Archbishop Broglio Visits Chaplain School

As the chaplains prepare to enter their last week of class before graduation on Friday, June 22 - the Catholic Priests in the class have a special privilege and treat - our "Endorser" has come to visit: Archbishop Timothy Broglio - the Archbishop for Military Services, USA.  During his visit to Fort Jackson, Archbishop Broglio celebrated Mass for all the priests and seminarians who are attending the Army, Navy and Air Force chaplain schools - he will also have dinner with them all.  On Sunday he will celebrate 2 Masses - one at the "Solomon Center" - the main gym - where each Sunday 100's of soldiers who are here for training attend Mass.  Then a second Mass at the main base chapel.  

To begin his trip, Father Bateman was privileged to assist Archbishop Broglio as he dedicated the chapel in the Air Force/Navy building to Chaplain Vincent Cappadano - a Priest Chaplain assigned to the First Marine Division in Vietnam in April 1966. Here is some information about Father Cappadano:

At 4:30 am, September 4, 1967, during Operation Swift in the Thang Binh District of the Que Son Valley, elements of the 1st Battalion 5th Marines encountered a large North Vietnamese unit of approximately 2500 men near the village of Dong Son.  The outnumbered and disorganized Company D was in need of reinforcements.  By 9:14 am, twenty-six Marines were confirmed dead and another company of Marines was committed to the battle.  At 9:25 am, the commander of 1st Battalion 5th Marine requested further reinforcements.

Father Capodanno went among the wounded and dying, giving last rites and taking care of his Marines. Wounded once in the face and having his hand almost severed, he went to help a wounded corpsman only yards from an enemy machinegun and was killed. His body was recovered and interred in his family's plot in Saint Peters Cemetery, West New Brighton, Staten Island, New York^.

On December 27, 1968, then Secretary of the Navy Paul Ignatius notified the Capodanno family that Lieutenant Capodanno would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of his selfless sacrifice. The official ceremony was held January 7, 1969.

 

On May 19, 2002, Capodanno's Cause for Canonization was officially opened, and so he is now referred to as a Servant of God.  In May 2004 the Initial Documentation was submitted to The Congregation for the Causes of Saints with CatholicMil, later renamed Mission Capodanno, acting as Petitioner and Father Daniel Mode named Postulator.  On May 21, 2006 a Public Decree of Servant of God was issued by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.  The statement was made by then Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien in Washington D.C.