The Courage of His Convictions

Back in the ‘70’s feelings about the war in Vietnam were dividing the country and the church.  Fr. Robert Quirin was a dedicated pacifist.  He regularly withheld that portion of his income tax liability that he calculated would be used to support war-related activities.

One day two Internal Revenue Service Agents came into my office (I was Diocesan Business Manager) demanding that I attach Fr. Quirin’s salary.  The government wanted to be paid.  If I refused, they said, I would go to jail.

Fortunately Bishop Sullivan was in the office that day.  He told me to bring them up and he welcomed them most graciously into his office.  He listened patiently.  Then he explained to them that this was a moral question about which Fr. Quirin felt strongly.  Even a bishop did not have the authority to order a member of his flock to go against their conscience.

The Senior Agent made a foolish mistake.  He repeated his threat: If Bishop Sullivan refused to attach Fr. Quirin’s salary he would go to jail.

Bishop Sullivan thought for a moment, then said, “If I am going to jail, don’t I get to make one phone call?”  Without waiting for an answer, he called to his secretary in the outer office, “Marilyn, get me Channel 12.”  The Agent’s cock-sure manner evaporated.  All he could manage was a panicky, “Uh, Bishop, maybe we should talk this over.”

Dave O'Donnell

St. Michael the Archangel, Glen Allen

Memories of Bishop Sullivan

There are many stories I can share with all about our beloved Bishop Sullivan and his interaction with the people in the Richmond Diocese.  I want to share my most recent memories of Bishop Sullivan.

Members of the Legion of Mary (Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Praesidium) visit Saint Francis Home in the Southside weekly to pray the rosary with the residents.  Bishop Sullivan would come at least once a month to celebrate Mass with the residents.  He would always acknowledge the Legion of Mary members present for the Mass.

During Mass he would ask me to assist as the Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. This was always an honor for me to be able to serve with the Bishop.

The Legion of Mary has a yearly ceremony called the “Acies” in which the Legion members assemble as a body to renew our fealty to Mary, Queen of the Legion.   I extended an invitation to Bishop Sullivan to be our main celebrant for the Acies Mass in 2011 and 2012.  He graciously accepted to participate in both celebrations.  He will be missed by those who loved and respected him. 

Evelyn Welch

Holy Rosary, Richmond

His Fans are Everywhere

As a sophomore at Villanova University I was writing a paper on Catholic Peacemaking and inevitably spent some time looking into the history and the work of Pax Christi. This was the occasion of my first encounter with Bishop Walter F. Sullivan. Recently retired as both the Bishop of Richmond and the Bishop President of Pax Christi, USA, Bishop Sullivan agreed to speak with me over the phone. Being from Maine, and new to any real involvement in Catholic social justice ministry, I Googled him, looked into his history, read some of his statements, and found myself enamored with his prophetic leadership for the cause of peace, his commitment to justice and to serving the poor.

My conversation with him lasted no more than 15 minutes. He was brief and to the point and responded to my queries with clarity and warmth. When my questions were exhausted I remember searching for something to get him to stay on the phone and speak at greater length. “Bishop, those are all the questions I have. I just want to say that I really admire your commitment to peace and justice,” or something to that effect, was all I could muster.

“Oh yah?” he paused, “well go do something about it.”

Years later I find myself serving the Diocese of Richmond’s Office of Justice and Peace, an office that in no small way owes its existence to Bishop Sullivan, and perhaps remains the Diocesan office that is most closely associated with his episcopal ministry. Although Bishop Sullivan remained active throughout the Diocese during my first two and a half years, I never had an opportunity to spend much time with him until very recently.

Starting in the spring of 2012, Bishop Sullivan would come to help with Saturday evening liturgies at Sacred Heart, a small parish in the Manchester neighborhood of Richmond where I live. The Pastor, Fr. Shay, would ask me to come and serve mass for Bishop, and take him to dinner afterwards in exchange for letting me experiment with a garden in the parish yard.

The first time I met Bishop before mass, I introduced myself, “Bishop Sullivan, I’m Jay Brown and I’m the Director of the Office of Justice and Peace.”

“Who?” Bishop replied. “Are you the one taking me to dinner?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Good. Now help me with my things.”

