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**Fr. Kapaun worked like saint in prison

This is another in a series of articles about native-son Fr. Emil Kapaun whose cause for sainthood is being promoted by the Diocese of Wichita.
Father Kapaun did things which none of us could do. Would we sneak out of our own prison to comfort others? Would we risk death to forage food for starving prisoners? When we were given starvation rations ourselves, would we give part of them to others? Would we clean the latrine while others argued over whose turn it was? Would we use our ingenuity to make metal containers out of pilfered scrap, and gather scrap wood and bricks for a fire - all this in order to boil water to bathe the sores of the sick and to wash their filthy clothes? And when we say “filthy,” we mean undergarments covered with human excrement. And when we say “sores of the sick,” we mean horrid, smelly sores and the stench of men who could not raise themselves to go to the latrine. In addition to all this, would we be a person of joy when we ourselves were in constant pain? And would we give hope, when we probably realized that our own days were numbered? This is the stuff of saints. In Matthew’s Gospel, in the Judgment scene of chapter 24, Jesus tells of those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, visited the sick and those in prison. He says that whatever we did to the least of his brothers and sisters, we did to him Enter his joy!
This was Father Kapaun. He spread hope by constantly reminding the prisoners, “It won’t be long now; they will release us.” Whether he believed this or not, it gave hope to think it was true. And Father Kapaun would lead little “mind games.” In their starvation, he would lead the men to imagine the greatest meal that they were going to eat when they were released. They would enumerate the courses and the dishes, the smells and the tastes. Of course, it was all imagination, but it was a distraction from the wretched reality. Another of the pastimes was to tell the stories of “back home.” Father Kapaun would tell the stories of his life on the farm back in Pilsen, Kansas. And others would tell their stories. In these ways, as well as in his prayer and ministering, he gave hope.
When a person would die, Father Kapaun would be there. He would volunteer for the grave detail and provide a service of sorts. The testimonies of the men - officers and enlisted - who were with him in the prison camp converge on one thought. Whether they were Catholic or Jewish or Protestant or Muslim or of no religion, they all agreed that here was the greatest man they had ever known. They described him as a “man’s man.” But maybe we don’t have the vocabulary for it, He was what everyone of us might hope to be. In every way, he reflected the ideal man that God had in mind for us to be from all eternity. We call that kind of man a “saint.”
Daily ask Father Kapaun to intercede for your special needs. Daily ask the Lord to manifest the holiness of this man by raising him to the altars. That’s another way of saying “speedy canonization.”
In those bleak and wretched days of the POW camp, Father Kapaun and the men would reminisce about home. They would share stories as a means of keeping up their hope. We don’t know what stories Father Kapaun told, of course, but quite possibly he recounted his childhood and growth to manhood.
He was born in rural Kansas of Bohemian ancestry. Born on April 20, 1916, he was the first child of Enos and Elizabeth (Hajek) Kapaun. Nearly everyone around spoke Bohemian (Czech). The pastor of their parish Church of St. John Nepomucene at Pilsen gave the sermon in Bohemian. Pilsen is 40 miles south of the central Kansas town of Abilene, famous for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Emil’s father was born in Bohemia. His maternal grandparents were also from Bohemia. Emil’s only sibling was born eight years later.
(5/13/05)

**Fr. Kapaun was ‘feared’ by the Chinese

(This is another is a series of articles about diocesan native son Fr. Emil Kapaun, who died in a Korean prisoner of war camp. His sainthood cause has been taken up by the Diocese of Wichita.)
One of the reasons that the Chinese Communists separated the officers from the enlisted men was leadership. The Communists were afraid that any kind of leadership would interfere with their constant attempts to indoctrinate the men in Marxism.
The Communists constantly harangued the men: They were victims of a rotten, capitalistic system. One fanatic Communist who hated Americans with an insane hatred was Comrade Sun. Wall Street capitalism had exploited the men. Otherwise they would be at home and in peace.
Comrade Sun constantly revealed to them the “great truths” of Marxism. A few of the men would comment in unprintable words of contempt. They were thrown into a freezing hole or subjected to torture which sometimes resulted in death.
Sometimes the men would veil their ridicule in comments read to the others in Comrade Sun’s sessions: “According to the great doctrines taught us by the noble Stalin, Lenin, Marx, Engels, Amos, and Andy.” Comrade Sun did not tumble to the ridicule.
Strangely, they never punished him except by threats and warnings. Two officers who knew Father Kapaun well were taken away and tortured. With their hands tied behind them, they were lifted by ropes until their wrist joints pulled apart. They were then brought back to accuse him publicly.
They charged him with slandering the Chinese. They said that he advocated resistance to the Communists’ study program, and that he was hostile toward his captors. This much was true. They said that he had threatened men with courts martial on their return if they went along with the Chinese - which was not true. Father Kapaun never threatened anyone.
When the two officers returned after their ordeal, they were unsure of their welcome. Father Kapaun was the first to greet them. Looking at their twisted hands, he told them, “You never should have suffered a moment trying to protect me.”
They fully expected a farcical trial in which Father would be convicted, taken out, and never returned. Instead, they called him in, bullied him and threatened him.
The camp then realized what Father had apparently known all along: They were afraid of him. The recognized in him a strength which they could not stifle. They feared a mass rebellion if Father Kapaun was mistreated. Perhaps they realized that Father would eventually die because of his selfless spirit of sacrifice.
(4/08/05)

