Shepherding his young flock while living the Gospel

By CHRISTIE L. CHICOINE
CS&T Staff Writer

Youth and young adults across the Archdiocese continue to mourn the death of Father Charles J. “Chuck” Pfeffer, a young priest who ministered to them and who was the the catalyst behind many meetings and networking opportunities.
Father Chuck, 53, a former director of the Archdiocese’s Office for Youth and Young Adults (OYYA), died suddenly of heart failure Dec. 21, 2004. Since 1996, he served as chaplain and director of the Newman Center at the University of Pennsylvania and as parochial vicar at St. Agatha-St. James Parish in Philadelphia.
Approximately 1,200 packed the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul Dec. 27 for his funeral Mass.
“I feel broken-hearted,” said 43-year-old Joy McCartney Crawford, who worked for many years as Father Chuck’s administrative assistant, Young Adult Ministry coordinator and secretary for the Archdiocese’s Catholic Committee on Scouting.
“I truly appreciated his inviting me to work in the young adult office with him and to share in that ministry. If it weren’t for him, I would not have 95 percent of the relationships I have today — including my husband and my boys, and the deep faith that I have. He truly helped me strengthen my faith life.”
McCartney Crawford said she’ll never forget how Father Chuck reached out to archdiocesan youth and young adults who became ill from dehydration during Pope John Paul II’s Aug. 11-15, 1993 World Youth Day in Denver.
“I spent some time with him driving around to all the hospitals,” she said, explaining that because so many of the young were in the same situation, they could not all be admitted to the same hospital.
“He was truly concerned for their well-being,” McCartney Crawford said. “He just did it so well and so caringly. He was that shepherd trying to check on his flock and keep them all together.
Father Chuck was also the unofficial chaplain of Norwood-Fontbonne Academy for Boys and Girls.
In 1991, he co-founded the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), an organization of lay Catholics whose mission is to build Catholic leaders. Timothy C. Flanagan, 62, CLI’s cofounder and chair, said that without Father Chuck’s assistance, he would never have been able to launch CLI.
Among Flanagan’s many fond and fun memories of Father Chuck was the priest’s participation in CLI’s first Leadership Experiential Adventure Program (LEAP) retreat around his 40th birthday in July 1991 in Pecos River, N.M.
Among the retreat activities was the zip line challenge. It featured a cable that started atop a 165-foot cliff above the river and stopped on the ground about 400 yards away.
As Father Chuck was harnessed and connected to the cable, he asked the facilitator who was the heaviest person ever to ride the zip line. The facilitator asked Father Chuck his weight. “Most of the time when Father was asked that question, he would subtract 50 pounds from his actual weight,” Flanagan said. “This time, fearing for his life, he added 50 pounds. The facilitator looked him up and down and replied matter-of-factly, ‘You, sir, are the biggest person to ever do this.’”
It was not the answer Father Chuck wanted, but he stepped to the edge of the cliff anyway and, as Father Chuck often told the story, “‘made the most sincere act of contrition of my life,’” and took a leap of faith. All ended well, Flanagan said.
Father Chuck trusted God, and his support team, and had a great experience, which is what he did so many times in life, Flanagan added. And it was a typical example of how the priest liked to poke fun at himself.
Brian McCarthy, 20, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Newman Council vice-president, remembered Father Chuck as a “wonderful leader” who always gave “110 percent” to the Newman Center. “He really lived the Gospel,” McCarthy said.
One-on-one, Father Pfeffer was also accessible. “If I had a question or some problem, I had no reservations about going to talk to him. He’d offer wonderful advice in a manner where it wasn’t judgmental.”
Anne Marie McKnight, a 2004 Penn alumna and the former president of the Penn Newman Council, recalled Father Pfeffer’s “hearty and contagious laugh” and his ability to make all students feel welcome at the Newman Center.
“Though he was the priest ‘in charge’ at the Newman Center, Father Chuck’s leadership style was totally self-effacing,” the 22-year-old McKnight said.
“Rather than dictating what should or should not happen, