Cardinal selects Air Force chaplain for No. 2 post
Apr 27, 2006
The early 20th century American author Thomas Wolfe wrote a book titled "You Can't Go Home Again" and it's now become a mythical fact of life.
(dcmilitary.com, April 14, 2006) Well, that's not exactly true for a priest in the Air Force Chief of Chaplains Office on Bolling. Courtesy of Cardinal Seán O'Malley of the Boston Archdiocese, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Richard M. Erikson will be coming home again.
The cardinal selected the humble Watertown, Mass., native to become the next vicar general and moderator of the curia for the archdiocese.
"I was stunned," Chaplain Erikson said of the April 6 announcement of his selection. The priest said he will be the principal administrator for the archdiocese, the number-two position after the cardinal.
"It's similar to CEO (chief executive officer)," the chaplain said.
Chaplain Erikson is currently a staff chaplain for plans and programs in the Office of Chief of Chaplains on Bolling. In this job, Chaplain Erikson said he oversees Catholic ministries in the Air Force. He also provides mentoring and care for the other Catholic priests in the service. He is also the senior Catholic priest on the staff, serving as liaison between the archdiocese for the military and Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Charles Baldwin, chief of the Air Force Chaplain Service.
At the April 6 announcement Cardinal O'Malley said, "I am most grateful for Father Erikson's willingness to assume this important responsibility, particularly at a time when the archdiocese is preparing to undertake a series of new initiatives in Catholic education, institutional development and other areas.
"I look forward to Father Erikson's contributions working with the clergy, religious and laity of the archdiocese as they continue to share their talents and expertise on behalf of the Church."
Chaplain Baldwin praised the priest's service to the Air Force.
"Chaplain Erikson is the epitome of both a priest and a chaplain," Chaplain Baldwin said. "He has exemplified the ability to be true to your faith commitments and to be able to serve Airmen of all faiths. He represents what an Air Force chaplain is all about."
The Air Force's top chaplain added praise for Cardinal O'Malley's selection of his next vicar general.
"Chaplain Erikson's selection as vicar general is a great testimony to the wisdom of Cardinal O'Malley. Chaplain Erikson is a man of great faith, great integrity and great love," Chaplain Baldwin said. "He will bring healing and restore the trust in the Catholic leadership of the archdiocese.
Chaplain Baldwin also pointed out the prestige the cardinal's selection means for Air Force priests.
"As desperate as we are in the Air Force to keep our Roman Catholic chaplains, this appointment honors the priests who are serving in uniform. Both the church and the Air Force are blessed," Chaplain Baldwin added.
Chaplain Erikson replaces Bishop Richard G. Lennon. Pope Benedict XVI announced April 4 that Bishop Lennon will take over the Diocese of Cleveland.
The path to the chaplain's selection began early last month. He said the cardinal's secretary, Reverend Robert Kickham, contacted him to say Cardinal O'Malley wanted to see him. The chaplain asked if it could wait until the end of March. He planned to return home to spend time with his family. It couldn't wait, Reverend Kickham told him.
"I suspected it had something to do with a recall (an endorsing church calling home a military chaplain)," Chaplain Erikson said. "The fact that he (Cardinal O'Malley) needed to see me right away meant that something was up.
"I was expecting to be asked to take a parish in Boston," said the chaplain, who was ordained in the Boston Archdiocese in 1985.
Chaplain Erikson said Cardinal O'Malley selected him because "he wanted someone who's been removed from the archdiocese the past few years." Chaplain Erikson has been on active duty since 1999.
He added that Cardinal O'Malley had several reasons he selected him.
"The cardinal wanted someone with a fresh view," Chaplain Erikson said. Also, the cardinal wanted someone who had a wide view of the church and society, someone with intellectual ability and someone who's a good priest. Before joining the Air Force, Chaplain Erikson served as chairman of the social science department at St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Mass.
Chaplain Erikson said the cardinal's trust and faith in him was surprising since he'd only met the cardinal three times for a total of about 90 minutes. One visit was at the wake for Chaplain Erikson's mother. The other two times were during two annual visits to the diocese.
He added the new position has "enormous responsibility and enormous tasks" and "a certain amount of concern" as the diocese deals with the sex abuse scandal.
There's another reason Chaplain Erikson has mixed emotions about the job. The Air Force had slated him to take what he said military chaplains consider a dream job--a wing chaplaincy--and at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, no less. However, Chaplain Erikson said he'd taken a vow of obedience to the Roman Catholic Church and will obey. He remembered the first Mass he celebrated on Bolling after meeting the cardinal. The Mass featured a reference to a Hebrew Scripture that read, "Do not refuse and do not resist."
"I am very grateful that the archbishop of Boston has wanted me to serve on active duty the last seven years," Chaplain Erikson said.
The chaplain, who is currently separating from the Air Force, also has 14 years in the Reserves. He plans to stay in it when he takes on the new job. During his career, Chaplain Erikson said deploying to Balad Air Base, Iraq, was his "greatest memory and greatest privilege."
Chaplain Erikson deployed to Balad AB in August 2004. Chaplain (Capt.) James Decker, the deployed priest there at the time, learned his mother suffered a stroke.
"The doctor told me, 'If it were my mother I would be on my way home,'" Chaplain Decker said. "Yet it was difficult for me to leave Iraq."
To fill the void, Chaplain Baldwin asked if Chaplain Erikson would go and replace his fellow priest.
"Literally, I went to Iraq immediately," Chaplain Erikson said.
Chaplain Decker said he was very grateful for Chaplain Erikson's sacrifice in deploying in a few days' notice. Chaplain Decker said Chaplain Erikson told him he had lost his mother the year before "and he told me that he was glad to be able to allow me to be there for my mother and family."
"I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Father Erikson, but I have a classmate that went to college with him. He recalls him being of the highest integrity, administratively and academically talented, and most humble--a rare but wonderful combination," Chaplain Decker said.
"He has truly demonstrated these and other gifts as an outstanding Air Force Chaplain. The Air Force's loss is Boston's gain. I am sure that he will serve Cardinal O'Malley and Archdiocese of Boston well. I will always be grateful that I and the men and women in Iraq in August of 2004 were beneficiaries of his charity."
As Chaplain Erikson prepares to leave the Air Force for the archdiocese, he reflected on what he wants to achieve as vicar general and moderator.
"I hope to achieve healing," Chaplain Erikson said. "There's been a lot of pain in the archdiocese. I hope to lead well and restore trust and confidence in the church."
Cardinal selects Air Force chaplain for No. 2 post