For the priests who follow soldiers to the battlefronts, United States chaplains are pointing to the legacy of Servant of God, Father Emil Kapaun, whose virtue in the face of the brutality of war has become an example for the men who choose to follow in his footsteps.
“He possessed the grace of priesthood lived out in his chaplaincy in a way that can only inspire any priest who knows his witness and story,” said Father Marcel Taillon, vocations director for the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
“I think his fortitude in day-to-day life is what inspires me most,” Father Taillon, a priest of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, said in an email to the Register. “His spiritual fatherhood is so evident in the witnesses who received from him, both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He was obviously a man of prayer and was able to develop a deep, personal relationship with Jesus.”
Remembered for his commitment to his pastoral ministry on the battlefield, Father Kapaun has become a recognizable figure thanks to a photo taken of him performing his duties as chaplain during the Korean War.
The now-famous photo shows him celebrating Mass in the field, using the hood of a military jeep as the altar, as a soldier kneels in front of him.
The “Jeep Mass” photo was taken Oct. 7, 1950, just weeks before Father Kapaun and the rest of his platoon were captured by Chinese forces. The severe conditions of this captivity would result in his death in the spring of 1951.
“Every future chaplain knows his story, regardless of creed,” said Scott Carter, coordinator for the Father Kapaun Guild in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, the home diocese of the Servant of God. “I know that many young men discerning the priesthood and military chaplaincy ask his intercession.”
“The Holy Spirit invites us to a life of magnanimity, of adventure, and I think Father Kapaun’s story of courage and sacrifice resonates in the hearts of many priests and chaplains who feel a similar missionary tug,” Carter said.
Inspiring Others to Answer the Call
In an email with the Register, Carter estimated that three out of the four auxiliary bishops credit their priestly vocation to Father Kapaun.
“His impact on my vocation happened back in the mid ’70s, when I was serving as a military police officer with the U.S. Army in South Korea,” said Bishop Richard Spencer, former Army officer and chaplain and auxiliary bishop for the Military Archdiocese.
“It was the local Korean population that told me first about Father Kapaun,” said Bishop Spencer. He explained that, during subsequent visits, the local Koreans led him to the locations of Father Kapaun’s capture and later incarceration.
“Many South Koreans tell me stories on how he assisted and cared for South Korean prisoners of war, along with the American prisoners of war,” the bishop said. “Here’s a man who definitely gave his all for all of humankind, regardless of their nationality or their background.”
“My own personal experience, but also the experience of those who directly lived with him, especially in the prisoner-of-war camp, remember him as a man of trust, a man of great compassion and great caring for others, and not just for Americans, but for all,” Bishop Spencer said.
Even during the months he lived as a POW at the hands of the Chinese, Father Kapaun reportedly continued in his ministerial duties, gathering the soldiers for prayer, offering blessings, and celebrating Easter services for the other captives.
“There are so many things about Father Emil’s life that are inspiring,” Father Taillon said, “but, for me, his shepherding, preaching and giving of self in the POW camps inspires me the most.”
Patrick Schuler, the soldier seen kneeling in the “Jeep Mass” photo, had a strong relationship with Father Kapaun, said Bishop Spencer. According to his daughter, the bishop said, Schuler viewed Father Kapaun as “Christ here on earth,” having witnessed the “generosity of care and compassion that this man offered and sacrificed on behalf of others.”
“He was a priest who ‘smelled like his sheep,’ as the saying goes,” said Carter.
Catholic chaplain Father Matt Pawlikowski, who retired in 2020 and is currently at West Point serving as a civilian chaplain spoke with the Register about his devotion to Father Kapaun:
"Telling Father Kapaun’s story is now a secondary vocation in my life. I have told it at least 80 times at this point all over the country for groups as large as several hundred and as small as three people. If someone wants to hear the story, I’ll tell it!"
Father Kapaun, Priest
Ordained in 1940, Father Kapaun initially served as chaplain during World War II and again for the Korean War.
In a quote provided by Carter, Father Kapaun wrote, upon receiving permission from his bishop to become a chaplain during World War II, “When I was ordained, I was determined to ‘spend myself’ for God.”
“I was determined to do that cheerfully, no matter in what circumstances I would be placed or how hard a life I would be asked to lead,” he continued.
“This is why I volunteered for the Army and that is why today I would a thousand times rather be working, deprived of all ordinary comforts, being a true ‘Father’ to all my people,” he wrote.
Father Pawlikowski pointed out that "Father’s heroics were lived out fully in the pursuit of being a good priest. In combat before capture and in the camp after capture, Father just woke up everyday and got busy serving everyone around him."
Following his death of malnutrition, Father Kapaun was buried by his fellow POWs rather than in the nearby mass grave. His earthly remains were returned to U.S. custody per the Korean Armistice Agreement, and he was interred at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii in the mid-1950s. It was not until 2021 that his remains were returned to his home state of Kansas, where he was buried with military honors in Wichita’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
In 1993, he was declared “Servant of God” by Pope St. John Paul II. His cause for canonization is ongoing.
“Father Kapaun lived an extraordinary life of heroic virtue and is a man and priest for our times,” said Father Taillon. "I challenge all your readers to come to know him and the need to which he was called to meet.”