Boston cardinal selects Air Force chaplain for No. 2 post

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff
  • 11th Wing Public Affairs
BOLLING AIR FORCE BASE, D.C. (AFPN) --  The early 20th century American author Thomas Wolfe wrote a book titled “You Can’t Go Home Again.” That saying doesn't hold true for a priest in the Air Force chief of chaplains office.

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Richard Erikson will be coming home again, courtesy of Cardinal Seán O’Malley of the Boston Archdiocese.

The cardinal selected the Watertown, Mass., native to become the next vicar general and moderator of the curia for the archdiocese. 

“I was stunned,” Chaplain Erikson said of the announcement.

The priest said he will be the principal administrator for the archdiocese, the number two position after the cardinal. 

“It’s similar to (chief executive officer),” the chaplain said. 

Chaplain Erikson is currently a staff chaplain for plans and programs in the office of chief of chaplains here. In this job, Chaplain Erikson oversees Catholic ministries in the Air Force. He also provides mentoring and care for the other Catholic priests in the service.

He is the senior Catholic priest on the staff, serving as liaison between the archdiocese for the military and Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Charles Baldwin, chief of the Air Force Chaplain Service. 

“I am most grateful for Father Erikson’s willingness to assume this important responsibility, particularly at a time when the archdiocese is preparing to undertake a series of new initiatives in Catholic education, institutional development and other areas," Cardinal O’Malley said. 

Chaplain Baldwin praised the priest’s service to the Air Force. 

“Chaplain Erikson is the epitome of both a priest and a chaplain,” Chaplain Baldwin said. “He has exemplified the ability to be true to your faith commitments and to be able to serve Airmen of all faiths. He represents what an Air Force chaplain is all about.” 

The Air Force’s top chaplain added praise for Cardinal O’Malley’s selection of Chaplain Erikson as the next vicar general. 

“Chaplain Erikson’s selection as vicar general is a great testimony to the wisdom of Cardinal O’Malley. Chaplain Erikson is a man of great faith, great integrity and great love,” Chaplain Baldwin said. ”He will bring healing and restore the trust in the Catholic leadership of the archdiocese." 

Chaplain Baldwin also pointed out the prestige the cardinal’s selection means for Air Force priests. 

“As desperate as we are in the Air Force to keep our Roman Catholic chaplains, this appointment honors the priests who are serving in uniform. Both the church and the Air Force are blessed,” Chaplain Baldwin said.

The path to the chaplain’s selection began last month. Chaplain Erickson said the cardinal’s secretary, Reverend Robert Kickham, contacted him in early March to say that Cardinal O’Malley wanted to see him. The chaplain asked if it could wait until the end of March. He planned to return home to spend time with his family. It couldn’t wait, Reverend Kickham told him. 

“I suspected it had something to do with a recall (an endorsing church calling home a military chaplain),” Chaplain Erikson said. “The fact that he (Cardinal O’Malley) needed to see me right away meant that something was up. 

“I was expecting to be asked to take a parish in Boston,” said the chaplain, who was ordained in the Boston Archdiocese in 1985. 

Chaplain Erikson said Cardinal O’Malley selected him because “he wanted someone who’s been removed from the archdiocese the past few years.” Chaplain Erikson has been on active duty since 1999. 

The position has “enormous responsibility and enormous tasks” and “a certain amount of concern” as the diocese deals with the sex abuse scandal, he said. 

There’s another reason Chaplain Erikson has mixed emotions about the job. The Air Force had slated him to take what he considers a dream job -- a wing chaplaincy at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. However, Chaplain Erikson said he’d taken a vow of obedience to the Roman Catholic Church and will obey. He remembered the first Mass he celebrated on Bolling after meeting the cardinal. The Mass featured a reference to a Hebrew scripture that read, “Do not refuse and do not resist.” 

“I am very grateful that the archbishop of Boston has wanted me to serve on active duty the last seven years,” Chaplain Erikson said. 

The chaplain, who is separating from the Air Force, also has 14 years in the Reserve. He plans to stay in the Reserve when he takes on his new job. During his career, Chaplain Erikson said deploying to Balad Air Base, Iraq, was his “greatest memory and greatest privilege.”