After mass I took him to a restaurant in Church Hill that he "had never heard of." As we walked down a poorly lit street, a college-aged young man sat on a front porch, “Is that Bishop Sullivan?” he called out.

“Yes, hello,” Bishop replied to him, then turned to me and said, “My fans are everywhere.”

At dinner, our conversation ranged from politics, to Church, to my impending engagement. I was struck by Bishop Sullivan’s honesty, his openness, and his ability to get right to the point, to speak his mind simply, firmly, but with humility. He asked me what I thought, and he listened.

This was the first of many dinners – he would eagerly await updates about Haiti and our work in prison ministry, and he hugged me when I told him I finally popped the question, and that she said “Yes.” He would share in the joy of success and listen kindly to frustrations. Most of all, Bishop took an interest in me; in my life, in what brought me to ministry, what sustained me in it.

In the time I spent with Bishop Sullivan, he had a way of keeping me focused on what was important – bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world, and especially to the poor. He helped me focus on mission in the midst of struggle, and never let me lose sight of why I committed myself to ministry in the first place.

Although he didn’t remember the phone call many years before, I will always cherish his concluding remarks. Bishop Sullivan invited me into ministry at the service of the Church and of the poor. I will always cherish my time, however limited, with Bishop Sullivan, and I pray his memory will give our Church strength, tenacity, and courage as we to continue his witness for justice and peace.

Jay Brown

Advocate, Hero, Role Model, Bishop, & Friend

Once when my mother was on a rare visit from Wyoming we attended a church function.  I introduced her to my friend Walter and they had a short but congenial conversation.

After he left my mom asked about this kind and funny person.  I said “Oh that’s Walter Sullivan, our bishop!” 

Mom couldn’t believe nor was she very pleased that I was on a first name basis with the person holding the highest office in the Diocese!

Bishop Sullivan was able to command both deep respect and warm regard at the same time.

He could issue a strong challenge about a particular injustice in one moment and follow quickly thereafter with a dry humored witty remark. There aren’t many people who can balance the professional demands of a job with a personal and pastoral presence, but Walter could and did.

As a woman in the church I felt he was my advocate.  For his love of Haiti he was my hero.  For his commitment to peace and justice he was my role model. For his commitment and care of the entire Diocese he was indeed my bishop. And for his tender heart and kind spirit he was my friend. 

“May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem.”

Anne Gibbons

Good Fridays with Bishop Sullivan

I don’t know the extent of Bishop Sullivan’s ministering to the incarcerated members of our society.   What I do know is that he had deep compassion and love for these people.   Along with other prison-related issues, he supported improvements needed in Virginia’s probation system and sought an end to the death penalty.

Bishop Sullivan also loved to celebrate Good Friday services with Catholic inmates incarcerated at the Greensville Correctional Center, a large state prison located near Jarratt, Virginia.  My wife Elaine and I discovered this approximately 6 years ago.  At that time, we were called to prison ministry and became volunteers at Greensville. It wasn’t very long before the inmates began telling us how much they looked forward to Good Fridays and their annual visit with Bishop Sullivan.  Each year, their eagerness for his visit increased steadily throughout the Lenten season.  When Good Friday arrived, Elaine and I would accompany Bishop Sullivan and Deacon Tom Elliott to the service.  We witnessed the excitement and joy the inmates brought with them to the service.  Just the thought that a bishop would take time to be there, lead a service for them, and pray with them was almost overwhelming for many of these men.

  

Additionally, several of the inmates had received the Sacraments of baptism, confirmation, or marriage from Bishop Sullivan earlier in their lives.  They often corresponded by letter with Bishop Sullivan and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with him following the service.  During these visits, Bishop Sullivan always confirmed that the Church did indeed care about them and that they were not forgotten men.

I’m sure there is now a special sadness and a deep sense of loss among the Greensville inmates and all the other incarcerated people whose lives were impacted by Bishop Sullivan.  He was a great man who truly cared about them; they know it deep within their hearts.

Harry and Elaine Houwen, Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Petersburg, Virginia.

Preparing to Bring Christ to a World in Need

Here we are in Advent and rather than preparing ourselves to meet our Lord we are all too often preparing for anything and everything else. The gifts need to be bought and wrapped, the food needs to be purchased, the house needs to be decorated, there are parties to attend, etc., etc. Let’s not forget the normal everyday things that already fill up our time. So how do we find the time and space from the chaos of life to prepare ourselves to meet and receive Christ?

