Tue, Jun. 22, 2004
_
Wounded chaplain's friends keep vigil
Twin Cities priest is hurt in Iraq bomb blast
BY STEPHEN SCOTT
Religion Editor
Twin Cities priest Tim Vakoc seemed clearly caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when a bomb blew up in his face along an Iraqi road three weeks ago.
But if he could speak from his Washington, D.C., hospital bed, he would say the opposite, according to friends of the Army chaplain.
"His faith life says that no matter what the circumstance, that is God's will and that is what God wanted,'' said a friend from Vakoc's former parish in Eagan. "When he comes out of this whole thing, he'll say this all had a purpose.''
Vakoc's recovery has been uncertain, sometimes imperceptible. He is fighting for his life, essentially in a coma. His family is guarded and hopeful. Those close to Vakoc say his greatest suffering will be if he can't return to military duty.
"He wouldn't just want to come back to a tiny little parish and push papers and say prayers. He wanted to be out doing that type of work,'' said Polly Novack, a parishioner at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Eagan when Vakoc served there in the mid-1990s.
For now, those keeping vigil hope the swelling in his brain subsides and a persistent fever recedes so they might know how badly, or permanently, Vakoc is hurt. He has lost his left eye and part of his skull was removed to relieve pressure on his brain. At least partial paralysis is a possibility.
He opened his eye last week for the first time but is not communicating, said his sister, Anita Brand, who visits him regularly at Walter Reed Army Medical Center because she lives nearby in Springfield, Va. Jeff Vakoc of Brooklyn Park just returned from visiting his brother.
"He seemed to be awake,'' Jeff Vakoc said, "but we don't know what's going on in his head.''
In the best of times, Henry Timothy Vakoc, 44, keeps people guessing, with a quirky wit, a heart for quiet contemplation, yet a knack for talking to everybody he meets.
"He's got a great sense of humor, a little warped at times,'' said Dave Novack of Inver Grove Heights. Vakoc officiated at Dave and Polly Novack's wedding, beginning a lasting friendship with both.
"If he had been conscious on that field in Iraq, I can imagine him telling a joke,'' Polly Novack said. "He always seemed to put a lighter touch on a situation.''
He's been known to illustrate the prodigal son parable by lifting up his vestments and pants legs and running through the church. Re-enacting Good Friday once while carrying a huge cross, Vakoc didn't realize his microphone was on.
"Jesus must have just been dying when he was carrying this,'' he said to a somewhat startled congregation.
But he's not all levity and bravado.
"I've seen him cry on Easter Vigil night when he is doing baptisms and for the adults coming into the church, because it is so special,'' Dave Novack said. "He's very serious about his priestly duties.''
His vocations of priest and military chaplain are intertwined, so that well-wishers joining in prayer support include not just Minnesotans, but people from Colorado, Washington state, Germany, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Denmark and a host of other places Vakoc served and visited.
"He has a unique way of preaching the Gospel,'' said Master Sgt. Caesar Alcantara, stationed in Taji, Iraq.
"Every end of his sermons, whatever the Gospel is all about, he will always turn toward his seat and act like he is ready to sit, and then he'll turn back to the audience and say, 'By the way, your homework for this week is to take a minute of your time, close your eyes and think of how you can strengthen your faith every lunch time or dinner or anytime you think about Jesus.' "
Other than playing G.I. Joe and being raised in a Catholic family, Vakoc (pronounced VA-kich) wore neither priestly nor military aspirations on his sleeves while growing up in Robbinsdale and Mound.
His major at St. Cloud State University was marketing. His first job out of school was as a traveling representative for his college fraternity.
Only later in his life did his parents, Phyllis and Henry Vakoc of Plymouth, learn of their son's "call.''
"He said when he was confirmed in fifth grade, something 'knocked on the door' to be a priest,'' his mother said last week. "But he never told me, not until a long time after he was a priest.''
Her education has intensified since her son's injury.
"I've found out more about him in the last two weeks than I ever knew,'' she said. "I just knew he wanted to serve God and his country. From the outpouring of people, he must have done both very well.''
A woman whose husband was stationed in Germany with Vakoc now sits with him each Thursday afternoon in the D.C. hospital, spelling his sister from her bedside watch. The woman credits the chaplain with saving her life by helping her through a difficult time in Heidelberg.
No one can pinpoint what led Vakoc into military service. He joined the Army Reserve about the same time he entered the priesthood.
"Most priests will talk about giving their life up to God by becoming a priest,'' said seminary classmate Mike Strande of St. Paul. "He said baptism is what you go through to give your life up to God, and that priesthood is one way to live that out.''
After four years of parish work, Vakoc decided the way to live out his priesthood was as a chaplain.
"Tim is a very warm, friendly, helpful kind of a guy who almost gets himself in trouble because he's too helpful,'' said the Rev. Bob Schwartz, pastor at St. John Neumann when Vakoc was an associate there. "He just really follows people in their need and, in this case, that meant to Iraq.''
Military duty gave Vakoc the chance to follow his yearning for travel and meeting people. He wasn't alone when injured, either. Two soldiers accompanied him May 29 as he drove back to his base after saying Mass in Mosul, Iraq. Neither was seriously hurt.
"Tim's the kind of guy that if he walks into a room with 10 people and only gets to know nine, he'll be disappointed he didn't get to that 10th person,'' Strande said.
Now, people are lining up to see him, but access is restricted at Walter Reed, where he was flown shortly after the bombing. Hundreds are signing an online guest book at the CaringBridge Internet site. Friends in Heidelberg set up a prayer vigil, and within three days, someone had signed up to pray each hour during the entire week.
"I can't even think about how many people around the world are praying for him,'' said Charlie Jackson of Glendale, Ariz., who met Vakoc at a youth retreat in Minnesota 13 years ago. "It's really amazing to think about it that way.''
ONLINE
A Web site devoted to the Rev. Timothy Vakoc posts daily updates on his condition and has a guest book for online wishes to the chaplain and his family. The site is at
www. caringbridge.org/mn/timvakoc.
ABOUT H. TIMOTHY VAKOC
Graduated from Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in 1978 and from St. Cloud State University in 1983 with a degree in marketing.
After college, worked four years for Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity as a national representative before entering the Saint Paul Seminary.
Ordained a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on May 30, 1992.
Served as associate pastor at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony and St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Eagan until joining Army in 1996, following several years as member of Army Reserves.
On the 12th anniversary of his ordination, injured in a roadside blast near Mosel, Iraq, while driving back to his base from saying Mass. Believed to be first U.S. Army chaplain seriously hurt in Iraq war.
Believed to have been injured by direct blast to the head from IED (improvised explosive device), probably through the window of the Humvee he was driving. Flown from Baghdad to Landstuhl, Germany, then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he remains in critical but stable condition.
Linear Mode
