly said the Mission building brings a powerful presence to the event.

"We still have hand prints on the inside walls of the people who built this building," he said. "And you feel something of their presence here every time you come back."