By George P. Matysek Jr.
gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
Twitter: @ReviewMatysek
UPDATED – A seminarian from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg is believed to have drowned after saving the life of a woman who fell into the Arkansas River July 9.
Brian Bergkamp, 24, was among five people traveling in separate kayaks when all got caught in turbulent waters. According to The Wichita Eagle, Bergkamp left his kayak to save the woman before getting pulled under himself. He was not wearing a life jacket. The other kayakers made it to shore.
A search to recover Bergkamp’s body is ongoing.
“Brian’s death is a great tragedy and a great loss, not only for his family and friends,” said Archbishop William E. Lori in an email, “but to all who knew him and to the church he was so generously seeking to serve.”
Archbishop Lori said Bergkamp’s “heroic and brave actions” speak to the “great character and to the wonderful priest I’m sure he would have become.”
“Though his dream of serving others as a priest is no longer possible,” Archbishop Lori said, “Brian continues to bless others through his selfless example and legacy.”
Bergkamp, who was preparing for the priesthood for his native Diocese of Wichita, Kan., was to enter his third year of theological studies at Mount St. Mary’s.
Monsignor Andrew Baker, rector of the seminary, remembered Bergkamp as a “quiet, but very effective leader.”
“He was a thoughtful and prayerful young man,” Monsignor Baker told the Catholic Review. “He was extremely reliable and hardworking.”
Bergkamp had served as a sacristan at Mount St. Mary’s, Monsignor Baker said.
“He would help every morning behind the scenes getting ready for Mass,” Monsignor Baker said. “He was very, very attentive to every little detail. He always would be there with a big smile and a willingness to help.”
The circumstances of Bergkamp’s death show that he knew the depth of what it meant to be a Christian and a priest, Monsignor Baker said.
“It was self-giving love,” he explained. “He didn’t have to think twice before he acted (to save another’s life).”
Seminarians and the entire Mount community are taking Bergkamp’s death “very hard,” Monsignor Baker said. A morning Mass and afternoon rosary service were offered for Bergkamp and his family July 11 at the seminary. Many priests also offered Masses for Bergkamp, Monsignor Baker said.
“He was working hard to get to know as many of his fellow seminarians as possible,” Monsignor Baker said. “There’s a very strong fraternity here and he was a part of it.”
Bergkamp has a brother, Deacon Andrew Bergkamp, who is preparing for the priesthood for the Diocese of Wichita at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Il.
Catholic News Service reported that Wichita Bishop Carl A. Kemme called Brian Bergkamp “an exceptional seminarian, well on his way to demonstrating so many of the qualities needed to be a good and faithful priest.”
“I personally looked forward to the day when I might be able to ordain him,” Bishop Kemme wrote in an email to The Catholic Advance, the diocesan newspaper in Wichita.
Life on this side of heaven is full of mysteries, contradictions and ironies, Bishop Kemme said. “Brian’s untimely death is full of these mysteries, which must wait until heaven to be solved.”
This story was updated July 12 at 2:50 p.m. to include Catholic News Service quotes from Bishop Kemme.
Editor’s note:
Bergkamp’s body was discovered in the Arkansas River July 28 and positively identified, according to Wichita Police.
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