AMERICA/UNITED STATES - Seminarian disappears in the river after saving a woman

Thursday, 14 July 2016 solidarity  

Kansas (Agenzia Fides) - A seminarian disappeared after saving the life of a woman who had fallen into the river. Brian Bergkamp, a seminarian of the Diocese of Wichita (suffragan of the Archdiocese of Kansas City) who was studying in the seminary in Maryland, disappeared dragged by the waters of the Arkansas River on Saturday, July 9th. The body has not been found yet.
Brian Bergkamp, 24, was with five people in separate kayaks. According to the local press, Bergkamp jumped from his kayak to rescue a woman who had fallen into the water. No one was wearing a life jacket, but the other paddlers were able to get everyone ashore, including the woman.
The Bishop of the diocese, His Exc. Mgr. Carl Allan Kemme, in a statement sent to Fides, commented: "I knew that Brian was an outstanding seminarian, quiet, gentle, diligent in his work and studies". He would have been ordained a deacon at the end of the next school year.
Mgr. Andrew Baker, rector of the Seminary, remembers Bergkamp as a "silent leader, but very efficient". "He was a young thoughtful and prayerful person. He knew the depth of what it means to be a Christian and a priest". (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 14/07/2016)


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