The tarmac at JFK International Airport, one of the busiest transportation hubs in the world, came to a standstill on Nov. 12 as people paused to pay tribute to a man none of them had ever met — a U.S. Navy pilot who was killed in the Vietnam War more than half a century ago.
Father Edwin Ortiz believes that he wound up where he was always meant to be — in a parish serving as a priest. But he took a circuitous route to the priesthood that included working in St. John’s Cemetery and serving as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy.
Bill LaCovara of Astoria rattles off names, dates, and places of every major naval engagement in the Pacific during the last two years of World War II. He was there, serving aboard two destroyers — USS Wadleigh and USS Prichett. He was honored on Flag Day, June 14, at his parish, Immaculate Conception – Astoria.
The cause for sainthood for Maryknoll Father Vincent Capodanno, a U.S. Navy chaplain killed ministering to wounded Marines on a Vietnam War battlefield, has moved slightly forward, say those advocating canonization for the man they called the “grunt padre.”
On the 55th anniversary of his death in Vietnam, Maryknoll Father Vincent Capodanno was remembered at a Mass celebrated in his hometown in a chapel that bears his name.
Members of the Father Capodanno Guild recently were startled by a recommendation from Theological Consultants for a “suspension” of the chaplain’s cause for sainthood. The consultants said more information is needed to support the new “offering of life” path to sainthood established in 2017 by Pope Francis.
For the way he lived, and the way he died, there are those who believe that Father Vincent Capodanno deserves to be beatified and ultimately canonized as a saint.
Father Donelson Thevenin considers himself lucky to have had a wide range of experiences — from ministering to parishioners at churches to counseling sailors aboard battleships as a U.S. Navy chaplain.
The father-daughter reunion at a Catholic school in suburban Chicago was weeks in the making. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Konrad Otachel recently made a surprise visit to St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School in Palatine to see his daughter, Naomi, a kindergartner.
The commander of U.S. Navy Region Southwest in San Diego announced late Sept. 8 that for at least the next year, she was reversing her earlier decision to end Catholic services on three Navy bases.
