Catholic chaplain will offer Super Bowl Mass, prayers for 'Da Bears'

By Paul Storer and Kathrynne Skonicki
1/31/2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (Catholic Explorer) - The upcoming Super Bowl XLI, which will match up the Chicago Bears against the Indianapolis Colts, “is a dream for me,” said Father Don McLaughlin during a recent telephone conversation with the Catholic Explorer.

The former National Football League chaplain, who served the Bears throughout the 1983 and 1984 seasons, is a native of Indianapolis. Noting the team he plans to cheer for Feb. 4, the current pastor of St. Michael Parish in Wheaton said, “Go, Bears. But if the Colts win, that will be OK.”

Trading allegiance from one team to the other began with a friendship between the then-seminarian for the Joliet Diocese and the kicker for the Chicago Bears, Bob Thomas. They met in the early 1980s when the soon-to-be-priest served an internship at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville, where Thomas was a parishioner.

A few years later, Thomas called upon the young priest to tackle the job of chaplain for the Bears. Father McLaughlin accepted the play and began celebrating Masses before Sunday home games.

It was commonplace for Father McLaughlin to recruit head coach Mike Ditka to read the scripture passages, he said, describing the experience in a telephone interview with the Catholic Explorer.

At that time, Father McLaughlin was associate pastor at St. Alexander Parish in Villa Park. The other priests of the parish were Bears fans, too, and would “cover for me” in celebrating Sunday Masses, he said. “They were very kind.”

Father McLaughlin described his stint with the Bears as “great fun.” The sports enthusiast and man of God said that he was thrilled with the opportunity to talk with now legendary Bears players, including Walter Payton and Jim McMahon.

When Father McLaughlin removed himself from the starting line-up as chaplain in 1984, his replacement was Scalabrinian Father Nick Marro, pastor of Santa Lucia-Santa Maria Incoronata Parish in Chicago. During a telephone conversation with the Catholic Explorer, Father Marro recalled how he initially fumbled when the Bears organization recruited him.

The priest said he initially thought the request for his services was a practical joke. Father Marro remembered asking, “Do you want me to quarterback too?” He said he quickly realized the Bears representative was not joking, but rather asking him to celebrate the Mass held at the hotel where the Bears stay on game day in Chicago and to provide blessings for players on the field during the game.

Father Marro said the morning Mass on game day is a simple strategy, including a Sunday bulletin, “Good News Bears.” The liturgy always includes a petition “for good results,” he added. Undoubtedly, those good results would include a win. However, the priest said he is a little more reserved in petitioning the Lord on the sidelines. He said if a player comes to the priest’s bench seat and asks for a blessing, it’s often offered with the intention of a safe game on both sides of the ball.

The priest also acknowledged that the Bears’ wins and losses on and off the field over the last 22 years have even had him telling the Monsters of the Midway, “Maybe you ought to change and get a rabbi.”

Some players actually do opt for a quarterback switch and attend Mass on Saturday evening at their home parish, acknowledged Father Marro. But the faith of the McCaskey clan - the team’s majority owners - hasn’t wavered, he added. He repeated a petition the late Ed McCaskey, former president, used to offer during Mass: “In your prayers, remember the Bears.”

In previous seasons, the team chaplain has traveled with the team to games in the Midwest, including Detroit, Green Bay, and Minneapolis. But the traveling schedule of the 72-year-old priest has slowed down a bit in recent years. Now, he’s more likely to attend just the home games. But this time is different; he’s made plans to drive to Miami.

Although there is sure to be plenty of media hype and catering to the football players Feb. 4, about eight players and coaches are expected to be on bended knee for approximately 30 minutes on game day. Father Marro said he is set to celebrate Mass and another minister is scheduled for an interdenominational service on Super Bowl Sunday at the hotel.

Revealing a portion of his heavenly playbook, the priest anticipated his homily would obviously reflect the gospel of the day. He acknowledged that he does tend to consider his own fans in the pews during the Mass. He said, “Once they take their helmets off, they may be big but they’re young men.” So he adapts his message to promote a good Christian life while they are living in a materialistic world filled with temptation.

Like Father McLaughlin, the previous chaplain, Father Marro hasn’t always been a Bears fan. The East Coast native originally cheered for the New York Giants, but he has redirected his loyalties since his priestly duties have taken him to other parts of the United States and Canada over the past 40 years. On Super Bowl Sunday, he’ll be on the sidelines with the team he prays for at Mass, “Da Bears.”

This story was made available to Catholic Online by permission of the Catholic Explorer(www.dioceseofjoliet.org/explorer), official newspaper of the Diocese of Joliet, Ill.