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Washington D.C., Mar 22, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The Syrian civil war has led to one of the largest refugee crises of modern times, and presented unique problems for Syria’s ancient Christian communities. Marginalized for centuries, persecuted by ISIS, afraid to attract any attention from the West, Syrian Christians remain, by most accounts, the war’s most invisible victims.

Seta Kale, a Syrian with a Syriac and Armenian descent, was born and raised in Qamishli and fled to Sweden at the age of 16. Today, as a 23-year-old, she’s studying business and economics at Jönköping International Business School, while working part-time as a cashier at a supermarket called Coop, and as a saleswoman at Rituals Cosmetics. Kale likes to sing to cope with her stress, and she likes to read poetry.

In partnership with the Philos Project, CNA sat down with Seta Kale:

When and how did you flee to Sweden?

I moved to Sweden seven years ago in December 2012, a couple of days before Christmas. We flew from Syria to Armenia, and from there we came to Sweden as tourists. We are some of the lucky ones as there were not many who could flee safely. But it was not as easy as it sounds. My family and I had to split up and travel on different dates in order to avoid the suspicion that we were refugees. We had no idea how we were going to be treated upon our arrival in Sweden, and therefore did not want to take any risks by travelling together.

We have seven people in our family. My mom, two of my brothers and I went first. After six months my older sister and third brother came, and a year later my dad arrived. My dad had to take the most difficult route, one that was filled with risks. He couldn’t get a tourist visa, so he had to travel between countries (Turkey, Italy, Greece and France) to be able to come to Sweden. At one point, he had to cross the sea in a small boat together with 30 other people and walk through a forest for several days. Some days he was unreachable, and I’ve never felt that kind of fear ever before. It was a kind that I will never forget.

When did you start feeling the war?

As I mentioned before, I lived in Qamishli. It is a city in northeast Syria, and it was one of the cities that was least affected by war in the beginning unlike, for example, Aleppo and Raqqa. There still were bombs and shootings. The violence started when our bread factory was bombed. It then escalated to hospitals, schools and many public places. Everything became more expensive and there was no access to electricity and clean water 24/7. People were afraid to go to work and children were afraid to go to school. Qamishli felt like a haunted city.

It was when my school was bombed only minutes after my sister and I had left that my dad decided that we had to flee Syria. I will never forget the memory of that day. The ground was shaking under our feet as my mom and aunt ran towards us. After that, people became desperate to flee the war. Houses and apartments were quickly emptied. The feelings and stories that Syria has carried together with her people since 2011 is indescribable.

Tell me about your hometown in Syria.

In Qamishli, Syriacs, Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Muslims all lived together. There were as many churches as there were mosques. People worked alongside one another. They were humble, loving, loyal and respectful towards each other. We felt secure because we knew that if we ever were in danger, the whole city would come and help. Religion and ethnicity did not matter to us, and this was the case in the whole country, not only in my hometown. We never thought “he’s Muslim” or “she’s Christian.”

The social life never stopped in Qamishli. There were things to do 24/7 with friends and family. Christians and Muslims celebrated Christmas, Eid al-fitr, Easter and Eid al-adha together.

When I came to Sweden, everyone thought I lived in a tent in the desert. But the more they got to know me, they were surprised by my knowledge and all the languages I could speak. Unfortunately, people tend to believe things about Syria that are not true. We had access to development, education, jobs and more. People say that nothing is perfect, but Syria was perfect in my eyes. We were very rich, but not in a materialistic way. We were rich in culture, religion, knowledge, history, tradition, peoples and so much more. Everything had a reason and I am the way I am today mostly because of what and who Syria is.

What are your best and worst memories from Qamishli?

Wow, I don’t know where to begin. I have so many good memories imprinted in my heart. I cannot choose one because there are so many; from silly things in school with friends, to mini trips with the family throughout Syria, to celebrations of Christmas and Easter.

The worst memory I have was a time when I was on my way from Qamishli to Aleppo while we were fleeing the war. It was a 9-hour drive by bus. Before, it used to be a beautiful ride with beautiful buildings, houses, people and restaurants on the road. But that day I saw a completely different scene. It was filled with sorrow, and the beautiful buildings were reduced to stones on the ground. There were no houses, no restaurants and no people. During the trip to Aleppo the bus had to stop more than five times at checkpoints. Some checkpoints belonged to the Syrian military and some were controlled by ISIS. Once, my sister and I had to hide under the seats so the ISIS soldiers wouldn’t take us. Another horrible memory is simply when I realized that this is it, I will never go back to my country. I cried the entire flight.

