Column Chicago priest off to minister to House
By TIM UNSWORTH
How was your week? Fr. Daniel
P. Coughlin asked parishioners during Mass on Sunday, March 26, at St.
Clements Church in Chicago, where he has been a resident priest for the
past several years. The congregation laughed at the sly question, since
Coughlin had on Wednesday been appointed the first Catholic chaplain to the
House of Representatives in the 211-year history of the legislative body.
At 65, Dan Coughlin still looks like an altar boy. That isnt
surprising when one considers that his 85-year-old mother, Lucille, is an usher
at Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs. They each appear to have genes
inherited from Methuselah. (Coughlins father, an Irish immigrant, died 20
years ago. The priest has a brother in Chicago and a sister in Phoenix.)
Coughlin has had years of political experience in the church.
Its not likely that a member of Congress will rattle him. He can be as
prudent as a tailor in a fat mens clothing store.
For nearly 40 years since his ordination in 1960, Coughlin has
lived close to the eternal flame at Chicagos Pastoral Center (read
chancery). He often made the terna (or slate) of might-be bishops spun
out by the clerical gossip mills. He served in several parishes, including Holy
Name Cathedral. He had a brief stint as pastor of St. Francis Xavier in
LaGrange, Ill.
Coughlin has a graduate degree in pastoral studies from Loyola
University and worked on the Environment and Art Committee for the Chicago
archdiocese. He served overseas with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta
and was a scholar in residence at the North American College in Rome.
For nearly five years he has been the co-vicar for priests in the
archdiocese, a sensitive position generally reserved for priests who enjoy both
the support of the bishop and the priest corps. The position sometimes involves
dealing with troubled priests - men who would be summarily terminated for
lesser conflicts in other professions. The effort often leaves the vicar more
muddied than the troubled priest.
Coughlins term as vicar was to expire in June, and his
successor, Fr. James T. Kaczorowski, had already been appointed and cheered as
a popular Polish appointment as well as a man fluent in Spanish. In all
likelihood, Coughlin would have been rewarded with a parish dipped in butter to
serve out his final years on active duty. (As a rule, Chicago clergy serve
until age 70.)
The chaplains position, which carries a stipend an estimated
five times that of a Chicago priest, should keep Coughlin from having to hold
drop parties on his Golden Jubilee.
The appointment was a surprise. Coughlin was called for an
interview on Monday, March 20 - the first hint that his biretta was in the
ring. On Wednesday, he received a second call from House Speaker Dennis
Hasterts office and was asked to be on the next plane to Washington. He
was sworn in immediately.
Hastert, angry after four months of rancor on a relatively minor
issue, was determined to get the matter behind him. He had been accused of
anti-Catholic bias because at first he backed a Presbyterian for the
chaplains job, although a Catholic priest had received the most votes of
a bipartisan committee, created by Hastert. The committee submitted a
three-candidate list without the vote tally and in alphabetical order.
When Hastert named the Presbyterian minister, Democrats on the
committee said they did not understand why the committees first choice
was not selected. They said the priest, in a final round of interviews, had
been asked about his clerical collar and the ability of one who is celibate to
counsel married couples, questions Democratic committee members said were
inappropriate.
The quarrel colored other congressional issues as well as the
Republican primary campaign. Even in making the announcement of Coughlins
historic appointment, Hastert castigated Democrats for bringing shame on
the House.
The appointment not only boosted Coughlin to a position with more
visibility than many bishoprics; it also underlined the emerging clout of
Chicagos Cardinal Francis George. With New Yorks Cardinal John
OConnor and Washingtons Cardinal James Hickey both 80 years old and
ailing, Hastert, an Illinois Republican and a Protestant, turned to George
several weeks ago and asked him to recommend a candidate, as reported in both
the Chicago Tribune and New York Times.
Hastert had invited George as his guest to President
Clintons State of the Union address, where the cardinal sat with the
speakers wife and earned a lot of face time during Clintons
90-minute speech.
Coughlin will open the session each morning with a prayer and
serve as pastor to the 435-member body and their staffs. The bureaucracy makes
for a huge parish. In addition, the chaplain is often called upon to speak at
church and political gatherings.
The New York Times announced Coughlins appointment
with a front-page picture. It was a story that normally merited a back-page
paragraph, but the Times reported that tempers had gotten so heated that
some members of Congress were minded to eliminate the chaplains position
entirely. Other reports hinted that some legislators had reservations about a
celibate chaplain counseling married members. Further, almost invisible in the
background but a consideration nonetheless, it was likely that the abortion
issue clouded the debate.
Asked if some members of Congress were wary that a Catholic
chaplain would introduce the issue in the opening prayer or would use his good
offices to lobby Catholic Congress members about their obligations, one
Washington priest close to the Congress, who declined to be quoted, said:
You hit the nail on the head.
It isnt likely that Daniel Coughlin will be controversial.
As a member of St. Clements Parish, where Coughlin has been in residence,
this columist had heard Coughlin speak often. His style can be dramatic, a kind
of verbal pointillism - thoughts delivered as dots and short brushstrokes. Of
late, his sentiments have become more outspoken, characteristic of a priest on
the back nine of his career. He has a well-modulated voice and a gentle
demeanor, and he is good at working the curb after Mass.
Chances are he will have to rein in a bit. While the chamber is
virtually empty during the opening prayer, the chaplains sentiments
appear in the Congressional Record. Further, unlike the elected
members thoughts, the chaplains cannot be edited.
Coughlins appointment was received gracefully by his Chicago
clerical colleagues. Hes not exactly long on pastoral
experience, one priest said. But hell do all right.
More important, his patron, George, is not the kind of bishop who would
pressure the chaplain to introduce a point of view. Clearly, George did not put
him through a punch list before passing on his name to Hastert. George is
conservative but he doesnt clone clergy.
The media were all over the patio outside St. Clements for
the early Masses. Any pastor wants to be welcomed, Coughlin told
the congregation, and I feel welcomed.
I leave here with a sense of ministry, he continued.
I will pray by being present to all the members of the House - one House,
undivided, with liberty and justice for all.
During a brief, private interview prior to his departure Mass,
Coughlin told this columnist that he had been using a prayer from Thoughts
in Solitude by the late Trappist monk, Thomas Merton. Coughlin was praying
for his next assignment, without a thought about the Congressional post.
My Lord God, Mertons prayer read, I have
no idea where I am going. ... Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I
think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. ...
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may
know nothing about it.
The prayer seemed to fit.
Tim Unsworth writes from Chicago where he models chasubles for
the Acme Vestment Company. Hes at unsworth@megsinet.net
National Catholic Reporter, April 7,
2000
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