A Little Bit for God and His People: (298) Philip Hannan: From World War II Combat Chaplain 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division to Archbishop of New Orleans

AMDG

Chaplain Philip Hannan of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82^nd Airborne Division in World War II, making parachute jumps with his men and serving God, Church, and Country

Born to an Irish-American family in the Washington D. C. area in 1913 of immigrant parents. Patrick, his father, started out as a plumber and soon had a prosperous business of his own. Young Philip showed great promise in the secular world. He was captain of the award winning cadet company at his St. John’s College High School in Washington. Instead of opting for West Point, he surprised everyone by choosing to go to the seminary.

His priestly studies took him to St. Charles in Catonsville, MD, Sulpician Seminary at Catholic U where he graduated in 1936 with a Master’s degree, and then was sent by his Bishop to study Theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 1936-39. He saw the rise of Fascism in Europe while studying and traveling during breaks, including to Nazi Germany. He later received a doctorate in Canon Law from Catholic U.

On December 8, 1939, Philip Hannan was ordained a priest in Rome for the Baltimore Archdiocese which included Washington at the time. In 1940 American seminarians were ordered by the Government to return to the U.S. because of the war. He was then assigned as a parish priest at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Baltimore. He described his experience in the book he wrote, “Rome: Living under the Axis”.

Chaplain Fr. Philip Hannan ready for a jump with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division During World War II

Once the U.S. entered World War II, Fr. Hannan had to do his part and enlisted as an Army chaplain in 1942. He considered his assignment in Florida to minister to recruits as being confining. Thus he made a number of requests to be sent to the front lines where he was the most needed and could do the most good. Finally, Chaplain Hannan served with the men of 505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82^nd Airborne Division.

He was in the thick of it at the Battle of the Bulge and the Ardennes Offensive, where he ministered to the paratroopers. Chaplain Hannan tended to wounded men, Americans and Germans alike. He spoke in awe of his fellow officers: “They were absolutely admirable…It didn’t matter to them if the wounded were German or American; if they were alive they would bring them into the hospital.”

He felt a very different type of awe when weeks later his unit entered a concentration camp, an experience he would never forget as he witnessed the liberation of starved prisoners at the Wöbbelin concentration camp in Ludwigslust, Germany.

When hostilities ended, Chaplain Hannan played a major role in preserving the priceless art and relics in the historic Cologne Cathedral from looting, after being badly damaged by bombs and street fighting. Through negotiations with the German Archbishop of Cologne, Chaplain Hannan was made temporary protector and pastor of the ancient Cologne Cathedral in order to both preserve the artwork and minister to the troops of the 505^th PIR during the occupation. This Army chaplain remained a revered member of the Cologne Cathedral for the rest of his life.

Continuing to serve God, Church, and Country as Archbishop of New Orleans until his death at the age of 98 in 2011 (Archbishop Emeritus since his retirement in 1988).

After being discharged, Fr. Hannan returned to the United States and served the Catholic community as a parish priest. In 1951, he founded the Catholic Standard diocesan newspaper in Washington and served as its editor-in-chief before being chosen Vice-Chancellor of the newly formed Washington Archdiocese. It was in this latter capacity that the young priest become well-acquainted with Congressman John F. Kennedy and his family.

In 1956 he was consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop of Washington. During John Kennedy’s administration, he became the President’s unofficial advisor on matters of religion and social justice and gave the homily at his Requiem Mass in 1963.

In 1965 he was installed as Archbishop of New Orleans in the deep South. One of his first tasks was to help with recovery efforts from the devastation of Hurricane Betsy reminiscent of World War II’s devastation of Europe. Again when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, he was there at the age of 92 to personally help with the cleanup and stayed at the television station he founded to protect it from looting. His Army experience served him well.

During his entire time as a priest, Archbishop Hannan was a staunch defender of the Right to Life and a fighter for social justice. In 1963 as the officer in charge of a busload of troops for reserve army training, I had to stop at several restaurants in North Carolina to find one willing to serve all of my men, some of whom were black. The Catholic churches in the deep south went along with the custom of requiring blacks to sit in the back pews.

For years in Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh in the industrial North, one of the largest amusement parks in the Country at the time, blacks were not permitted to use the beautiful spacious swimming pool. When the blacks complained in the 1950s, Park management simply closed down the pool for everyone and used it for boat riding and today other amusements. Thus it took a lot of courage on the Archbishop’s part to open the Notre Dame Seminary swimming pool in New Orleans to the public, black and white alike.

Archbishop Hannan was the third oldest U.S. bishop when he died and the last surviving U.S. bishop to have attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) as a bishop. He addressed the council twice, once on “The Role of the Laity” and the other on “Nuclear Warfare,” when he argued for the morality of nuclear deterrence. He instituted the reforms of Vatican II in his archdiocese as the Council Fathers intended.

I might add that the language of communications at the Vatican Council was in Latin, the liturgical language of the Roman Rite at the time and the universal language of the Church for centuries. However, Latin proficiency of the American prelates was poor. But Bishop Hannan was a notable exception since he was able to deliver two major interventions there in Latin.

He also reformed the Archdiocesan Catholic Charities system, which now serves as the largest non-governmental social service agency in the New Orleans metropolitan area, including giving 20 million pounds of food to the needy each year.

The Archbishop received numerous civic honors, including the most prestigious award presented to a New Orleans civic leader, The Times-Picayune Loving Cup. The Science Building at CUA, Hannan Hall is named after him.

Archbishop Hannan continued to serve the people of the Archdiocese of New Orleans until his mandatory retirement age of 75 in 1988. Even then he continued to serve until his death in 2011 at the age of 98. In 2010 his autobiography was published to promote chaplains in the military: “The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots”.

As a veteran he narrated a great video documentary on the heroic life of Lt. Fr. Vincent Capodanno (available from www.ewtnrc.com). Fr. Capodanno, whose cause for canonization is advancing, is one of only five chaplains to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor since the Civil War, the highest honor given by the military for heroism beyond the call of duty. All five are Catholic priests. See

(31-C) Fr. Vincent Capodanno M.M.: A Medal of Honor Marine Chaplain of the Vietnam War & a Maryknoll Father

http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2011/11/31-c-fr-vincent-capodanno-mm-medal-of.html

(82) Prayer For the Military and Veterans Still Hurting –

http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2012/05/82-nationaland-day-of-prayer-prayer-for.html

and

The Chaplain Kit | The Online Chaplain History Museum providing Chaplain History, Information and Resources or https://thechaplainkit.com/