Have you lost any friends or family members during the war?

I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose any friends or family members. But in Qamishli, everyone knows everyone, and we heard a lot of incredibly sad stories about people who disappeared during bombings and shootings. I had family members and friends, both boys and girls, who were drafted to the military. It was during the worst time in the war and the military needed as many people as possible. When these people would return, they were very different. What they witnessed during their time in the military changed them. In that way, I’ve lost loved ones.

If you could go back, would you stay in Sweden or move back to Syria?

I would definitely go back. Besides the fact that I miss it, I want to help rebuild what the war has destroyed. I want to see my country back on its feet and stronger than ever. I want to start a family there and I want my children to grow up in the country that I grew up in.

If you could send a message to Christians in the West, what would you want them to know about Syria?

I want people not to only think of war when they hear “Syria,” because it’s so much more. I want them to know that the Syrian people are struggling and fighting for the country to remain. But most of all, I want them to continue to pray every day for the people there and know that any contribution is an enormous help for the Syrians.

 

 

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2020 / 07:11 pm (CNA).- The Italian bishop of a missionary region of Ethiopia is the first Catholic bishop known to have died of the global coronavirus pandemic. He died March 25.

Bishop Angelo Moreschi, 67, was the leader of Ethiopia’s Apostolic Vicariate of Gambella, a missionary region of 25,000 Catholics in the western part of the country. He died Wednesday in the Italian city of Brescia, in the Lombardy region that has become the European epicenter of the pandemic.

A member of the Salesians of Don Bosco religious order, Moreschi had been a missionary in Ethiopia since 1991. He was ordained a bishop in January 2010.

“The Salesian community mourns the death of the Apostolic Vicar of Gambella (Ethiopia), namely Msgr. Angelo Moreschi, SDB, who died today, March 25, in Brescia (Italy) due to the coronavirus,” the Salesians of Don Bosco said in a statement released through the order’s information bureau.
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The secretary general of Ethiopia’s bishops’ conference announced the news in the country, announced conveying “deep condolences to the Clergy, religious, bereaved family and the lay faithful in the Apostolic Vicariate of Gambella.”

To the mourning people of the Gambella vicariate, the country’s bishops pledged the “closeness and prayers of members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia and the entire Catholic Church in Ethiopia. May his soul rest in peace.”

Bishop Moreschi was renowned in Ethiopia for his pastoral ministry to the service of young people and the poor. In the local dialect, he was afforded the title “Abba,” meaning “Father.”

“In his mission as prefect and then as apostolic vicar, he continued to embody the Salesian focus in helping children, accompanying them by his practical spirit and his strong apostolic zeal,” the Salesians of Don Bosco stated.

“In his visits to the villages, they still remember when the Salesian arrived with a battered SUV - or by motorboat in the villages along the Baro river when the roads were flooded - and he immediately began to distribute multi-vitamin biscuits to malnourished children.”

Bishop Moreschi died “after serving the young, the poor and his flock of souls as a Salesian for 46 years, as a priest for 38, and as a bishop for over 10,” the Salesians said.

More than 60 priests have died in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 21,000 lives globally. Several bishops have contracted the virus.

 

This story was first reported by ACI Africa, CNA's African news partner. It has been adapted by CNA.

 

Vatican City, Mar 31, 2020 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso has tested positive for the coronavirus, his archdiocese announced Tuesday. He is the second cardinal known to have tested positive for the virus, which is now a global pandemic.

Ouédraogo, 75, has been admitted to a medical clinic in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou.  He is “in good condition and his close collaborators are reported to be self-isolating,” a spokesman for Burkina Faso’s bishops’ conference, Fr. Paul Dah, told ACI Africa on March 31.

The cardinal is president of the African continental bishops’ conference, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). He was elected to the post in July 2019. He has been Archbishop of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso for ten years, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014.

Ouédraogo is the second bishop from Burkina Faso known to have contracted COVID-19, as countries across Africa implement lockdowns and restrictions to slow the spread of the virus across the continent.

