Fr. Emil Kapaun nominated for Kansas honor

By CNA Staff

Wichita, Kan., Oct 3, 2010 / 11:11 am

Father Emil Kapaun, a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, is among the 24 men, women, or groups nominated for the Eight Wonders of Kansas People, a campaign by the Kansas Sampler Foundation to promote and educate about the Sunflower State.

Fr. Kapaun is a priest of the diocese who died in a North Korean prisoner of war camp in 1951. The canonization process is underway for Father Kapaun, a war hero born and raised in Pilsen, Kansas.

The Kansas Sampler Foundation began its campaign with the Eight Wonders of Kansas. The current category is people.

Father John Hotze, judicial vicar for the diocese who is overseeing the diocesan canonization effort for Father Kapaun, said Father Kapaun was among the 125 originally nominated and is now one of the 24 finalists.

“The people who are in the running are rather interesting,” he said. “I have never heard of some of them and am surprised that some are from Kansas.”

Father Hotze asked the faithful of the diocese to vote and then pass the information about the Eight Wonder to others.

“It might be kind of neat to have Fr. Kapaun named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas,” he said.

To vote for your favorite Kansans go to 8wonders.org. Each visitor will be asked to vote for eight. Anyone who is in the fourth grade or older may vote.

Voting will end on Friday, Oct. 22.

Printed with permission from the Catholic Advance, newspaper for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas.