Padre Whiskey’s Cause for Sainthood

Last updated on: January 23, 2014 at 9:18 am by Tony Rossi

Padre Whiskey’s Cause for Sainthood 2014-01-23T09:18:38-05:00 Tony Rossi

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The following column was written by The Christophers’ Jerry Costello:

Father Joseph Walijewski was a veteran of South American mission work, arriving there from Wisconsin in 1956 to start a parish in Bolivia. After a few years he returned home for a short time, but came back to Peru in 1971 and then founded the orphanage that will always be his legacy. He died in 2006, and after a packed funeral Mass was buried on a hill that rises behind the orphanage. All in all, it seemed like a tough life. But now they want to make him a saint, and you figure there must be more to the story of Father Joseph Walijewski than meets the eye. And you’d certainly be right.

For one thing, Father Joe–that’s how he was universally known–was loved. “He gave us an education, food, went to Mass with us,” said one orphanage graduate at the funeral. “He would talk to us about our future, that we had to be well educated, so many things. He showed us so much affection.”

In the eyes of many, he’s sanctified already, the formal process aside. “A saint has lived among us and a saint has died among us,” said one priest who knew him well.

Father Joe didn’t have to go to Latin America to learn about poverty; as the ninth child of immigrant parents growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he knew it first-hand. Even as a boy he hawked newspapers to help the family make ends meet. Ordained in 1950 for the Diocese of LaCrosse, he soon discovered he had a flair for mission work. (Not so with languages, however, as his one-time students laughingly recalled. He never got outside the present tense in Spanish, and to those who had difficulty with his name he had a ready response. “Just call me Padre Whiskey,” he said.)

When Father Joe went to Peru it was to the barrio of Villa El Salvador, where the fancy name masked a shantytown. One night, in a rough section of Lima, he saw something move in a pile of dirty newspapers, and it turned out to be a little boy and a girl preparing a place to sleep. That sight, according to an Associated Press story, set him on a dream: a place that abandoned children could call home.

The dream started to come true in 1985 when Father Joe met the visiting Pope John Paul II, who was so moved by the priest’s story that he donated $50,000 to get the project under way. That’s how Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II was born, beginning with two children. Today, with 64 students living in eight family units, the orphanage stands as Father Joe’s legacy. “Many of the children have never known a home,” he once told an interviewer. “We’re trying to give them the feeling they have a family.”

This year, on the Feast of St. Joseph, Bishop William P. Callahan of LaCrosse formally opened the canonization cause of Father Joseph Walijewski, seven years after his death at the age of 82. Friends remembered many things, then and now, but most of all how his eyes would light up when he talked about his kids.

“If he hadn’t taken them on,” one of them recalled, “a lot of them might not even be alive today. It was their home, and he was their father, and they were all brothers and sisters.”

Previous Post

January 21, 2014

Can Politicians and the Media Make Room for the Simple Alchemy of Love?

Next Post

January 23, 2014 Harry Connick Jr. Goes to Confession

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Act One American Idol Andy Griffith Show Audrey Assad Baseball Bible Books Catholic Charities Christmas Christopher Awards Christopher Closeup Christopher News Notes Current Events Down syndrome Education Father Jonathan Morris Father Keller Films Forgiveness Fringe Government Hallmark History Holidays Humor Inspiration Leadership Lost Marriage Media Medical Military Movies Music NY Med Once Upon a Time Once Upon a Time Parenting Patheos Movie Club Person of Interest Politics Pope Francis Prayer Pro Life Saints Senior Citizens Signed Sealed Delivered Special Needs Sports Three Minutes a Day TV Uncategorized Volunteering Women Youth

Select a Month March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to investigate what was happening in Antioch.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE