Father John P. Washington, one of the ‘Four Chaplains’ who gave their lives to save others during the sinking of the SS Dorchester, Feb. 3, 1943.x / public domain
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 3, 2022 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Four Chaplains Day, Feb. 3, recognizes the heroism of four World War II military chaplains who sacrificed their lives to save those trapped on a sinking U.S. Army transport ship.
“Their voices were the only thing that kept me going,” one survivor remembered of the fateful day in 1943.
The four men — Fr. John P. Washington, a Catholic priest, Rev. George L. Fox, a Methodist minister, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, and Rev. Clark V. Poling, a Reformed Church in America minister — died after ministering to civilians and military personnel on the sinking SS Dorchester.
The four first met in 1942, at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University. Each chaplain held the rank of first lieutenant, Columbia magazine reported.
The ship, packed with more than 900 people, departed New York for an Army base in Greenland on Jan. 23, 1943, Military Benefits reported. A few days later, on Feb. 3, a German submarine torpedoed the ship in the middle of the night. The lights went out as the cold Arctic waters surrounded the soldiers.
Amid of panic, the chaplains remained calm — and sprang into action. Fr. Washington, who had celebrated Mass just hours before, now gave absolution, according to the Army Historical Foundation. The four offered their life jackets to men who did not have them, and helped as many as they could escape into lifeboats. They themselves stayed behind.
Several eyewitnesses later spoke of the chaplains’ bravery, Military Benefits reported.
At one point, Petty Officer John J. Mahoney remembered turning back to his cabin to find his gloves. Rabbi Goode halted him, saying, “Never mind. I have two pairs,” and handed him some.
Mahoney later realized that the rabbi had just one pair.
Off the ship and in the water filled with debris, oil, and dead bodies, Pvt. William B. Bednar remembered hearing “men crying, pleading, praying.” But then he heard the chaplains, who were “preaching courage.” Those voices, he said, kept him alive.
Another survivor, named Grady Clark, recalled the scene.
“As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under,” Clark said. “The last thing I saw, the four chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.”
Another eyewitness, John Ladd, said, “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven.”
The ship sank in fewer than 30 minutes.
With the frigid air and water temperatures, many of the men died from hypothermia before they could be rescued. Only 230 survived. Those who did remembered the chaplains linking arms and joining together in prayer and singing as the ship went down.
Today, they are remembered as “the four chaplains,” or “the immortal chaplains.”
In recognition of the chaplains’ heroism, Congress established Feb. 3 as “Four Chaplains Day” in 1988.
A year after their deaths, in 1944, Congress posthumously awarded each chaplain with a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1960, Congress also approved the Four Chaplains’ Medal, which was presented to the chaplains’ families the following year.
Throughout the country, the chaplains are remembered with monuments and memorials, including stained glass windows at the Pentagon, Military Benefits reported.
Their faces appeared on U.S. postage stamps in 1948, and, in 1951, President Harry S. Truman dedicated the Chapel of the Four Chaplains in the basement of Grace Baptist church in Philadelphia.
Today, the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation, founded by the chaplains’ families and the ship’s survivors, continues their legacy, from supporting first responder chaplain programs to hosting student scholarship competitions.
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Now that he’s been laicized, he’s no longer the institutional Church’s problem. Let the government pursue the charges with him as it would with any other person. But, given how he’s managed to weasel out of any and all criminal complications, nothing will happen.
Francis is never one to abide by canon law, nor does anyone besides Vigano protest when he violates it. What’s to stop him from tossing one of his laicized pals a boatload of money for legal fees. Mercy for evil doers, none for victims.
I recall that James Grein accused both McCarrick, and Bernardin of Chicago, with assaulting him at the lake in Wisconsin.
It seems likely that this may be the same case.
Voilà!
It’s only taken 46 years, but the Catholic Church has finally stumbled upon the way to handle its pervy predatory priest problem:
Turn them over to the civil authorities who will throw their ***es into prison.
Nitpick of the day, it’s Lake Geneva. I don’t see how things that are so obviously wrong can take so long to drag on and on. Wasn’t there supposed to be a report or something?
A sad end to an old man who thus far refuses to repent! Schemes and deception are unsuitable for a man proclaiming Jesus Christ.
Protestant Brian Young:
How do you know that McCarrick has refused to repent? Have you read his mind? What do you know about his confession status and the status of his soul? Did God reveal to you that McCarrick has refused to repent?
Schemes and deceptions are indeed unsuitable for anyone who proclaims Jesus Christ. These include writing things in Catholic comboxes designed to undermine the Catholic Faith and encourage Catholics to give up some of their cherished doctrinal beliefs.
Now what kind of a Christian would ever do such things while also absurdly proclaiming that he offers his deceptive words in a “spirit of godliness and edification”?
Dear dear, how fragile the catholic faith according to your prognostications. Was under the mistaken impression “that the gates of hell would not prevail against it”! Yet, according to you, I am wrong at every step. Why, you seem offended that we breath the same air!
Are you at the door extending your warm, felicitous greetings to one and all? Would the Lord Jesus pass your discerning muster? Yet don’t feel lonely for I encountered others of your ilk.
To the credit of the Catholic Church, I’ve met outstanding men and women of God, people who give fine testimony to what jesus Christ has done in their lives. Hope runs eternal, you are in my prayers.
Pardon me for not responding directly to your point. A recent article at CWR mentioned that “Uncle Ted” said of his accuser. “That is not true”! That is not repentance for the person who brought these charges against him is one of many who have strong cases! However, you are correct in every matter. No need for confession from your esteemed perspective.
Woe is me, poor sinner that I am, a constant struggle and unfailing repentance. The Lord is faithful and knows the predicament of man whatever his besetting sins are.
What is sad is that there are numerous predators in that church and many people who know who they are but are afraid or unwilling to call them out. God knows both groups and will deliver them a just and eternal punishment.
What what are you referencing when you write: “in that church (sic)”?
Is this Brian Young the Protestant or a different Brian altogether attacking “that church”?
In any case, the predator problem continues to sadly afflict all denominations, and the Catholic Church is not by any stretch the leader of the pack in housing and protecting a higher percentage of predators than any other denomination as many anti-Catholics would have everyone believe. As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church is a leader in implementing beneficial reforms to significantly reduce the incidences of abuse and cover-up, though of course more work needs to be done to eradicate the problem altogether.
It has been mentioned before, but for anyone who desires to get a better handle on the past and current status of the sexual abuse crisis, get a copy of Bill Donohue’s “The Truth About Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and Causes” (2021).
Also check out the following articles that demonstrate the ongoing lie that the sexual abuse problem is primarily a Catholic Church problem:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-the-right-thing/201808/separating-facts-about-clergy-abuse-fiction
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/southern-baptist-abuse-apocalypse-russell-moore.html
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-10/evangelicals-worse-catholics-sexual-abuse