Another Burkina Faso bishop, Archbishop Emeritus Séraphin François Rouamba of Koupela, tested positive for COVID-19 after being admitted to Our Lady of Peace clinic for urgent treatment on March 19.

The 78-year-old archbishop has since been transferred to another hospital and is reportedly in stable condition, according to a March 25 statement from Bishop Laurent Birfuore Dabire of Dori, Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso has the largest documented coronavirus outbreak in West Africa, with 249 documented cases as of March 31, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The coronavirus has spread throughout the African continent to 47 countries, according to the Africa Center for Disease Control. In North Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco each have more than 500 documented cases, and the South African government has reported more than 1,300.

Three Nigerian states began two-week mandatory lockdown this week to combat the spread of the virus, including Lagos, Africa’s most populous city with more than 20 million people.

Zimbabwe and Mauritius have also implemented national shut-downs, and the bishops in South Sudan and Zimbabwe have suspended public Masses.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, tested positive for coronavirus on March 30.

Other bishops in Italy, France, China, and the United States have also tested positive for COVID-19, and Bishop Angelo Moreschi, 67, died in the Italian city of Brescia on March 25 after contracting the coronavirus.

 

 

CNA Staff, Apr 17, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A Catholic priest is one of two people in Kenya to be charged with “negligently spreading an infectious disease” after authorities allege he did not comply with quarantine regulations after he traveled to the country from Italy. 

Fr. Richard Onyango Oduor denied the allegations on Thursday, April 16, and is currently free after he posted bail. He will appear in court on May 2, after he spends another 14 days in quarantine. 

According to Kenyan media, Fr. Oduor is based in Rome and flew to the country to preside at a relative’s burial service. At that burial service, he distributed the Eucharist, interacting with several people. According to local media reports, as many as 60 people who came into contact with Fr. Oduor reported to the hospital, but it is unclear how many of them were eventually diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Fr. Oduor eventually tested positive for the virus, was hospitalized for a period of two weeks, and has since recovered. He was arrested on April 9, immediately after he was released from the hospital. 

Oduor reportedly traveled throughout Kenya from March 11 through 20, and was unaware that he had been infected with the coronavirus. During this period. Oduor took busses and a plane, and celebrated several Masses. 

Kenyan officials were able to locate and quarantine more than 130 people who had come into contact with Oduor before he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. This number includes priests at a parish in Nairobi where Oduor stayed before traveling to his hometown for the burial.

Archbishop Anthony Muheria, who leads the Archdiocese of Nyeri and is the apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Kitui, declined to comment about the case to Reuters, and said it was up to civil authorities to handle Oduor’s case. 

Kenya has banned public gatherings, reduced the number of people who are permitted to attend a funeral, instituted a curfew, and increased restrictions on who can travel to areas that have the highest number of cases.

In Kenya, 234 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 11 have died. 

Oduor was arrested on the same day Gideon Saburi, the deputy governor of Kilifi, a county in Kenya, was charged with spreading coronavirus. Saburi is alleged to have appeared in public while suffering from the virus between March 6 and March 22. He has also pleaded not guilty and was released on April 16 after posting bail.

Rome Newsroom, Apr 22, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- For Iraqi Christian and Yazidi communities still recovering from the destruction wreaked by the Islamic State, the coronavirus poses significant risks, NGOs have said in a joint statement. 

“The public health system in Sinjar and the wider Nineveh Governorate was decimated by ISIS during its brutal occupation and genocidal campaign in Iraq, beginning in 2014,” the letter stated.

“An impending humanitarian and security disaster looms large in Iraq. … There is a significant attendant threat to global security if ISIS uses this opportunity to regroup and return, but it does not have to be this way. Iraqi authorities and the United Nations must act now,” it continued.

Twenty-five NGOs working in northern Iraq issued a joint statement April 16 calling on the World Health Organization to undertake an assessment mission in the area, where testing has been limited, and urging Iraqi authorities to prevent the Islamic State from regrouping.

Signed by the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Free Yezidi Foundation, Genocide Alert, and the Religious Freedom Institute, the statement described how the pandemic is exacerbating existing security, humanitarian, and health risks among displaced and rebuilding Iraqi minority communities. It highlighted, in particular, the global risk of a potential resurgence of the Islamic State.

