By Mary Lackie

Father Constantin A. Chauve, S.M., has been a soldier, unofficial cultural representative of the French government, a builder of churches and a priest for 65 years.

In a recent interview, the 89-year-old Marist priest spoke out thoughtfully and clearly on subjects as varied as international affairs, changes in the Church, the Bible, and Charles de Gualle.

Father Chauve celebrates what he refers to as his “platinum jubilee” June 25 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, marking his 65^th year as a priest. Born in Lyons, France, the priest was ordained in Washington, D.C. in 1902. He returned to his home during a trip to Europe in 1966, and visited Paris and Lourdes.

“What strengthens our faith and keeps it alive are the devotions,” the priest said. He was impressed during his visit to Lourdes by the tremendous crowds of pilgrims and waited four days to visit the spot where it is said the Blessed Mother stood. On his last day there, still unable to enter the lines of people, Father Chauve went to the shrine at 3 o’clock in the morning. “Already, four people and a priest were there. It is a very rough rock, but where thousands of pilgrims have touched the spot, it is worn smooth as marble,” the priest said.

When World War I began, Father Chauve was stationed at St. Bruno’s Church, Van Buren, Me. “ I should have left for France to enlist in the army,” he said, “but I waited a week until Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption. I could not leave the people with no one to say Mass for them on the holy day.”

Father Chauve boarded a ship in New York with 400 men returning to France to join the army. “There was one woman on board, the wife of a French colonel who had come from what you now call Vietnam,” he said.

Many of the regiments had been shattered by the war, the priest said, and he was transferred to a medical unit as a private attached to one of the new regiments. On the day the troops left for the front, Father Chauve offered Mass in a convent near Lyons.

“The nuns told me they had placed my name with that of eight others—their brothers and relatives in the service. The names were contained in a locket that hung around the neck of the statue of the Sacred Heart. “Everyday we will pray for these men,” the mother superior told him, “and all we ask of you is that you will return there when the war is over and remove your name.”

The priest was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government for his heroic actions. “Many times we would have to carry out the wounded under heavy fire, in some cases great bombardment, but we knew if we didn’t get to them, they would be killed,” the priest said.

Shortly before the war ended, Father Chauve was transferred to an American unit as an interpreter. “Most American officers in those days could not speak French,” he said.

When Father Chauve returned to France after the war, he and his sister visited the convent and thanked the nuns for their prayers. He was told that all the men had returned to take their names off.

As a college professor at a Marist school in San Francisco, Father Chauve encouraged the study of French and French culture. For his achievement, he was awarded the Palmes Academiques.

The two French medals are part of the priest’s collection of pictures and memorabilia that decorate the walls of his room. There are more than 150 photographs the priest has framed in his “art gallery.” Statesmen, writers, family groups, clergy and photographs of parish churches cover the walls.

There is a picture of St. Joseph’s Church, Paulina, La., where Father Chauve carved the cypress pews when the church was built. “There were many plantations along the river, and behind the plantations, forests of cypress. The cypress are gone now, and big companies have bought the plantations,” the priest said. “In the olden days, cotton and sugar cane were the crops, but now Louisiana is growing as an industrial state.”

In the Church of All Hallows, San Francisco, the mahogany pulpit was carved by Father Chauve. It took two months to complete the work. The priest became a skilled violin maker, but has none of the 13 violins he made.

The last one is now the property of a Dublin school teacher who took Father Chauve on a tour of the Irish countryside during one of his European trips. “I was surprised to learn from him that Irish is not spoken in Ireland,” the priest said, “Even the sermons are not preached in Irish.”

During a visit to Rome, Father Chauve was received in private audience with Pope Pius XII. “I had decided there would be no picture that day,” Father Chauve said. But, in the small group there was a Maori princess, who had made the trip from New Zealand just to visit the pope. The pope himself called for a photographer, the priest said. “Of course, if he did that for everyone, there would be no end to it.” The photograph hangs in a place of honor in the art gallery.

Father Chauve has seen every pope since Leo XIII. “I remember Pope John when he was the Vatican’s ambassador to Paris, and heard him give a talk,” the priest said.

Speaking of Charles de Gaulle, Father Chauve’s quotable quote is: “I am an American. Perhaps de Gaulle could be a bit more diplomatic, but unfortunately, every great man has his weak spot.”

Asked what advice he has to give the young priests, Father Chauve said. “The young priests?”—He then raised his hand, and added, “No monkey business, O.K.? They might think that I would set myself up as their judge.”

He says daily Mass at Our lady of the Assumption Church, and is delighted to have the Mass in modern language. “I am also in favor of having the priest face the people,” he said.

“But we must ask ourselves this question,” Father Chauve said, “do the changes in the Church do good? The Church must always be guided by the Holy Spirit.”