New York's Friars
by John Burger
Reprinted with permission from
Catholic New York
June 3, 1999
Franciscans of Renewal blend evangelization and work with
the poor
One recent Friday afternoon
in front of the old St. Adalbert's Church in the South Bronx, two young men
wearing bushy beards and gray religious robes greeted anyone who happened to
be walking down the quiet stretch of East 156th Street. They switched easily
between English and Spanish.
"How ya doing today? The church is open, if you'd like to stop in for a
few minutes and say a prayer," they'd say. "Jesus is inside."
Some passersby accepted their invitation to the church, some said they were
in a hurry. Any response was an opening for conversation, an offering of Catholic
literature and a Rosary. With neighborhood kids on their way home from school,
the men--members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal--found themselves tossing
a ball and explaining why they wear such long Rosary beads hanging from their
rope belts.
Those who went into the church found other friars and a few neighbors praying
before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a simple gold monstrance. The cool,
subtly lighted, recently restored church was a place of calm and order amid
the squalor and brokenness of the city. Even the bags of food, awaiting the
weekly distribution to the poor, were lined up like soldiers in formation.
This was a vibrant Polish parish until the old generation moved out in the 1970s.
The South Bronx decayed, crime rose, buildings burned. By the time the parish
closed, eight members of the Capuchin Franciscan provinces of New York and New
Jersey were contemplating a change in their own lives.
"There was a feeling among some of us that we would want to live our Capuchin
commitment in a way we could imitate the work of St. Francis a little more closely,
by working with the poor, living more simply, carrying out evangelization in
a more direct way," Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., superior of the Renewal
Friars, told CNY. "We wanted to do more extensive preaching on a more consistent
basis."
Explaining that they would follow the example of the Capuchin stigmatist Padre
Pio of daily repentance and reform, they were dispensed from their vows in 1987
and formed a new community. They chose the name Community of Franciscans of
the Renewal because they felt called to concentrate on their own personal renewal
in Christ and the conversion of others.
"That's the Christian life--ongoing conversion and a call to holiness,"
said Father Robert Lombardo, C.F.R., superior at St. Crispin's Friary.
Father Bob, as Father Lombardo is known (in Franciscan tradition, the friars
go by first names), was the first to move into St. Adalbert's, renamed St. Crispin's
Friary after a 17th-century Capuchin beggar, the first saint to be canonized
by Pope John Paul II.
The South Bronx seemed a perfect place to begin. The archdiocese allowed the
community, which owns no property, to use St. Adalbert's. The first project
started there, the Padre Pio Shelter for 18 homeless men in the basement of
the school, is still filled every night. And next to St. Adalbert's rectory
was an old burned-out six-story tenement, which the friars and Catholic Charities
purchased from New York City for $1 and renovated as St. Anthony Residence,
an SRO for 65 formerly homeless men.
"If you stood in the basement, you could see the sky," Father Bob,
its director, recalled.
Being in a spiritual atmosphere has had a definite effect on the homeless men,
said Father Terrence Messer, C.F.R., vicar of St. Crispin's. "They really
leave the street behind," he said. "And they approach the friars all
the time--the Catholics sacramentally, the others in a more general way."
Many have turned their lives around.
The school has become
the site of several apostolates: a clothing distribution program; Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings, St. Francis Center, which provides catechetical and athletic
programs for youth in the neighborhood, and the St. Anthony's Free Medical Clinic,
where nine volunteer doctors provide free vaccinations, physicals and blood
work. Soon a free dental clinic will open.
The community grew rapidly. Its first superior, with the humble title "community
servant," was Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., whose high profile
as an author and speaker helped attract new members. Father Benedict, archdiocesan
director of spiritual development, has been host of a series of programs on
Mother Angelica's Eternal Word Television Network, as has Father Andrew, also
an author.
Cardinal O'Connor formally established the community as a public association
of the faithful--a canonical term--in 1991, and last week formally raised its
canonical status to a diocesan religious community, for which Rome gave its
approval in March.
Today, its 50 members include six of the initial members. The others are Father
Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., known for his "Christian rap music"; Father
Glenn Sudano, C.F.R., novice director, and Father Robert Stanion, C.F.R., who
works in ecumenical relations with Orthodox Christians.
