‘An embarrassing moment for the church’: Outrage after sainthood effort for Father Vincent Capodanno is suspended

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — An advisory panel of theological consultants tasked with judging possible saints has recommended to suspend the cause for Fr. Vincent Capodanno’s sainthood, claiming the Staten Island-born heroic military chaplain who served courageously in the Vietnam War with the United States Marine Corps, does not deserve the consideration.

“With ongoing military actions in the world today (think Ukraine), raising someone from the military for veneration may not be appropriate for our Church,” one consultant wrote to Dr. Nicola Gori, the postulator of Capodanno’s cause.

That concern, recently reported by the Catholic News Agency (CNA), was just one reason given for the suspension of Capodanno’s sainthood efforts.

“One consultant voiced concern that the positio (a formal brief arguing for the canonization of an individual in the Roman Catholic Church) focuses mainly on the last year of Capodanno’s life and shows little evidence of his spiritual growth,” CNA reported, listing a summary of the concerns from the Fr. Capodanno Guild.

Other consultants questioned the fact that Maryknoll (the priest’s religious order) has not pursued Capodanno’s cause, while others voiced issues about the priest being “fastidious about his appearance.” The Guild rebuked those claims as such: “This reflects the strong Italian family that he grew up in and was reinforced by the Navy and Marine Corps. It is not an indication of sinful pride.”

Born on Feb. 13, 1929 and ordained a priest on June 14, 1958, the Staten Island native participated in seven combat operations before dying at the age of 38 on Sept. 4, 1967 while administering last rites to mortally wounded Marines during the Vietnam War. Father Capodanno, also known as “the grunt padre,” was shot 27 times in the back, neck and head on the battlefield in Que Son Valley.

Borough President Vito J. Fossella called Capodanno’s rejection for sainthood egregious.

“It was reported that the reason for suspension of the process of sainthood was because Fr. Capodanno was a chaplain serving in the U.S. military and that moving forward with his veneration to sainthood ‘may not be appropriate’ when there are many military actions in the world today,” Fossella noted in a statement, calling upon the borough’s church and veteran leaders to discuss a course of action. “If this is true, then this would be very disturbing to the many religious leaders who placed themselves in harm’s way to not only pray for peace but also to minister and support those in need. Since our nation’s founding, religious leaders have served a vital role in all military conflicts. This willingness to sacrifice should be rewarded, not rejected.”

Gene Digiacomo, a Staten Islander who served in the United States Navy Seabees as a Second-Class Petty Officer from 1969 to 1970, echoed Fossella’s sentiments.

“An embarrassing moment for the Catholic Church in its denial of Sainthood for Fr. Vincent Capodanno. I did not know that dedicated military service, even in the role as a soldier of God, now becomes a disqualification for sainthood. Sad, very sad.”

“To this day, chaplains are an integral part of the Armed Forces,” added Lee Covino, a U.S. Army corporal and longtime borough advocate for veterans’ affairs. “While other chaplains stayed comfortably in the rear, Fr. Capodanno went to the hot zones where firefights were taking place. He is an American hero and a religious icon to many faithful veterans.”

Fr. Capodanno was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Navy Bronze Star medal, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, and the Purple Heart Medal for his valor. On July 4, 1974, Seaside Boulevard on the East Shore was renamed for the Staten Island priest, whose family hailed from Mariners Harbor and Elm Park. The effort to have him proclaimed a saint began in 2018 after a miracle had been attributed in his name.

According to the Father Vincent Capodanno Guild newsletter, a local woman who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had fought a long battle with the disease, adopted a strong devotion to Father Capodanno and prayed for his intercession in healing throughout her illness. After an MRI showed that the lesions in her brain were gone, she attributed her miraculous healing to Fr. Capodanno.

In March 2020, the guild announced that Father Capodanno’s postulator in Rome had finished writing the formal position for the case for sainthood and it was submitted for distribution among the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The coronavirus (COVID-19) significantly delayed the process and local veterans fear this new development will completely derail it.

“Father Capodanno was a man who lived an extraordinary life of service to God and his country,” noted Mike Sulsona, a retired sergeant with the U.S. Marine Corps, who served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 and is a Purple Heart recipient. “He was a man of peace who provided solace to those wounded on the field of battle. The focus on how he died should not take away from the valuable examples of the life he lived. Recently working with a corpsman that was with Father Capodanno when taking his last breath, he himself before passing, mentioned the lessons he learned from Father Capodanno regarding the fragility of life and the need to care for one anther at all cost. It’s a lesson I’ve learned in caring not only for our veteran community but for those who suffer in the need of someone to care.”

Frank Siller, founder and chairman of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, called Fr. Capodanno “a hero among men.”

“He lived his entire life in service of God and his country, until the moment he gave up his life on the battlefield, shielding a fellow service member,” Siller said. “It is unfathomable to me that a man who gave so much would be disqualified for sainthood because he loved his country. This decision should be appealed immediately.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, who is responsible for launching the priest’s canonization cause, told the CNA that the fight for Fr. Capodanno’s sainthood is not over.

“The body only makes a recommendation to the congregation,” the archbishop said. “The postulator has already petitioned the congregation to appeal the decision and allow the postulation to respond to some of the questions raised by the theologians.”

Broglio said the dicastery, previously known as the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has the responsibility “to determine if the process can continue.”

The Father Capodanno Guild, a private Catholic association that promotes the priest’s canonization cause, also responded to the consultants’ recommendation to suspend the beatification cause.

The recommendation is “not what we have been praying for,” the guild said on its website Aug. 8. Nonetheless, it added, the decision is “not the end of our journey.”

“Other causes have had to struggle through the process in Rome,” the guild said. “Let us pray for the will of God and arm ourselves with faith, hope, and trust.”

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