Mary and Joseph went searching for a room in which to bring the son of God into and couldn’t find one. Sound familiar? “I’d like to be closer to God but there just isn’t room in my life for that right now.” Luckily we have a patient God. When we stop the excuses, and the complaining, and the constant running, we find that He still stands at the door and knocks, waiting to bring us the joy and peace and hope we’ve been longing for. We just need to make room for Him.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we get to decide how we spend our time. Admit it, you are more than willing to make sacrifices in order to have time for things you really WANT to do. We will rearrange our entire lives to make room for things that are important to us. The issue is not that we don’t have time to spend preparing ourselves to receive our Lord through prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, sacraments, liturgy, etc.; the issue is that we don’t make time. We are so busy with life that we run out of steam and seem to forget that our communion with God is what gives us the steam to start with. We get burnt out and end up trying to serve ourselves and others with an empty cup because we haven’t taken the time or effort to fill it up.  

There is good news. Although taking time out from our daily rounds as Christ did again and again to spend time with Our Maker is important and necessary, we can grow closer to Him and fill our cups at the fountain of His grace in the midst of everyday. We can practice communion with God no matter what we are doing. We are constantly in the presence of God, we just get too busy and distracted to notice Him. If while we are getting ready for work, working, cooking, eating, driving, visiting, cleaning, bathing, meeting, exercising, doing the laundry, etc., we realize that God is present with us and acknowledge Him we open ourselves up to receive His grace, the grace that fills our cups to overflowing. Let it spill out into your life and the lives of those you serve!   

You Had to Be There By Joan Wages

About nine years ago, my family took our first step toward the Catholic Worker Movement, although we didn’t know it at the time.  To make a long story short, we woke up to the fact that we were living a lie. We realized that making our living through the defense industry was in direct opposition to the Gospel.  So my husband (Don), quit his job with Lockheed Martin, we sold our house and many of our belongings, and we moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. ..to live a simpler life. After we arrived in Virginia, I remember feeling a tremendous sense of relief and a carefree feeling.  What a joy it was to be starting down a fresh path!

Over the next six years, I found myself wanting to learn more about nonviolence and how it has been lived out in community.  This led me to the life of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement.  In the summer of 2009, I spent ten days with some wonderful folks at the Des Moines Catholic Worker. It was a summer “internship” program, aimed at providing a short immersion experience in the life of a Catholic Worker community.  When I returned to my family afterwards, I felt a bit odd and a bit alone. No matter what I told them about the experience, I knew I wasn’t doing it justice.  It was one of those times where “you had to be there.”   All I could say was, “living in a Catholic Worker community is a great way to play a part in the Gospel story” and “if we really want to live out our faith, we should consider joining the Catholic Worker movement.”

Since that time, I have been looking for ways that we could start down that path as a family.  We started dipping our toe in by attending Catholic Worker (CW) retreats a couple of times a year, participating in various forms of peace witness as a family and getting to know many CW folks from Virginia and North Carolina.  My sons always look forward to attending these and ask me regularly, “Mom, when is the next CW retreat?”  

Meanwhile Don and I have had sporadic discussions about the possibility of starting or joining a Catholic Worker community.   Late last winter Don said that he didn’t see himself doing it, because he wants to continue his work as a public school teacher.  But, he said he would consider the possibility of getting involved somehow during the summer months, when school is not in session.  Well, the Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways, because it wasn’t but just a week or two later, during a visit to the Norfolk Catholic Worker, that Steve mentioned to me that he and Kim were looking for someone to “keep things going” at the house this summer, while they take a family trip. As Steve shared more about their travel plans, he casually inserted “and if there is a 1 in 640,000 chance that you and Don would like to help us out, then we would welcome it.”

Well there was a 1 in 640,000 chance--- and we took it. This summer, all together as a family, we were immersed in the life and work of the Norfolk Catholic Worker community.   It was a wonderful!  But don’t ask me to describe it here, because “you just had to be there.”  All I can say is, “living in a Catholic Worker community is a great way to play a part in the Gospel story” and “if you really want to live out your faith, you should consider joining the Catholic Worker movement. “