Security threat

“COVID-19 and the precipitous drop in oil prices have caused the Iraqi economy to collapse, leaving a dangerous security vacuum for ISIS to exploit. Indeed, the resultant political turmoil and social strife recall the very conditions that earlier incarnations of ISIS and its supporters capitalized on during its initial surge almost a decade ago,” it stated.

“According to International Crisis Group, ISIS in its weekly newsletter Al-Naba called on its fighters to attack and weaken its enemies while they are distracted by the pandemic,” it added.

U.S. military officials have expressed concern that the Islamic State could use adverse conditions to its advantage in it recruitment efforts.

“COVID-19 has also hastened the departure of some coalition forces from Iraq, weakening counter-terrorism operations, while some ISIS detainees have recently escaped prison in Syria,” the letter stated.

On March 30, Islamic State fighters imprisoned in northwestern Syria revolted. The rioting prisoners took over one wing of the prison before Kurdish forces intervened.

“There is an urgent need for reform in the civilian security sector, in order to integrate regional militias into a unified Federal Police that upholds the rule of law and protects all citizens, regardless of religion or clan affiliation,” the letter said.

Health infrastructure needs

The economic strain has also hindered Iraqi minorities’ efforts to rebuild their communities, including medical infrastructure needs.

“Many Yazidis (Ezidis/Yezidis) want to return to Sinjar, but security, reconstruction and basic services are still lacking to allow a dignified return. There are currently only two hospitals and just one ventilator to assist the current population of around 160,000 people in the region,” the NGOs’ statement explained.

Iraq’s healthcare system, which has suffered for decades from the effects of sanctions and war, currently faces a critical shortage of doctors and medicine, according to a Reuters investigation. Hospitals in Iraq are already overcrowded and doctors overworked, while the healthcare situation is slightly better in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which has its own health ministry.

There have been at least 1,600 cases of COVID-19 documented in Iraq, which is under pressure to reopen its border with Iran, which has had more than 85,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Humanitarian workers have also had trouble reaching those in need due to movement restrictions, and have raised concerns about the risk of an outbreak in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

Social distancing is very difficult in these high-density IDP camps in Iraq, where 1.8 million people remain displaced due to insecurity and reconstruction needs, according to the UN.

The 25 NGOs called for the government of Iraq and the United Nations to provide testing capacity in the IDP camps in Sinjar, Tel Afar and the Nineveh Plains.

“At present, it is impossible to apprehend the extent of the spread of the virus because no testing for the disease is taking place in the camps, while restrictions of movement impede the work of humanitarian actors who provide basic essentials such as food, water and medicine,” they stated.

Psychological risk for trauma survivors

Genocide survivors with trauma also face increased personal risk of psychological harm amid isolation imposed by coronavirus measures.

As in much of the world, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan have ordered people to stay home, imposed a curfew, and have closed places of worship, schools, restaurants, and most businesses. 

“Another alarming corollary of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq is the psychological impact on at-risk communities, including Yazidis, Turkmen and Christians, such as Assyrians,” it said.

This is a particular concern for the Yazidi communities in which thousands of women were victims of sexual violence by the Islamic State.

“Prior to the outbreak, Médecins Sans Frontières reported on a debilitating mental health crisis among Yazidis in Iraq, including a rising number of suicides,” it stated.

Suicides in this community have already been reported since social distancing measures were put into place, the NGOs reported. They called on the World Health Organization to address this “acute mental health crisis.”

In their appeal to the WHO and Iraqi government, the NGOs insisted that the stakes were high: 

“COVID-19 is a pandemic the likes of which we have not seen before. Survivors of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes are now waiting for this silent death to pass through the camps and their homes, unable to fight back.”

Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The Syrian civil war has led to one of the largest refugee crises of modern times, and presented unique problems for Syria’s ancient Christian communities. Marginalized for centuries, persecuted by ISIS, afraid to attract any attention from the West, Syrian Christians remain, by most accounts, the war’s most invisible victims.

In partnership with the Philos Project, CNA sat down with Mary Sayegh, a Syrian who lives now in the United States:

Tell me a bit about yourself.

