From Military.com:
“US Army
Chaplain Emil Kapaun Advancing Toward Sainthood”
At the end of a
small cemetery on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross, the Jesuit
college where I teach, is the grave of Joseph O'Callahan, former professor of
mathematics. O'Callahan is one of the
few Catholic military chaplains to have been awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor, for his heroic actions during World War II. Only five Catholic priests
have received this highest American military honor. Two of them are in the
process of being considered for the highest honor recognized in Catholicism:
becoming a canonized saint. They are Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain killed
in Vietnam while assigned to a Marine unit in 1967, and Emil Kapaun, an Army
chaplain who died in a prison camp during the Korean War in 1951 -- and whose remains
were recently identified by the Pentagon. What interests me as a specialist in
medieval liturgy and worship is the connection between military bravery and
spiritual heroism. Kapaun was captured while ministering, unarmed, to wounded
and dying soldiers in active battle. His fellow soldiers lauded the way in
which he continued to assist other prisoners before dying of pneumonia in the
prison. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013. Kapaun's
spiritual heroism was also noted by those he served. A preliminary evaluation
of his sanctity, or "cause" for canonization, was accepted by Pope
John Paul II in 1993, and he was proclaimed "Servant of God." It is
not unusual for decades to pass before this approval; in fact, a mandatory
five-year waiting period has become a first step in the formal process of
becoming a saint. After this, officials in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas,
Kapaun's home, spent several years conducting a thorough investigation into his
life and ministry. A final report, called a "positio," was accepted
and approved by Vatican officials in 2016. Now, the pope must decide on
declaring Kapaun "Venerable," the third step toward canonization. It might seem unusual to associate priestly
ministry with the violence of war. In the early first century, Jesus himself
preached peace and nonviolence, instead of retaliation.
In some early
Christian communities during the second and third centuries, soldiers could be
accepted as candidates for baptism, the ritual immersion in water necessary for
becoming a member of the church, only if they refused to kill other human
beings. In addition, Christians who wanted to become soldiers would be rejected
by some Christian communities. However, this was not a universal practice and,
in other Christian communities, Christians did enter military service in the
Roman imperial legions. In fact, by the end of the third century, Roman
emperors would attempt to purge their army of all Christian soldiers. Christianity
as a religion was illegal in the Roman Empire during these early centuries.
However, at the beginning of the fourth century, Constantine, a military
commander, became emperor and legalized Christianity throughout the Roman
Empire. By the end of that century, Christianity had become the official
religion of the empire. But a Christian empire still needed to wage war and
spill blood to survive. During this time, the theologian Augustine began to
develop what came to be called the "Just War Theory." In the 13th
century, theologian Thomas Aquinas provided further explanation of how ordinary
lay Christians could, under certain conditions, engage in warfare. A war had to
be declared for just reasons and conducted by the appropriate authorities. The "legitimate"
killing of enemy combatants was accepted by Christian bishops and popes for
several more centuries. However, the role of bishops, priests and other
ordained clerics in warfare was less clear, because actual practice did not
always reflect theological ideals.
Conflicting
Practices During the Middle Ages, this "Just War Theory" was not
always followed in the heat of combat. Before the 12th century, it was not
uncommon for armed bishops to lead troops personally into battle and fight
themselves. Priests, too, could be called into military service.
However, the decrees of local Christian councils continued to forbid clerics
from carrying weapons and shedding blood. Even in the later medieval
period, the question of bishops and clerics serving in the military was
muddled. Priests did accompany Christian armies to provide moral and
sacramental support. But certainly, priests and monks, like the influential
abbot and spiritual author Bernard of Clairvaux, took active roles in preaching
in support of wars against heretics and Muslims as well. These religious
wars, the Crusades, took place between the 11th and 15th centuries. Popes such
as Urban II and Innocent III would call for Crusades to the Holy Land or areas
of Europe led by dissident secular rulers. Aquinas himself offers two
apparently contradictory opinions on the role of clergy in wars. He concluded
that they could not fight as soldiers because they would be obliged to shed
blood, but elsewhere he defended the founding of religious orders of soldiers
who would fight to defend the church and the poor. Most members of these orders
did take religious vows but were unordained laymen.
Patron Saint
of Military Chaplains Even in pre-Christian times, religious figures
accompanied armies to the battlefield and offered sacrifices and blessings for
their victories. This continued to be true in medieval and modern Europe and,
later, in the United States. Catholics already venerate one saint as the
patron saint of military chaplains. He is St. John of Capistrano, a
15th-century lawyer and politician who became a Franciscan friar and a famous
preacher. Nicknamed the "Soldier Saint," he personally led
troops into battle at the city of Belgrade in an effort to stop the advance of
a Muslim Turkish army into Europe. However, John of Capistrano is also
hugely controversial. His assumption of a military role was criticized because
some found it inappropriate for a priest. His constant campaigning against the
Jews reinforced existing hostility, leading to legal restrictions, anti-Semitic
violence and forced exile for many Jewish communities in parts of Germany and
Poland.
Kapaun as
Patron Saint? In the contemporary American military, regulations require
that chaplains go unarmed into combat; international law states that they may
not be treated as prisoners of war if captured, but must be treated with
respect and released. Apart from actually using weapons against enemy
forces, military chaplains share the experiences of other soldiers. Many come
under fire themselves, risking their own lives on active battlefields to
minister to the dying and rescue the wounded. Their service is to all personnel
regardless of differences in faith or religion -- for example, in conducting
funeral rites. For many Catholics, Kapaun's selfless actions during
combat and imprisonment would demonstrate extraordinary heroism, not just in
fighting the armed enemies, but also in what the Vatican calls "offering
of one's life" for other human beings. With the recent official
identification of Kapaun's remains, the next few stages to sainthood may
proceed more quickly. Diocesan officials note that part of the process involves
exhuming and securing the candidate's body, which had not been possible for
Kapaun until the return of American POW remains from their mass graves. For
the moment, perhaps his work as a Catholic chaplain could offer a resolution to
a centuries-old paradox: the pragmatic goals of military service and the
Christian call to a life of ultimate peacemaking.
^ Military
Chaplains have done so much to help the wounded, the dying, the sick, the
captured, the scared both during wartime and in peacetime. It would be nice to
see one become a Saint – especially since he died in captivity in North Korea.
^
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