Kapaun crucifix to be in Pilsen church Sunday
The celebrated Kapaun crucifix will be in the area during the weekend.
Rosemary Neuwirth of Lincolnville said the case which holds the crucifix at Kapaun-Mount Carmel High School in Wichita is being rebuilt, so school officials suggested the crucifix be kept at Pilsen during that time.
The famed crucifix was carved by an American POW after the death of Father Kapaun during the Korean War.
Major Jerry Fink, a Jewish soldier, made his own tools — a knife from a steel arch-support from an army boot, a chisel from a drain pipe bracket — and also a mallet. It took him two and one-half months to complete the crucifix.
The corpus (body), made of scrub oak, stands 26 inches high. The cross, made of cherry wood, is 40 inches high. The crown of thorns resembles barbed-wire and is made from scraps of radio wire.
Prisoners named the crucifix, "Christ in Barbed Wire."
It later was mounted on bronze and presented to St. John Nepomucene Church at Pilsen, Father Kapaun's home parish.
If possible, Neuwirth will take the crucifix to each of the three Holy Family Parish sites for people to view before Mass.
Services are as follows: Marion, 5:30 p.m. Saturday; Florence, 8:30 a.m. Sunday; and Pilsen, 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
The crucifix will remain at the Pilsen church until Sunday evening. Visitors are welcome to come to the church to view it.
