Krill, Tom

English

Duquesne University: Digital Commons

Gathered FragmentsMother Drexel_________was the subject of a recentcover story inU.S. News andWorld Report.Hers was a special vocation. TheSisters of Mercy realized this, soKatharine was given a broad training.She was introduced into all phases ofthe ministry of the Mercy Sisters. Sheworked at Mercy Hospital and taughtblack children at St. Joseph School,which was then located on the Hill.On Nov. 7, 1889 Sister Katharinewas formally accepted as a novice atSt. Mary Convent. Mother Sebastian,R.S.M., suggested Mary Katharine asher name in religion. Katharine was“iased because it was a form of her)tismal name, Catharine Mary, andl1ed both of her patronesses, St...,atherine of Siena, and MotherCatherine McAuley, foundress of theSisters of Mercy.During those Pittsburgh years, 13candidates applied for admission toKatharine’s new congregation, theSisters of the Blessed Sacrament. OnFeb. 12, 1891, Katharine pronouncedher vows as the congregation’s firstmember and superior. Mother Inez,R.S.M., who had served as NoviceMistress for the fledgling band wasloaned to them when the sistersreturned to Philadelphia. MotherKatharine always spoke lovingly ofthe Sisters of Mercy and Pittsburgh.She would sometimes stop at St. MaryConvent as she traveled to work withher beloved Indians of the West.s article was condensed from at ger lecture given by Sr Ursulaly, an educational consultant to theiiiocese of Pittsburgh and a memberof the School Sisters of Notre Dame.By..Tom KriIThecity park, known as the“2 1st of May,” lies betweenthe Church of theImmaculate Conception and cityhail in the center of Cordoba,Veracruz, Mexico. The snowcapped volcano Mt. Orizaba overlooks the scene. There in the park,facing the church, is a bronze bustof Father Frank Krill.My Great-Uncle Francis JosephKrill was born in on June 10, 1866,near Pius Street in on the South Sideof Pittsburgh. The son of Germanimmigrants, Frank received his primary education at St. Michael’sparish school, where classes wereconducted half in German and halfin English. He entered thePassionist Order in 1884 and wasordained in 1891.Family history has it that he leftthe Passionists in 1895 when he wasdenied permission to visit his ailingmother. Shortly afterward, he wentto Mexico.“Padre Francisco Krill” arrivedin Mexico in around 1896, duringthe presidency of Porforio Diaz.Diaz, who ruled Mexico for 40years, tolerated the Church, in spiteof the laws to the contrary. SoFather Krill rode in amid a rebirth ofthe Church in Mexico.In Cordoba, Father Krill went towork on the restoration of theChurch of the ImmaculateConception, which was the centerpiece of the town. But Father Frankwas also dedicated to the improvement of the city. On donated land,he built a park. Within the park, hediverted water from the river toform a system of canals and a lake,where picnickers could rent smallboats or fish. The author of a localhistory recalled how Father Franktaught him to play baseball at thepark, with a ball the priest had madehimself, out of thread.Perhaps Father Frank is bestknown for founding the local firedepartment and acquiring the firstfire engine. Even today, in the firemen’s parade every year, a hugefloat commemorates Father Frankfounding of the department.Radical changes came with therevolutions of 1910 and 1913. WithPresident Francisco Madero’s assassination in 1913 came the seizure ofChurch property and the persecution of priests and nuns. The election in 1924 brought even harshertreatment. In 1926, foreign priestsand many bishops were banished.Most went into exile in Louisiana.Many priests went into hiding orwere jailed. Those who fought backin the Cristero Rebellion were executed.Family history says that FatherFrank was jailed a number of timesand that he had to say Mass in people’s homes. A system of tunnelswas constructed to allow FatherFrank to leave the confines of thechurch to reach the homes. Theauthorities learned about the tunnelsand made futile attempts to findthem, including excavation of thefloor of the crypt under the mainaltar.Father Frank died in Puebla, Nov.17, 1942. He is buried beneath themain altar of the church he servedso well and which I visited inNovember 1998.(g;j From Pittsburgh to Mexico:A Pilgrimage of Two Generations..

From Pittsburgh to Mexico: A Pilgriamge of Two Generations

https://dsc.duq.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&context=gf

From Pittsburgh to Mexico: A Pilgriamge of Two Generations

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