**Fr. Kapaun ministered in prison

This is another in a series of articles about diocesan son Fr. Emil Kapaun who died during the Korean War in a North Korean prisoner of war camp. The Diocese of Wichita has begun work on his canonization process.
There were about 4,000 men in the prison camp. Father Kapaun did his best to minister to as many as possible. We’ve mentioned how he would steal food to give to the starving. How he fashioned utensils out of scrap metal which he would use for boiling water to bathe wounds and wash clothes. How he would clean latrines while others argued over whose turn it was. How he would share a portion of his own meager rations of food with those who seemed to need more.
We probably haven’t mentioned that Father Kapaun himself was in constant pain. But few would ever know it, for he was a bastion of hope and joy. His legs had been swollen with frostbite on the original march to the north. They never quite recovered. Little by little, malnutrition took its toll in him. But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves.
Father was not able to celebrate Mass; his Mass kit had been lost when he was captured. He did manage to keep a violet stole and a vessel of holy oil with which he would anoint the dying. Religious services were forbidden by the Chinese.
But Father Kapaun did not let that stop him. At night he would escape the officer’s compound and go to two or three houses of the enlisted men. He would say, “Time for night prayer.” And the men would all say the Lord’s Prayer, after which they sang that only Protestant Revival hymn “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” And they’d add a bit of humor to the verses. Father Kapaun would help in any way he could -- washing people with bowel problems and washing their underwear.
On Good Friday, he made a cross of some wood. He borrowed a rosary from one of the men (Joseph O’Connor from Canada) whenever he needed a crucifix. He led the Stations of the Cross, which seemed very close to the agony the men were enduring. On Easter Sunday, in the yard of a burned out Church, Father Kapaun read the Easter liturgy.
He told the story of Christ’s suffering and death, and then he led the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary which proclaimed Christ risen from the tomb and ascending to heaven. That Easter, it was evident to the men that Father Kapaun was failing. He limped and hobbled along with a crooked stick.
The Sunday after Easter, he reached the line in the Epistle, “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our Faith....” At that his voice faltered. And the men caught him as he fell. Beneath his tattered uniform his right leg was swollen dreadfully. It was completely discolored.
The men realized that he had been suffering terribly for weeks. He would minister to the men who would scream out in their agony, but he himself never whimpered, never let on that he was suffering. It was a blood clot in his leg. The leg became one mass of purple, blue, and yellow flesh.
(3/04/05)

**Diocese seeking Fr. Kapaun canonization

In the New Testament, a "saint" is a person who has been baptized into Christ. It is a person who is wholeheartedly devoted to living as Jesus wants him to live.
In our modern terminology, a "saint" is a person who is now enjoying everlasting happiness in heaven. On All Saints Day, we celebrate the millions of those who are in heaven and who do not have special recognition by the Church.
"Canonization" is the "special recognition" by the Church that a person is, indeed, in heaven, and therefore deserves the honor and veneration of us here on earth. We have no doubt that Emil J. Kapaun is a saint in heaven. But we now hope and pray that the Church will officially recognize this priest's holiness by the process of canonization.
For this purpose, we begin this series of articles on the life of Father Kapaun. And we ask you to do something: Pray that the Lord will move the Church to canonize him. Pray each day. Also, invoke the intercession of Father Kapaun for your intentions.
Many people do not realize that two miracles are required for canonization. These miracles must be without doubt connected with prayer to Father Kapaun. It must be documented beyond any doubt.
So pray daily for Father Kapaun's canonization. And invoke his intercession for your needs. And get to know this servant of God who is such a wonderful example to us all. And so we begin these articles ...
Father Kapaun died in a Prisoner of War camp in Korea. United States Army records say that he died of pneumonia on May 6, 1951. But his fellow prisoners insist that he died on May 23, 1951, of malnutrition and starvation. His grave is not marked. He was probably taken outside the camp at Pyoktong, North Korea, and buried in a common grave. He was only 35 years old when he died, and had been a priest for only 11 years. His fellow prisoners - Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and agnostic and whatever - are all profuse in their praise that this man truly is a saint.
(01/28/05)

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