Students hear of life, death of chaplain who is sainthood candidate

Published: 2007-11-26

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CNS) -- Father Vincent Capodanno was killed on the battlefield in Vietnam a little more than 40 years ago. On that day, retired U.S. Marine John Scafidi was close to the age of the football players from St. Anthony's High School who listened attentively as he recalled crouching in a foxhole and hearing the machine-gun fire which would eventually take Father Capodanno's life Sept. 4, 1967. Scafidi spoke as part of a special Veterans' Day presentation Nov. 9, following the team's regularly scheduled Friday Mass before a home game. Veterans from the local community were also invited to the Mass and to hear Scafidi speak about Father Capodanno, a Maryknoll missioner and Medal of Honor winner known for his extraordinary service as a chaplain during the Vietnam War. In June 2006 his canonization cause was formally opened and he now has the title servant of God. A tribunal set up by the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services is gathering information about the priest's life and virtues and is looking for firsthand accounts of his intercession in people's lives.

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