The Cardinal Who Jumped Into Vietnam for His Flock

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien — a former Vietnam War chaplain who later served as Archbishop for the Military Services and as a Vatican cardinal charged with a mission to the Holy Land — spent decades ministering to American soldiers and to Catholic communities around the world.

In this conversation, recorded at Catholic News Service in Rome, he reflects on jumping from helicopters to reach troops in Vietnam, the discipline and faith forged in war, his role helping reform seminaries after the 2002 clerical sex abuse crisis, and the Church’s mission amid global conflict.

Recorded just days before the United States entered a new war with Iran, the cardinal offers a perspective shaped by a lifetime on the front lines of pastoral ministry: that suffering endured with faith can become a powerful witness beyond the Church’s walls.

Guest bio:
Cardinal Edwin O’Brien is a retired American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop for the Military Services and later as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He previously served as archbishop of Baltimore and participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.