My name is Mary Sayegh. I am 22 years old and live in the United States. I was born and raised in my beloved hometown of Aleppo, Syria. I moved to New Jersey about six years ago, running away from war to build a better future for myself. It was hard to leave my parents, family and friends behind and start all over. To be honest, it wasn’t easy to fit in a new country, even though I’m an extrovert. In America, I had to try and rebuild my social life in a strange land. As for Syria, I was involved in the scouts in church, Sunday school, computer program classes, art, and basketball.

When I came here, I started high school as a junior. I was held back for a year because I had to do ESL and take two courses in US history. During that time, I started planning for college and eventually got accepted to Montclair State University as a biology major and a public health minor. During my studies I also worked several part-time jobs in retail, as an executive office assistant and a front desk receptionist for a doctor. I tried to find balance by going to the gym, hanging out with friends and volunteering at the hospital.

When and how did you flee to the US?

Before my dad was married, he lived in the US, and therefore had American citizenship. Naturally, he passed it on to the rest of the family when he got married and settled in Aleppo again. The American citizenship made it possible for me to have a safe flight to the US when I left Aleppo. I flew from Lebanon to Spain to spend 6 weeks with my uncle and his family. Then my aunt (from New Jersey) came and took me to the States because I was too afraid to fly alone. On September 27, 2014 I landed in America. My mom and brother came three months later, and I didn’t see my dad until a couple of years later. 

When did you start recognizing that there was a war going on in Syria?

I have lost track of the years. I have no idea what happened when. In general, everything started changing when they hit my hometown and we became more in danger. We couldn’t stay out late anymore or go to certain areas. It got to the point where I would walk in the streets and couldn’t find a familiar face. I didn’t recognize anyone on the streets mainly because many Christians in my neighborhood had fled Aleppo. Bombs, shootings and noises became a daily experience for us. On the contrary, it felt weird when nothing was happening.

Tell me about Aleppo.

Aleppo was one of the most beautiful cities. It is famous for its architecture, the churches, mosques, schools, tombs and baths. As an important center for culture and as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Aleppo was loved by all Syrians.

The Citadel of Aleppo was one of the things that made the city special. The Citadel is considered to be one of the oldest and largest ones in the world. It is the best place to watch the sunset and learn about our ancestors’ history. During the siege, the Citadel of Aleppo was partly destroyed, unlike its surrounding buildings that were left in ruins. Today, the area is filled with locals and even tourists that enjoy nice meals in the newly built restaurants around it.

Did you ever feel like you were less valued because you were a Christian in Aleppo/Syria?

I never felt that way. Maybe back in the day. But in my days, we never felt a difference. We felt we were all equal and we treated each other as human beings, brothers and sisters, regardless of our religious differences.

What are your best and worst memories from Syria?

My best memories were every second I spent in Syria growing up until I moved to the States. I would say my worst memory was having to attend friends’ funerals at a time when I thought I would be attending their graduations and weddings.

Tell me about Aleppo when it was under siege.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There were obviously people who lived under better conditions during this horrible time because they were rich, and my dad owned his own business, so we were considered upper middle class. However, days passed when we would not have water or electricity. Still, we were fortunate to at least have had a roof over our heads. Close to my home, al-Assad School opened up for the people whose homes had been destroyed in the clashes. So, one really gets a perspective.

A lot of young girls and boys helped their parents to buy or bring gallons of water or fuel to their homes. I would help my dad fill up huge bottles with water so we would always have some when needed. We also filled up our bathtub as soon as water was available. We had three buckets: one for clean water, one with the soap for when we would wash our hands, and one for when we rinse our hands. The latter one was later reused as water to flush in the toilet.

We never really knew which groups were fighting, or where, unless we saw it on the news. We just heard the bombs and the shootings. There would also be snipers on buildings that would shoot as soon as someone would pass by. Once, a sniper shot at our car, but it wasn’t critical, so we just continued driving.

I was also lucky because I didn’t lose any loved ones in the war. I had a fellow peer in the church scouts who was killed by a bomb. That was really emotional because it was the first time my scout played at a funeral and not a wedding of a person belonging to the scouts. Another scout lost his mother.

If there were to be peace in Syria tomorrow would you move back?

As much as it hurts me to say this, I wouldn’t go back. I will go to visit but not live there anymore. It’s just impossible for our young generation to go and build everything all over. And to be honest, what’s left for us to even go back to? Even if I want to what would I do with my degree?

