ROME - Michael and Susan Nardotti, parishioners of St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in Middleburg, have known Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien since his days as “Father O’Brien” nearly five decades ago.

 

The couple was in St. Peter's Basilica Feb. 18 as their longtime friend became a prince of the church.

 

Cardinal O’Brien is the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. He will continue to serve as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Baltimore until his successor is named.

 

Michael was a cadet at West Point in 1965 when newly ordained Father O’Brien was a civilian chaplain from the Archdiocese of New York. They were there for the same four years, and Michael said he saw the priest every day at Holy Trinity Chapel at West Point.

 

“In those four years, there were cadets that he married and buried. That had an impact on his service,” Michael said.

Father O’Brien was commissioned as a military chaplain initially, and then as an Army chaplain in 1970 with the rank of captain with the 82nd airborne Division. He volunteered to go to Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 1st Calvary Brigade.

 

According to a biography on the Archdiocese of Baltimore website, “From a base of operations in the middle of a jungle, he and a Protestant minister flew by helicopter to defensive outposts where they would provide for the spiritual needs of the soldiers.”

 

Michael pointed out that when support for the war at home was gone, Father O’Brien “recognized that people in uniform needed that support. This demonstrates the depth of his faith commitment.”

 

When his unit was returning to the U.S., Michael said he switched places with a Catholic chaplain in the 1st Calvary division who had been in Vietnam longer, so that man could return home.

 

Michael marvels that, 47 years later, his friend is “a prince of the church,” not to mention “all the things he’s done in between.”

 

He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of the Military Services prior to being named archbishop of Baltimore.

 

“He is very intelligent, but he related so well to the cadets,” Michael said, adding that he was impressed to see someone of his caliber who is “very down to earth and a very caring person.”

 

Susan says she can’t help still calling the new cardinal, “Father O’Brien.” 

 

“To be in the basilica with all the hierarchy of the church, most obviously the pope, and our dear friend Father O’Brien, was the thrill of a lifetime for us,” Susan said, adding that she had never been to a consistory or a papal Mass before.

 

Michael said the cardinal called them last fall to say he’d be leaving Baltimore and he hoped they could come.

 

“‘Are you kidding? We’ll be there,’” Michael told his old friend.  

 

Michael also believes Cardinal O'Brien is uniquely qualified to lead the Order of the Holy Sepulcher.

 

“When I looked at the mission of the order, it’s an enormous challenge in the toughest part of the world,” Michael said. “He will make a difference.

 

 

“I almost can’t believe someone I knew as a cadet, as a priest, is now a cardinal.”