Left to right: Thomas Turner, Elliott Turner (holding the cross), Joe Wathen (grandad), and cousin Sutton Markland of Evansville participate in this year’s Father Kapaun Pilgrimage in Kansas. This photo was taken by Peggy Lockwood, the daughter of Fr. Kapaun’s jeep driver in Korea. COURTESY OF PEGGY LOCKWOOD
Cousins and grandad participate in ‘Kansas Camino’
BY SARA WATHEN, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
This past June, Joe Wathen, a parishioner of St. Pius X in Owensboro, and his three grandsons participated in the Fr. Kapaun Pilgrimage which took place May 30-June 2 in Wichita Kansas.
Wathen, along with grandsons Sutton Markland (son of Margaret and Jeremy Wathen, who belong to Holy Redeemer in Evansville) and Thomas and Elliott Turner (sons of Mary and Jesse Turner of Philpot, who belong to St. William Parish in Knottsville) completed a 60-mile walk to honor Fr. Emil Kapaun, a Catholic priest and a military chaplain who died in a prison camp during the Korean War.
In 1993, Fr. Kapaun received the title of “Servant of God,” which is the first of four stages toward canonization (being named a saint) in the Catholic Church. This year 480 people registered for the annual event and came from 28 states.
Wathen and his grandsons plan to return next year despite their sore feet and aching muscles.
The Father Kapaun Pilgrimage, nicknamed The Kansas Camino, is an annual event in which pilgrims walk in the plains of the heartland of Kansas to the hometown of Fr. Kapaun. Next year’s Camino will take place May 29- June 1, 2025, with registration to open March 4, 2025. Learn more at https://frkapaun.org/pilgrimage.
Sara Wathen and her husband, Joe Wathen, belong to St. Pius X Parish in Owensboro.
Originally printed in the September 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
