Benedict Groeschel
Benedict Joseph Groeschel, C.F.R. was an American Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, retreat master, author, psychologist, activist, and television host. He hosted the television talk program Sunday Night Prime on the Eternal Word Television Network, as well as several serial religious specials.
Originally a Capuchin friar, Groeschel cofounded the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, intended as a reform branch for the Capuchin charism stressing a renewed emphasis on poverty, service to the poor, Eucharistic and Marian devotion, and fidelity to Catholic doctrine. Groeschel served as lifelong Chairman of the Good Counsel homes for homeless pregnant women and their babies, which he described as a "work of God," cofounding these with Christopher Bell. This maternity home system offered an "open intake" model, i.e. one which turns no woman away for any reason whatever. Groeschel founded the Office for Spiritual Development of the Archdiocese of New York, as well as acting as Archdiocesan liaison for St. Teresa of Calcutta's Missionaries of Charity during Mother Teresa's lifetime. At the invitation of New York's Cardinal Terence Cooke, Groeschel acted as Associate Director of the Trinity Retreat House for clergy and executive director of St. Francis House. Groeschel served as professor of Pastoral Psychology at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York, as adjunct professor at the Institute for Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia, and as an advisor for St. Michael's Institute in Manhattan headed by Dr. Philip Mango. Among Groeschel's close friends were St. Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Angelica, Christopher and Joan Bell, Dr. Philip Mango, Dr. Paul Vitz, and Dr. Alice von Hildebrand.
Some recipients of the "Father Benedict Groeschel Award" awarded by Good Counsel each year have included, but are not limited to: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan; Laura Ingraham; Michael Knowles; Larry Kudlow; Jeanne Mancini; Rev. Gerald Murray; Rev. George Rutler; William Simon, Jr. and Peter Simon.
Early life and education
Born Robert Peter Groeschel on July 23, 1933, in Jersey City, New Jersey, he was the eldest of the six children of Edward Joseph Groeschel and Marjule Smith Groeschel.Groeschel attended Catholic elementary and high school and then in 1950 he entered the Capuchin Order's St. Felix Friary in Huntington, Indiana. As a novice at St. Felix's Groeschel met and was deeply impressed by Blessed Solanus Casey. After nine months in Indiana, Groeschel completed his novitiate at the order's friary in the Detroit Province in 1951.
The following year, he was admitted to temporary profession of vows and given the religious name of Benedict Joseph, after a Franciscan saint, Benedict Joseph Labre. In later life he would often comment that he felt it significant that his patron saint in the order was most likely schizophrenic.
Groeschel made his perpetual profession in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1959. He received a master's degree in counseling from Iona College in 1964 and a Doctor of Education degree, with a specialty in psychology, from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1971.
Career
In 1960, Groeschel became the chaplain for the Children's Village, a facility for emotionally disturbed children based in Dobbs Ferry, New York. In 1965, he joined the staff of St. Joseph's Seminary. He has taught at Fordham University, Iona College and Maryknoll Seminary. In 1967, he founded the St. Francis House in Brooklyn, New York, which provides a safe haven for young men looking for a new start in life. In 1974, Cardinal Terence Cooke, Archbishop of New York, asked him to establish the Trinity Retreat in Larchmont, New York, which provides spiritual direction and retreats for clergy. In 1984, Archbishop John Joseph O'Connor, Cardinal Cooke's successor, appointed Groeschel to the position of promoter of the cause of canonization of Cardinal Cooke.In the 1980s Groeschel became an early supporter and a popular weekly host for the Catholic television station Eternal Word Television Network. Michael Warsaw, the chairman and chief executive officer of EWTN stated "In many of the most difficult days in the history of EWTN, Father Benedict was a strong and vocal supporter of Mother Angelica."
In 1985, Groeschel co-founded, with Christopher Bell, the Good Counsel Homes for homeless pregnant women and children.
In 1987, responding to the call of Pope John Paul II for religious orders to renew their communities, Groeschel and seven Capuchin colleagues broke away from their order "to follow a more traditional religious life that highlighted communal living and traditional garb while serving the poor and needy." They formed the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal with the mission of preaching reform and serving the poor. At the time of his death the order had grown to "115 brothers and priests and 31 sisters in nine friaries in the U.S., four in Europe and two convents in Central America."