In 1988, a group of women formed the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. Headed
by Sister Lucille Cutrone, C.F.R., the four members live in Our Lady of Guadalupe
convent on Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx and collaborate in many of the friars'
works.
Other friaries are Our Lady of the Angels for postulants, located in St. Adalbert's
old convent; St. Felix in Yonkers; St. Joseph's for novices, in the old St.
Joseph's Cursillo Center in Harlem, and St. Leopold for members studying for
the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie.
Each house has a chapel with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the community's
patroness, and a San Damiano Cross, depicting Christ's apparition to St. Francis
and his command: "Rebuild my Church." "It reminds us of the need
for renewal in the Church, and the fact that St. Francis started with himself,
with his own conversion," Father Bob said.
The friars aim to live as simply and austerely as possible. Chapels, with hardwood
floors, have chairs but no kneelers. "Actually, we have two kneelers,"
said Father Bob, pointing to his knees. Bedrooms are small, each containing
a sleeping bag, crucifix, desk and a few books. Very few friars use a mattress,
and air conditioning means an open window.
They cook the community meals, bake bread, wash their habits, clean and do whatever
maintenance jobs they can. They're in the chapel at 6 a.m. for morning prayer,
and during the rest of the day spend some four and a half hours in private and
community prayer, including Mass.
Dear to their hearts is the cause of the unborn child. Members regularly pray
outside abortion clinics, and some try to persuade women to keep their babies.
"A lot of men are drawn to our community because they have a strong inclination
to support the Gospel of Life," Father Andrew said.
One friar went a step beyond prayer and persuasion. On May 13, 1995, Brother
Fidelis Moscinski, C.F.R., a student at St. Joseph's Seminary, together with
retired Auxiliary Bishop George E. Lynch of Raleigh, N.C., sat down in the driveway
of the Women's Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry, blocking cars from entering.
They knew they were risking severe punishment under the Freedom of Access to
Clinic Entrances law, signed by President Clinton the previous year. But they
felt compelled to save babies slated for destruction that day. They were arrested
and charged with violating FACE and have since been waging a court battle based
on the natural law that has edged the case toward the U.S. Supreme Court.
It's no surprise that the community has a close relationship with the Sisters
of Life, the community founded by Cardinal O'Connor to promote the cause of
life in 1991, the year he canonically established the Friars of the Renewal.
"We are great cheerleaders for one another," Mother Agnes Mary Donovan,
S.V., superior, told CNY. "Pro-life work is a very active part of their
work and witness, so they really are our brothers in that regard."
Underlying all the friars' work is the call to personal conversion. "Here
I have the opportunity to die to myself by serving my brother tea or holding
back from gripes," said Brother Elijah Ford, C.F.R., a seminarian from
Manchester, England. "And out there, the poor will get me to heaven with
their trusting spirit. They give me more than I can ever give them."
At the center of it all, any friar will tell you, is the Eucharist, which they
present to young people in Youth 2000 gatherings around the country and which
the people of the South Bronx come to adore every Friday afternoon in the old
Polish church.
"That's what we're here for," Father Bob said. "To bring people
closer to God."
"We Found God's
Will"
by Michael Kelsey
Reprinted with permission from
Inside the Vatican magazine
June-July 2000
Robert Moynihan, Editor
Religious Life, pp. 52-55
A new group of Franciscan friars in the United
States is "renewing the reform" and showing the way for a renewal
of religious life in the 21st century.
A new community of Franciscans split off from the Capuchins in 1987, committed
to radical poverty, evangelization and pro-life witness. Here, John Paul II
greets the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
This Jubilee Year, the 14-year-old Congregation of the Franciscan
Friars of the Renewal (C.F.R.) will be expanding worldwide in an attempt to
evangelize and care for the poor. Members of this small Franciscan community,
born in the tough Bronx borough of New York City in 1987, have already taken
steps towards forming friaries in Cannington, England, and Comayagua, Honduras.
Both are set to open later this year. The friars have also been invited to Poland,
Sudan and other US cities.
As the friars take on these new challenges, they plan to remain firm in their
commitment to the Holy Father, an attribute that has helped define the character
of the Congregation.
Though in existence since 1987, it was not until last year that the group received
canonical approval as a religious congregation. Even so, the community is bursting
at the seams. Dozens are flocking to join. They come anxious to put on the gray,
cruciform habit of the C.F.R.s, that is, as is admonished in the investiture
ceremony, to “put on the cross of Christ.”
Father Eugene Koch possessed a boyhood dream to join the Franciscan order, but
when he discovered religious life was in crisis, settled for ordination to the
diocesan priesthood. As a priest for 27 years in the Archdiocese of Newark,
New Jersey, he served as both parish pastor and Vocations Director.
In 1998, Koch received permission to leave the diocese and enter the Community
of the Friars of the Renewal, taking the religious name of Marius. His decision
to join was grounded in the “absolute fidelity” toward the Church and the “authentic
renewal” that he observed in the community.
He joins a handful of other older brothers who also entered the order after
disappointing experiences in other areas of religious life. These men are the
few gray-haired friars in the predominantly youthful order.
Although consisting primarily of energetic men in their 20s, the order already
represents a fair cross-section of the Universal Church. Members of the order
include men from England, Germany, and Kuwait, as well as American-born friars.
What is it about the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal that is so attractive?
The overwhelming response, the friars answer, is its “authenticity.”
From the start, the C.F.R.s intended to return to the original vision of the
Capuchin reformers and therefore to St. Francis of Assisi. Consequently, each
friar assumes a simple life of prayer and lives by Divine Providence alone.
Possessions are restricted only to the dress of the community, which consists
of two thread-bare habits and a set of worn leather sandals. All food is received
through begging. The community itself owns no property, and operates only out
of buildings in which they are permitted usage.
Although not compulsory, most friars seek to set themselves apart from the secular
world in an even more radical way. Commonly the friars grow long, bushy beards
and shave their heads in order to attract attention to their un-worldliness.
“That very attraction is something we want,” said Community Servant (Superior)
Glenn Sudano C.F.R., “not for ourselves, but... because the Holy Father says
the sharing of the Gospel is the ultimate act of charity.” This visibility is
recognized as an effective tool in bringing about evangelization.
 |
The
friars wear long beards and their grey Franciscan habits as a sign of Gospel
witness in the streets of New York.
One boy, upon observing Brother Sylvester Mann C.F.R. sidewalk counseling during
a pro-life prayer vigil led by the Friars, approached him and asked, “Are you
a Pope?”
Curious questions like this one about the friars’ appearance are not uncommon,
but always find their satisfaction through a response which often brings the person
closer to understanding Jesus and Christianity. “We believe that being a public
witness is not only something the Holy Father desires,” affirms Father Glenn (by
tradition Franciscans prefer to go by their first names only), “but we share in
that desire.”
This adherence to the intent of the Holy Father is not an isolated one. The community
views itself as having a special relationship with Pope John Paul II and anxiously
tries to follow his will. “The community itself is a fruit of the pontificate
of John Paul II,” Father Glenn believes.
Its very first friary was named for St. Crispin, a Capuchin Lay Brother who was
the first saint to be canonized by Pope John Paul II. Father Benedict Groeschel
C.F.R., and “Community Servant” (the order’s term for its leader) at the time
the friary was named, acknowledges the reasoning behind the name. “No question,
we wanted to honor the Pope,” he says.
Father Glenn is quite explicit in sharing the community’s esteem for the present
pontiff: “We view the Holy Father as a saint, a hero, a prophet, a mystic, an
intellectual giant, man of the century and would easily vote for his canonization
and to give him the title the great.”
This admiration for John Paul II can be seen in their actions. The community thrives
on fulfilling the will of the Vicar of Christ, particularly in fulfilling his
call for the New Evangelization and responding to his encyclical, Evangelium
Vitae.
“Clearly our lives are a response to the Holy Father’s call for the New Evangelization,”
Postulants’ Director Father Bernard Murphy C.F.R. says. A major thrust of the
community’s missionary work has been bringing others to Christ.
In addition to bearing witness through their dress, every act and every conversation
is viewed as a direct pathway toward bringing someone closer to Christ.
