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Friar Stories: Journeys to Franciscan Life

Fr. Francis Gunn, OFM

Odd as it seems, Father Francis Gunn, OFM, sees similarities between being a Franciscan friar and being a firefighter.

“Being in the firehouse is like being at home, having another family,” he said. “Firefighters love the job, and part of what they love is the camaraderie, support and teamwork. And that’s what our life as friars is like.”

His father, Edward, and grandfather, John Gunn, were New York City firemen. But there’s another reason Fr. Francis, who in September took over as pastor of St. Joseph’s in East Rutherford, feels a special bond with firefighters: After 9/11,
Fr. Francis, an emergency medical technician for 18 years and a certified trauma specialist, visited hundreds of New York City firehouses every day for 10 weeks as a member of a crisis intervention team.

Fr. Francis viewed firsthand how the tragedy affected firefighters. “Firehouse after firehouse, they had lost 11, 12 ... 19 members,” said Fr. Francis, then an associate pastor at Holy Name of Jesus Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “It was amazing to see how they coped with courage, grief, resilience and compassion for the families. At the same time, there were dozens and dozens of firefighter funerals happening.”

FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS
Wanting to reach out more to one firehouse, he went to Ladder 25 on 77th Street and Broadway. Fr. Francis was also there to go with members to a memorial service for fallen firefighters at Madison Square Garden.

“Since 9/11, I’ve continued to provide pastoral ministry to members of that company, who lost seven of 25 men,” he said. “My role has been responding whenever called upon to be at memorial services and to provide counseling to firemen or family members. ”Connecting his spiritual backgound as a priest for 21 years with his long years of experience as an EMT, and his knowledge as a social worker and trauma counselor is a seamless fit for Fr. Francis.

As an EMT, Fr. Francis understands the stress rescue workers experience. “I was one of them, a peer,” he said. As a certified trauma specialist, he has gone to hundreds of briefings for firefighters, EMS workers, police and health workers.

“When people have experienced trauma, it can alter their view of the world and prompt them to ask ultimate questions in relation to God, faith, life, suffering and death,” he said. “Those different kinds of things would come up, and I had the chance to reflect on them with people. Some asked, ‘Where was God on 9/11?’ ” Fr. Francis said rescuers also second-guess themselves.

“They say, ‘If only I had done such and such ... if only I had done things differently, maybe I could have prevented the tragedy,’ and play the scene over and over in their minds like a videotape,” he said. “It’s part of the human desire to make sense out of what appears to be a senseless tragedy. To me, they are spiritual questions. They cause us to look at who is really in control of our lives and our destinies.”

Fr. Francis said people have the “functional illusion” that they are the masters of their destinies. “A traumatic event can pull the spiritual rug out from under us,” he said. “What we believed may no longer make sense.”

What happened on 9/11 forced rescue workers to come face to face with their powerlessness, Fr. Francis said.

“They go in and put out the fire, they treat the injured person and take them to the hospital. When you recognize your powerlessness, where do you go? They have a moment of enlightenment.”

It’s frightening to people that accidents and tragedies are random events, Fr. Francis said.
“People are in the wrong place at the wrong time and they’re gone,” he said. “Having no power to predict or to prevent leaves us very insecure. When things happen to children, it leaves such an impact because it upsets the natural order that they are not supposed to die before adults, and our sense of responsibility to protect children is injured.”

He has been an associate at various churches, including Good Counsel in Pompton Plains and St. Mary’s in Pompton Lakes, where he was an EMT on the volunteer ambulance corps for seven years.

Fr. Francis became an EMT in 1979 while a theology student in Boston.

“I was looking for something to get me out of my head, and I wanted to serve people in a more hands-on way,” he said. “I thought it would be an excellent way to serve the wider community instead of just those who come to church.”

He loved it. “It enabled me to get to know a lot of people in the community and to be present in time of crisis and to offer comfort and support,” he said. “There is something about being present and making a difference where the action is taking place.”

Fr. Francis was a senior social worker and program coordinator at the South Bergen Mental Health Center in Lyndhurst. He was chaplain for Valley Hospital Hospice in Ridgewood and mental health director of the Phoenix Team, a volunteer group that counsels rescue workers after incident stress.

“My work as an EMT, social worker, and priest came together in trauma counseling and crisis intervention,” he said. “I shifted the emphasis from EMT to supporting the community.”

He has since served on many support and disaster teams in North Jersey and lectured widely here and across the country.

Although he let his certification as an EMT expire, Gunn hopes to re-certify and join the East Rutherford Volunteer Ambulance Corps. He also wants to reactivate his membership on the Phoenix Team.

While he wears a friar’s habit instead of turnout gear as his father and grandfather did, Fr. Francis has a rescuer’s spirit in his blood.

“It enables you to be part of a coordinated effort in times of crisis,” he said. “You’re not acting alone.”

—This essay was written in 2003 when Fr. Francis was serving as pastor of St Josephs parish in East Rutherford, N.J. It appeared in the March 2003 issue of The Anthonian magazine.