 

 

By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.

He’s been dubbed: “The Poet-Philosopher of Baseball,” “A Voice for the Ages,” “The Velvet Voice.” He’s been compared to Walter Cronkite, Mark Twain, and Garrison Keilor.  

In 1982, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored him with a star among the Greats of stardom in the same year the National Baseball Hall of Fame enshrined his name among the Greats of baseball.

Vin Scully may be the very model of sartorial perfection, but it’s not the wardrobe that has endeared him to baseball for sixty-seven years. It’s his deep baritone voice and the power of his words.

A Catholic Education

There’s much to be said for childhood dreams.  At eight, when he wrote an assignment about his future, Vin imagined himself as a sports commentator. That dream has come true.

Vin Scully was born in the Bronx, N.Y. and received his elementary school education from the Sisters of Charity.  At Fordham Prep and Fordham University, both conducted by the Jesuits, his eager mind opened itself wide to the liberal arts, to Latin and Greek, science, literary and refining arts. He acted in plays, engaged in debate, learned to read and write well, and above all, to speak well; this is eloquentia perfecta, the hallmark of Jesuit education. When his head was not in books, he took up menial jobs to make ends meet delivering beer, pushing garment racks, and cleaning silver in the basement of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City. Vin Scully, the Renaissance man graduated from Fordham in 1949 with a major in communications.

With the Brooklyn Dodgers

In 1947, baseball executive Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to play infield on the Brooklyn Dodgers team.  Against a tide of opposition, Rickey was determined to integrate the ball club.  Against a tide of opposition, the all-round athlete broke the color barrier in major league baseball at a great personal cost to him and his wife Rachel.  If you wanted to see electricity personified, you went to Ebbets Field where you could fix your eyes on Jackie at home plate and on the base pads tantalizing the opposing team.  There was nothing like it.  Said Rickey, “There was never a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker than Jackie Robinson.”

Three years later, a twenty-two year old Vin Scully joined veteran Dodgers announcers, Red Barber and Connie Desmond to complete the broadcasting team.  As the rookie, Scully was assigned to announce only two innings.  Before long, he was announcing World Series games. He was not yet thirty.

Scully called Jackie Robinson “perhaps the most exciting, most driven player I’ve ever seen.” He spoke fondly of two other players:  “Gil Hodges was probably my all-time favorite.  He was as straight an arrow as they come.”  Duke Snider was “a true star. Subject to teasing from teammates. Great talent.”

When, in 1955, the Brooklyn ‘Bums’ won their only World Series, Scully stood and proclaimed: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the champions of the world.”

Heartbreak in Brooklyn

In 1957, the Dodgers relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.  For years, Walter O’Malley, the team’s major co-owner, had been searching for a more suitable land on which to build a new ballpark. When he and Robert Moses, the controversial construction coordinator of New York City, could not agree on a real estate price for a new Brooklyn location, O’Malley lost no time in accepting the offer of Los Angeles officials to purchase land suitable for building the ballpark he had wanted to build in Brooklyn.  Their departure triggered a virtual depression in Brooklyn.  The fans lost not only their team but also their beloved announcer.  Scully had pledged his loyalty to the team and followed them to Los Angeles.  

When, in 1959, the Los Angeles Dodgers honored Roy Campanella, one of the stars on the Brooklyn team, he was wheeled onto the field for a ceremony of lighting candles in his honor.  (He had been injured in a car accident leaving him paralyzed.) Vin Scully stood, and in tribute, spoke these memorable words:

“The lights are now starting to come out, like thousands and thousands of fireflies, starting deep in center field, glittering to left, and slowly, the entire ballpark. A sea of lights at the Coliseum. Let there be a prayer for every light, and wherever you are, maybe you, in silent tribute to Roy Campanella, can also say a prayer for his well-being. Campanella, for thousands of times, made the trip to the mound to help somebody out: a tired pitcher, a disgusted youngster, a boy perhaps who had his heart broken in the game of baseball. And tonight, on his last trip to the mound, the city of Los Angeles says hello.”