Like the Holy Father, the Franciscans of the Renewal are quick to utilize the
mediums of modern man in spreading the Christian message. “The New Evangelization,”
said Father Glenn, “is not a new Gospel, but it is a new presentation; new wine,
new wineskins. How do we mark it? How do we pack it? How do we present the Gospel
in a way that young people today are able to understand it, perceive it, take
it in and accept it?” The answer, he believes, is found in using the most current
channels available to establish a connection with the culture of the 21st Century.
Father Benedict and Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. both have authored a number
of books and have appeared on numerous programs on Mother Angelica’s Eternal World
Television Network. Father Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., also has been a guest on Mother
Angelica Live and as a highly energetic former jazz musician, has produced a number
of albums of Christian music under the jacket label of Francesco Productions.
Much of this music targets and appeals to youth. His album SacroSong provided
an alternative to gangster rap by offering an entire album of “catechetical rap”
with lyrics based upon the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The album
reached the number five spot on New Zealand’s rap music chart. Father Stan, who
credits Karol Wojtyla, former bishop of Kracow, with the idea of catechizing through
song, combines modern musical styles with messages that condemn the culture of
death, promiscuity and drug use. The friars are anxious to use every available
means to preach the Gospel to today’s hard-to-reach flood culture.
Adopting Pope John Paul II’s emphasis upon preparing youth as the leaders of the
Church in the Third Millennium, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal were quick
to add Youth 2000 prayer festivals to their program of retreats and parish missions.
An international movement operating out of Dallas, Texas, Youth 2000 seeks
to revive the medieval practice of 40-hour devotions through retreats for teenagers.
The idea exploded internationally after the 1989 World Youth Day in Compostella,
Spain, where the Holy Father called for a decade of evangelization of young people
leading up to the Jubilee.
The Congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal was one of the first
communities to grab hold of the Youth 2000 program and incorporate it into
their outreach. For them it was seen as a continuation of 16th century Capuchin
practice that kept watch with Christ for 40 hours, commemorating the time Christ
spent in the tomb. During this time of adoration, sermons were preached almost
continuously on themes of repentance and festivity. Four hundred years later,
few changes have been made and it remains effective in catechizing and renewal.
For several weekends a month around the United States and in foreign countries,
young people gather in a makeshift chapel (formerly a gymnasium), to hear the
friars deliver the Youth 2000 retreats. In the center, on a wooden pyramid,
sits the exposed Blessed Sacrament as young people worship and sing songs of praise.
Confessors line the outer walls awaiting young penitents who seek absolution for
their sins. Throughout the weekend talks are given centering on vocations, morality
and Catholic doctrine. The highlight of the weekend occurs Saturday night as the
priest carries the monstrance throughout the room while young people reverently
embrace the monstrance veil, in imitation of the woman of the Gospel whose faith
in touching Christ’s cloak healed her (Luke 8:43-48). The whole environment is
conducive for the young people to form a personal relationship with Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament.
Father Glenn sees Youth 2000 retreats taking on an important role in the
New Evangelization and in passing on the Franciscan spirituality: “This apostolate
would be very much of the spirituality and mentality of the Holy Father, but it
is also very, very Franciscan. I mean young people singing, preaching, and the
centrality of the person, the person of Christ in the sacrament, while at the
same time confessions are going on. Here you have an environment which is very
healing and very, very powerful.” Youth 2000 is effectively bringing teens
and adults closer to Christ and His Church, so much so that Father Glenn concedes,
“I can just see the Holy Father standing in the corner, arms folded, smiling,
taking it all in and enjoying the young people singing...”
Youth 2000 retreats are providing a real service to the Church in bringing
young people closer to God. The retreat challenges the teens to treat their Catholic
faith seriously and to be open to the will of God in their life. Each retreat
ends by asking those youth who may have felt called to the priesthood or religious
life to come forward and receive a special blessing. Many young people regularly
respond to this invitation.
