It was just before Christmas and Fr. Rivers Patout wouldn't take nyet for an answer. As a chaplain to Houston's Apostleship of the Sea, he wanted to tend to the spiritual needs of the crew on a Russian ship that had just floated in to the Houston Ship Channel. Fr. Patout had Christmas gifts to hand out, but the captain would not let the good priest on the ship. "We have nothing to give," the captain said. "You have vodka, don't you," Fr. Patout asked. After a few drinks, the captain finally allowed Fr. Patout aboard.
The Archdiocese of Houston's Daniel Cardinal DiNardo likes that story. He thinks it illustrates how determined his priests are to alleviate the plight of seafarers and migrants. He says he's no less motivated about the issue. Earlier this week, I sat down with the newly elected Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for a brief chat after he spoke to DePaul University's Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. We jumped right into discussing a bishop's authority, immigration, and the so-called Pope Francis effect.
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