WASHINGTON, D.C.— Slain Vietnam War hero, the Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, CHC, LT, USN (1929-1967), gave witness to the hope of salvation through the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ: “We have been bought at the high price of the Blood of the Lamb. Father Capodanno showed that he understood that when he was willing to shed his own blood in service to his Marines.” His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, delivered that message Wednesday night to a packed congregation in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Archbishop Broglio preached the homily at the live televised annual Memorial Mass for Father Capodanno of Staten Island, NY, a Maryknoll missionary, U.S. Navy chaplain, posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor, and whose Cause for Sainthood has been advanced. A standing-room-only congregation of more than 400 faithful gathered for the Mass, which is celebrated annually around the anniversary of Father Capodanno’s death—this year marks the 57th—from multiple gunshots on a Vietnam battlefield. Father Capodanno was killed at the age of 38 on Sept. 4, 1967, as he scrambled to minister to outnumbered U.S. Marines under ambush in Vietnam’s Quế Sơn Valley while they carried out “Operation Swift” against the North Vietnamese Army.
Reflecting on the Gospel, Luke 4:38-44, wherein Jesus, after a day of teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, cures Apostle Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever and heals multitudes from their afflictions, Archbishop Broglio noted: “All of us can relate to that scene. At the end of a full day, the phone rings and one more request is made. We have perhaps been pushed to our limits with responsibilities or the challenges of illness, and the tensions in our society. Then we look to a Father Capodanno and we see his ever ready spirit, his attention to his Marines. Many incentives draw us to this night. Fundamentally we come to the perfect prayer to learn from a great chaplain how to serve and how to give your all to another.”
Archbishop Broglio was joined at the altar by Auxiliary Bishops F. Richard Spencer, Neal J. Buckon, and Joseph L. Coffey, Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde of Arlington, VA, and retired AMS Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, and priests of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), including Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia Monsignor Anthony R. Frontiero, S.T.D., Judicial Vicar Father Mark Rutherford, J.C.L., former Chancellor Father Robert R. Cannon, J.C.D. Cand., and Vocations Director Father Marcel Taillon. The Rev. Mr. Erin Donlon and the Rev. Mr. Michael Sampson served as Deacons of the Mass.
Among those in the overflow congregation, where Basilica staff rushed to add seating with folding chairs, there were members of Father Capodanno’s family, some with whom he served, students all the way from Father Capodanno High School in Vass, NC, and dozens of midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy. Prominent among the congregants were Rear Admiral Gregory N. Todd, Chief of Navy Chaplains; Rear Admiral Carey H. Cash, Chaplain of the Marine Corps; Father Capodanno’s niece, Ms. Linda Capodanno Sargent, Esq.; and Mr. Bob Pinkerton, a U.S. Marine who served with Father Capodanno in Vietnam. Ms. Sargent and Mr. Pinkerton served as gift bearers. Naval Academy midshipmen gathered in choir raised voices in sacred song.
Extolling Father Capodanno’s ever-faithful discipleship, Archbishop Broglio observed in his homily, “This courageous chaplain we remember today was consistent in his gift of self: daily first as a missionary in far off lands and then in his service to the Marines, ultimately giving his life as he ministered to them on the battlefield. The gift of self for another led him to the ultimate sacrifice. This perfect prayer convokes us this evening as we beg divine mercy for his soul and ask, in the spirit of the Word of God proclaimed, for the grace to make manifest the way to Christ, use the gifts received for the service of others.”
Read the full text of Archbishop Broglio’s homily here.
The Holy’s See’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints is still in the process of considering Father Capodanno’s Cause for Canonization. The Father Capodanno Guild has been established by Archbishop Broglio to promote awareness of the Servant of God and to seek prayerful support for his Cause. The Catholic Church requires at least one miracle attributed to a sainthood candidate in order for the candidate to be beatified. Anyone with information on Father Capodanno, including accounts of favors received through intercessory prayer, is asked to contact the Guild at capodannoguild.org or Ms. Mary Preece at https://www.capodannoguild.org
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