A new novice with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Brother James Plunkett,
admits his motivation to join the community sprang from a positive experience
he had on a Youth 2000 prayer festival led by the friars. Just as Youth 2000
retreats attract men to join the CFR’s, their prayerful pro-life work also attracts
vocations.
 |
Father
Benedict Groeschel (center), flanked by Brother Fidelis Moscinski and Brother
Elijah Ford, lead the rosary during a prayer vigil outside a US clinic where
abortions are performed.
Responding positively to the Holy Father’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae,
the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are in the foreground in the battle against
the “culture of death.” A number of the friars came to the order with a considerable
history of pro-life work. Father Conrad Osterhaut, C.F.R., presently Novice Director,
spent an entire year in jail for a rescue in which he participated while a 3rd
Order Regular at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Similarly, Brother
Fidelis Moscinski, C.F.R. came to the Friars of the Renewal with an extensive
record of pro-life activity.
Brother Fidelis has been instrumental in initiating the friars’ prayerful presence
at New York area abortion clinics on a regular basis. In fact, in between his
seminary studies, Brother Fidelis frequently organizes and leads rosary processions
through crowded streets, efforts that bring large crowds to pray at area abortion
mills. As a result of efforts like these, a pro-life clause has been added to
the community’s constitution, thereby widening its apostolates to incorporate
efforts promoting life. “Through Brother Fidelis’ great interest and great love
and (because) his heart is in this particular area,” observed Father Glenn, “he
has greatly and directly affected the community and through his example and influence
the friars continued to go out and lead these prayer vigils.”
Brother Fidelis gained greater recognition alongside Father Benedict and retired
Bishop George E. Lynch of Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 13, 1995, when they
were arrested for blocking the entranceway to the Women’s Medical Pavilion in
Dobb’s Ferry, New York. Ordinarily the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal refrain
from acts of rescue, opting instead to express the truth through peaceful acts
of love like prayer and counseling, but “there have to be some willing to make
the sacrifice,” said Father Conrad.
Once the police arrived at the Dobb’s Ferry clinic, all three religious were dragged
into custody. Father Benedict complained that in jail “we were treated like garbage.”
“We were strip-searched three times within 24 hours,” Groeschel said. “And we
were treated stupidly by the police. I knew these police all my life, for we were
arrested in a town where I had been stationed all my life, nonetheless I was put
in handcuffs.” Afterward, Brother Fidelis and Bishop Lynch were prosecuted for
the rescue. Father Benedict was dropped from the case because he had no previous
record.
A Catholic judge handed down an innocent verdict in the trial against Brother
Fidelis and Bishop Lynch. Nonetheless, the prosecution relentlessly appealed and
thus tried them for the same crime twice, which caused the ordinarily-unfriendly
American Civil Liberties Union to file a “friend of the court” brief on behalf
of the two religious. In the end, both men were exonerated.
Sister Dorothy Rothar, C.S.J. of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants praises
the order’s commitment to the unborn and to women for being “right on the front
line” and “inculcating into their charism sidewalk counseling.” Sister Dorothy
volunteers each week in training the order’s postulants in the art of sidewalk
counseling. “It is important,” said sidewalk counselor, Brother Sylvester, who
profited from Sister Dorothy’s training, “to always cooperate with the law. Approach
the police first... the main thing is not to assert our rights but to fight for
the rights of the unborn.”
With a close and personal relationship forged with the Sisters of Life, the Friars
of the Renewal are active also in preaching retreats for post-abortive women.
Responding to Evangelium Vitae’s invitation to care for the vulnerable
in society was an easy task for the Friars of the Renewal in that they were already
hearkening to its call through their work with the poor.
Due to its high quality care for its residents, the C.F.R.’s Padre Pio Shelter
is known on the streets of the South Bronx as the “Hilton for the Homeless.”
“The Holy Father’s emphasis on the dignity of every human person,” states Father
Glenn, “has practical ramifications on how we serve the poor.” In great contrast
to the barren friaries where the brothers live and eat, the shelter is lavishly
decorated. Cushy couches, a fully operational entertainment system and an inviting
piano line the shelter’s interior for the sole enjoyment of the homeless men who
stay there. These comforts are present as if to attest to the dignity of the men
whom society sometimes seems too eager to discard.
