News came today that Father Bill Brennan S.J. had died. Since he was 94 it should have been of no surprise to me but it was and really saddened me. A mutual friend, Jerry Zawada OFM and I had recently visited Bill in the Jesuit retirement home. Although his body was mostly paralyzed, his mind was clear. I remember we had an active conversation with two other elderly Jesuits, one who had spent a long time in the Vatican and the other many years in Africa. We talked about many topics including one of Bill’s favorite, woman’s ordination.
Bill was a strong advocate of women priest and at his last visit to the vigil at Fort Benning with SOAWatch had con-celebrated Mass with another mutual friend, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a woman Catholic priest. For this Bill got in trouble with the religious order and Rome and was restricted. After he became paralyzed it was not much of a problem.
He got permission last year to attend the May 1st celebration for immigration rights with Hispanic community. I was going to go with him in a handicap van but found out, that with his large wheel chair, he needed a special kind of van for which he was not signed up for. With the help of the minister at the Jesuit retirement home we arranged for his ability for such a van. At a mutual Jesuit friend’s funeral, right after Bill turned 94, I said I would, for his birthday present, arrange for his attendance at a community event. But I got busy and never did it.
I have many wonderful memories of Bill. One is we were sitting at a restaurant in Columbus, near Fort Benning, waiting for time to board the bus back to the Atlanta airport. Due to a rainy day people got to the busy early and they were ready to leave when they noticed we were not on the bus. They called. At the time, Bill had a walker with a seat. I remember racing in the rain pushing Bill seated in the walker across a parking lot to get to the bus. We made it in time, without a spill.
Bill lived a full life with a passion for justice for all that he practiced. The Jesuits do not realize how many lives Bill touched since they scheduled his funeral visitation and mass in a chapel in the retirement home that could not possibly hold the people I expect that will be there, from all walks of life, all races, poor, middle class, rich, young and old.
Bill was a person who lived his conscience.
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