After joining the Institute of Psychological Sciences in 2000, Groeschel taught an annual intensive course focused on how to give practical assistance to people experiencing trauma, extreme stress, and sorrow, while at the same time integrating religious values with counseling and psychotherapy.
Groeschel was Chairman of St. Francis House and the Good Counsel Homes. He was on the board of Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida, and was a member of the American Psychological Association. He was also involved with the Padre Pio Shelter, St. Anthony Residence, St. Francis Youth Center, and St. Benedict Joseph Medical Center in Honduras. The late Donna Summer, the queen of disco music paid tribute to Groeschel in the liner notes of her studio album Cats Without Claws originally released in 1984, when it became available as a compact disc a few years later. She said, "To Father Benedict Groechel, and father Glenn Sudano - for the inspiration on the line "Cats Without Claws." Fr Sudano is one of eight original Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and Summer was married to his brother Bruce Sudano.
Author and activist
Throughout his career, Groeschel was "an outspoken opponent of abortion and was quick to defend the church against what he saw as unfair criticism, which endeared him to conservative Catholics in particular."Groeschel received wide public attention through his preaching engagements, writing and television appearances. He was the author of over 30 books and recorded more than 100 audio and video series. He published articles in several Catholic magazines on a monthly basis. His last books included The Tears of God, Questions and Answers About Your Journey to God, The Virtue Driven Life, and Why Do We Believe? His weekly television program, Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel, offered a mix of interviews, answering viewer questions and discussing spiritual and social matters relating to the Catholic faith.
Groeschel was a highly visible Catholic activist, firstly in the Civil Rights movement. He publicly criticized insulting depictions of the Catholic Church in popular culture and the media. In September 1998, he led protests outside an Off-Broadway theater in New York City against the production of Terrence McNally's play Corpus Christi. In his 2002 book, From Scandal to Hope, he accused The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle of revealing anti-Catholic prejudice in their coverage of the sexual abuse scandal that disrupted the church. "Seldom in the history of journalism have I seen such virulent attacks on any institution that is supposed to receive fair treatment in the press", he wrote.
In April 2005, following the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, Groeschel said that the new pope had "been very badly abused by the American media". He thought that the pope's experiences during World War II had been distorted and his personality misrepresented.
Car accident
On January 11, 2004, Groeschel was struck by an automobile while crossing a street in Orlando, Florida. He "suffered numerous broken bones and intracranial bleeding", and over a four-hour period, he had no blood pressure, heartbeat or pulse for about 20 minutes. A few days later the trauma triggered a near-fatal heart attack. While he was recovering from his injuries, he collaborated with John Bishop on the book There Are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God. He broadcast his first live program on EWTN on October 24, 2004. Although the accident left him with limited use of his right arm and difficulty in walking, he resumed preaching and giving retreats by the end of 2004 and he continued to keep a full schedule. As he told The New York Times nearly four years after his accident: "They said I would never live. I lived. They said I would never think. I think. They said I would never walk. I walked. They said I would never dance, but I never danced anyway."Other health issues
In 1984 Groeschel had heart problems that were addressed by bypass surgery.In 2009 Groeschel, then age 75, suffered a minor stroke overnight March 20–21. The stroke caused temporary cognitive and speech difficulties that were noticeable in his March 29 appearance as the host of EWTN's Sunday Night Live With Father Benedict Groeschel, where he made the condition public. During the show Groeschel stated the stroke was the reason Father Andrew Apostoli had replaced him the previous week and stated that he had decided to return so soon "so that viewers who may be suffering in some way won’t give up."
Notably during the broadcast Groeschel misspoke Apostoli’s name as "Father Augustine" and "confused a recent story in the news when he said that the University of Notre Dame was receiving an award from President Obama." It was reported that as the program continued "he was speaking much more normally. He even poked fun at himself for getting Father Andrew’s name wrong: 'I’ll never live that down.'"