Residents at the Padre Pio Shelter eat meals in common at the kitchen table alongside
the friars and volunteers, and use real ceramic plates rather than paper ones
as a gesture that symbolizes their intrinsic value. “Its probably the most important
thing in life (for these men) to be treated like human beings,” said shelter volunteer
Archduke Geza Von Hapsburg. (The Archduke inherits his title from the family that
produced Christendom’s many Holy Roman Emperors. Together with his wife, the Countess
Elizabeth, and their small daughter, Isabella, the royal family of Hungry can
be found regularly serving and uplifting the dignity of the men who frequent the
shelter. “The Von Hapsburgs are known for being very close to the Capuchins,”
volunteered the Archduke, and although the Friars of the Renewal are unable to
lay claim to the title Capuchin, the Archduke conceded, “We love St. Francis and
their interpretations of St. Francis.”)
 |
The
Franciscan friars of the Renewal stress pro-life work and evangelization.
Here, Brother Francis Edkins prepares an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe ‹ patroness
of the unborn and of their order.
All eight of the brothers who came together in 1987 to form what became the Congregation
formerly had been Capuchins. The order took much from the original Capuchin charism.
The Friars of the Renewal formed to rediscover the original flavor of St. Francis
and incorporate it into the Franciscan apostolates of evangelization and direct
work with the poor.
Brother Jack Rathschmidt, a Capuchin priest and Provincial General of the Capuchin
order at the time of the split, compliments the C.F.R.s for areas in which he
recognizes a true conformity with the legacy of St. Francis. “I think they are
trying to live simple lives. I think they are trying to do hands-on work with
the poor, not just talking about it, trying very hard to be prayerful. I admire
all of that.”
The community’s steadfast determination to serve as a vehicle for the Pope’s intentions
and its serious commitment to authentic renewal is outlined in Father Benedict
Groeschel’s book, The Reform of the Renewal (Ignatius Press, 1990). It
was written as a response to Father Benedict’s own experiences encountering the
confusion generated by the post-Vatican II Church.
“The diseases of materialism, self-ism, cynicism and religious skepticism are
so widespread and acute in our society and so pervasive in our culture,” Father
Benedict writes, “that I do not believe there is any way other than personal conversion
to work towards the reform of renewal.”
The bulk of the book considers ways in which the members of the Body of Christ
can reform themselves so as to renew the Church. Father Bernard hails The Reform
of the Renewal as “a must for our community,” in that the book illustrates
the community’s whole charism built upon the foundation of “preaching and living
renewal.”
In The Reform of the Renewal, Groeschel speaks of his community’s separation
from the Capuchins. “Having experienced the vital force of a group of people drawn
together for a common purpose, willing to risk their own good names and futures
and strengthened in their loyalty to one another by the criticism they encountered,
I am convinced that refounding can only be a painful but thrilling experience.”
“We understand that they had difficulties that were so acute to them and so painful
to them that they felt they had to leave,” said Brother Jack, Provincial General
of the Capuchin Order when the split occurred, “but we tried to create an environment
in which they could stay in the order.”
The separation was painful. “It felt like a divorce,” confessed Brother Jack,
“or at least it felt like what people who were divorced talked about, so that
you kept looking for a place of reconciliation... but were just never able to
make that kind of progress or step... so it was very painful to us, very upsetting
to us, very confusing... eventually we just agreed that the rift between us was
too big.”
The decision to leave the Capuchins was a difficult resolution for the eight original
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. It was only solidified after reflecting upon
the life and words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. This saintly nun felt called
by God to leave her professed religious community in order to found the now world-renowned
Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa’s example in leaving one order to begin
a new one was as inspiring to the would-be Friars of the Renewal as were her words
that explained her motives, “If you uncover the will of God, you must do it.”
“That’s what happened to us back in 1987,” recalls Father Bob Lombardo C.F.R.,
one of the original eight Friars of the Renewal, “We uncovered the will of God.”
Fourteen years later, the Congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal,
like the Missionaries of Charity, are receiving world-wide recognition and branching
out to other continents to evangelize and care for the poor.
Michael Kelsey graduated from Christendom College in 1999.
This is his first article for Inside the Vatican magazine,
which can be contacted at www.insidethevatican.com
or by calling 1-800-789-9494.