VA Travels

BY BISHOP JOSEPH COFFEY

One of the great joys of being the Vicar for Veterans Affairs for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, is the opportunity to make pastoral visits to the wonderful Catholic priests who work as chaplains in our Nation’s VAMC’s (Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers).

On a recent trip, I visited our priests in San Diego and San Francisco, CA; Albuquerque, NM; St. Cloud and Minneapolis, MN; and Tomah, WI. At the VA Medical Center in San Francisco, I celebrated Mass with Father Paulinus Iwuji and Father Alejandro De Jesus, the Chief Chaplain for that Medical Center. He is also the president of the National Conference of Veterans Affairs Catholic Chaplains, which the VA priest-chaplains are happy to join. The members help each other take the necessary steps to

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ABOVE: CATHOLIC VOLUNTEERS AT THE MINNEAPOLIS VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM (L-R): JEANNE ZELLMER, MARY FOLTA, BROTHER JOHN MARY KASPARI F.B.P., BISHOP JOSEPH COFFEY, BROTHER JAMES VOELLER, F.B.P., FATHER DAMIEN SCHILL, CHERYL HEINZ, AND DR. PAUL DICKINSON.

become Board Certified chaplains and obtain the units of Clinical Pastoral Education required by the VA. After Mass and lunch in the VA canteen, we continued planning the annual convention of the National Conference of Veteran’s Affairs Catholic Chaplains (NCVACC). Unfortunately, restrictions imposed by the various VA Medical Centers obliged the cancellation of the convocation.

After visiting Fathers Ivan Torres and Francis Bijoy at the VAMC in Albuquerque, NM, I made a delightful side trip to Santa Fe, NM. I saw the miraculous staircase of the Chapel of Loretto. If you have not heard of it, it is worth a “Google”. In 1880, the Sisters needed a staircase from their chapel to the choir loft. So they made a nine-day Novena to my patron, St. Joseph. On the ninth day, a mysterious carpenter showed up and said he could help the Sisters. He made a beautiful spiral staircase out of wood and left without payment. Modern-day mechanical and structural engineers will admit they have no idea how it stands because there is no center beam to support the weight. However, it does seem possible that St. Joseph or someone he sent built it for the Sisters.

I then had great visits to see Father Doug Mullin, O.S.B., in St. Cloud, MN, Father Brian Plate in Tomah, WI, and Father Damien Schill hosted me in Minneapolis, MN. At

(L-R) FATHER PAULINUS IWUJI, FATHER ALEJANDRO DE JESUS, AND BISHOP JOSEPH COFFEY OUTSIDE THE VAMC SAN FRANCISCO, CA.

the VAMC in Minneapolis, we had 37 people at daily Mass: patients, staff, and volunteers.

Given these long months of the pandemic, it is good to recognize all our VA chaplains for their extraordinary care of veterans, their family members, and staff. Well done, Bravo Zulu to all of our dedicated VA priest-chaplains. V

BISHOP COFFEY DISTRIBUTING HOLY COMMUNION TO A VETERAN.