WASHINGTON, DC — The annual Memorial Mass for Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, Servant of God, will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, 400 Michigan Avenue, Northeast, Washington, DC. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, will be the principal celebrant and homilist.
Archbishop Broglio celebrates this special Mass each year for the repose of Father Capodanno, a U.S. Navy Chaplain killed in Vietnam at the age of 38 on September 4, 1967—Labor Day in America—as he ministered to embattled U.S. Marines in South Vietnam’s Quế Sơn Valley, a strategically-important river basin. For his uncommon valor Father Capodanno, LT, CHC, USN, posthumously received the Nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, and in May 2006 the Catholic Church officially proclaimed him a Servant of God thus formally initiating his Cause for Canonization.
With the days counting down till the Mass, EWTN will re-broadcast its 90-minute docudrama on Father Capodanno, Called and Chosen, three times on the following dates:
- Aug. 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET;
- Aug. 19 at 1:30 a.m. ET;
- Sept. 3 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Called and Chosen traces Father Capodanno’s life and faith journey from his birth to a large family of Italian immigrants on Staten Island, NY, through his priestly vocation as a Maryknoll Missionary, serving in Taiwan and Hong Kong before joining the Navy as a chaplain, to his ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield while attached to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, of the First Marine Division, voluntarily putting himself in harm’s way in Operation Swift, a bold mission to rescue a company of fellow Marines under ambush by the North Vietnamese Army.
Order the video here by making a donation to the Father Capodanno Guild.
The Father Vincent Capodanno Guild is the one and only official organization established to promote the Cause for Canonization of Father Capodanno. For more information, visit www.CapodannoGuild.org.
All are invited to attend the Memorial Mass for Father Vincent Capodanno on the 57th anniversary of the day he laid down his life on a bloody battlefield for those to whom he ministered in service to God and Country. Media coverage is welcomed.
There will be open seating, so please plan to arrive early. Military members are encouraged to wear the uniform of the day, and business attire is appropriate for civilians.