Honorary Doctorate from Alma Mater

In May, 2000, Vin Scully received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fordham University. In his address to the graduates, he shared some memories of his years at Fordham.  . . . “I was once you.  I walked the halls you walked.  I sat in the same classrooms.  I took the same notes and sweated out the final exams.  I played sports on your grassy fields. I hit a home run here—in Jack Coffey Field against CCNY—the only one I ever hit.”

Fordham, he said, evoked three words for him: home, love and hope. Home, because he spent eight years at Fordham both in the preparatory school and as an undergraduate. Love, because he made lifelong friends, and hope because Fordham is where his dreams thrived.

He urged all present “to take some time away from the craziness around you to foster the things that are important. Don’t let the winds blow away your dreams or your faith in God. And remember, sometimes your wildest dreams come true.”

In presenting the award, Michael T. Gillan, dean of Fordham College of Liberal Studies, noted that “when Jesuit schoolmasters developed their plan of studies in the 16th and 17th centuries, they defined “the goal of Jesuit education as eloquentia perfecta … which connotes a mastery of expression that is informed by good judgment and consistent principles. Those Jesuit schoolmasters of another age, if they had known anything about baseball, would certainly have approved the rhetorical gifts of the man who has been the voice of the Dodgers for the past fifty-one years, Vincent E. Scully.”

The Scully Anaphora

For years, every Scully broadcast has repeated the same avuncular opening:  “It’s time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant afternoon/evening to you, wherever you may be. Pull up a chair and relax;” The poet-philosopher announced the games painting vivid word pictures with his musical voice, tinged with Irish inflection.

Scully held himself to three rules:  Avoid criticizing managers and umpires; keep your personal opinions to yourself; avoid using clichés to describe a play. The Scully trademark, he insists, is silence—silence to allow the roar of the crowd to touch the listening audience.

Scully in His Own Words     

There are numerous quotes attributed to Mr. Scully. In describing Tom Glavine as a strike-out pitcher, he mused: “He’s like a tailor, a little off here, a little off there, and you’re done, take a seat.” The talent of Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals amazed Scully:  “How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away.”

Vin was known to spin some philosophy out of the play at the moment.  In 1991, he remarked: “Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day (Pause).  Aren’t we all?”  

Then there were his philosophical quips: “Good is not good enough when better is expected.” “Statistics are used much like a drunk who uses a lamp post—for support, not illumination.” “Losing feels worse than winning feels good.”     

One day, when Vin joked that Joe Torre might be apprehensive about returning from third base to catcher after getting hit by a foul tip.  “If he were apprehensive, Torre would forever be known as “Chicken Catcher Torre.”  At this, the crowd groaned.

Awards

Listed among Vin Scully’s many awards are:
1976 Most Memorable Personality in L.A. Dodger history by Dodger fans
1982 Induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient.
Four times, voted as the country’s Outstanding Sportscaster.  
Twenty-two times voted, as California Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
2009  NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame
2009  Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission
2014 The Gabriel Personal Achievement Award from the Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals.

Personal Life

Vin Scully has not been one to wear his feelings in the open.  Yet, he has experienced two family tragedies.  In 1972, after fifteen years of married life, his wife died from an accidental medical overdose.  The next year, his thirty-three old son Michael was killed in a helicopter crash while working for the ARCO Transportation Company.  A chemist, he was inspecting oil pipelines for leaks near Fort Tejon.

Vin credits his strong Roman  Catholic  faith for helping him cope with family grief and then to resume his work as an announcer. “As long as you live,” he reflects, “keep smiling because it brightens everybody’s day.”

The Final Inning

The longevity of Vin Scully’s baseball life has drawn to a conclusion.  As part of a conference call before the Dodgers played the Giants on Sept 19th, Scully he spoke about all the attention he had received in the closing days of his long career: “First of all, I attribute it to one thing and one thing only,” Scully reflected, “God’s Grace to allow me to do what I’ve been doing for 67 years. To me, that’s really the story. Not really me, I’m just a vessel that was passed hand-to-hand, down through all those years. So I don’t take it to heart as some great compliment. I just realize that because I’ve been doing this for 67 years, that’s why everybody wants to talk about it. So I think I’ve kept it in proper perspective” (Courtesy of MLB Network).

Finally, a favorite Irish prayer and blessing from Mr. Scully:

May God give you for every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life send,]
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song
And an answer for each prayer.

Dear Mr. Scully, ad multos annos.

 

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