From Service Given to Service Returned, Student Pallbearers Ensure Dignity for Homeless VeteransThrough their ministry, Catholic high school students put their values into action by carrying out dignified funerals for homeless veterans
Students at several Catholic high schools throughout the United States put their school’s stated values in action through pallbearer ministries. The Saint Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry began in 2002 […]
Students at several Catholic high schools throughout the United States put their school’s stated values in action through pallbearer ministries. The Saint Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry began in 2002 at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland. The most prominent ministry in recent news, however, is the ministry under the same name at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, which took its cues from Saint Ignatius and began its own ministry in 2015. Its ministry primarily serves the poor and indigent. In recent years, it has emphasized serving veterans and the homeless, prioritizing service to homeless veterans.
About the Pallbearer Ministry
The ministry at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School was the brainchild of six seniors who, in October 2015, took it upon themselves to volunteer to help bury three unclaimed veterans. The description of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry on the school’s website states, “The U of D Jesuit St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry serves mostly the poor and indigent by carrying deceased men and women, who have little or no family, to their final place of rest. This ministry is open to juniors and seniors and serves the metropolitan community by offering a corporal work of mercy by assisting at a funeral.” It is open to juniors and seniors; these students are accompanied and supported by adult mentors. The name St. Joseph of Arimathea comes from ‘the man who buried Jesus Christ, St. Joseph of Arimathea.’
The Pallbearer Experience
Several schools are involved in the network of pallbearer ministries. Even though these are part of a Roman Catholic school network, they also support funerals in Eastern Orthodox and Protestant traditions. Additionally, with the service to veterans, the students see similarities and differences in each military branch’s rituals. However, the pallbearers reflect on the importance of dignity no matter where someone’s life had led them before they died.
“Many people outlive their families or don’t have anyone to be with them at their funeral,” Leonard Froehlich, who was a 12th grader at U of D Jesuit in 2015, said. “We strongly felt that everyone deserved the dignity of having people present at their last moments.”
Why the Service is Necessary
Veterans experience a high premature death rate, and their housing status plays a significant role in outcomes. According to an article by Derricke Dennis on Military.com, statistics from the National Institutes of Health show that around 15 homeless veterans die each day with 16.3 percent dying prematurely when compared to the 6.1 percent of housed veterans who die prematurely.
Funerals are expensive and often people do not have family or other loved ones to lay them to rest. Though there is limited room, the concept of potters’ fields still exists. This is rooted in theology. “The name originated from the New Testament when Judas Iscariot is said to have given high priests the money he was paid to betray Jesus, which they used to purchase land, “the potter’s field,” in which to bury unknown people. Over time, “potter’s field” became synonymous with any burial site for the poor or unclaimed.”
Many veterans do still get laid to rest at potters’ fields even while given a more dignified funeral service. However, in many cases, veterans, regardless of their life circumstances at death, are eligible for burial in Veterans’ Affairs National Cemeteries. In the Detroit area, that is Great Lakes National Cemetery and in Ohio, a well-known national cemetery is the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. The requirements for burial in national cemeteries are fairly simple: veterans need to have met a minimum amount of time in active duty and are eligible for any type of discharge except for dishonorable.
Network of Support for Student Pallbearer Ministries
Local funeral homes support pallbearer ministries throughout the Catholic high school system. For example, the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Memorial Academy partners with A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home in Troy, Michigan. As covered by NBC Philadelphia, and originally reported on Today.com, the county attempts to find relatives to claim the body, but if nobody has responded after 90 days, the veterans are cared for by the funeral home. Additionally, the high school’s ministry is connected with the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, which aims to provide “dignified funerals for homeless veterans” and provides the caskets.
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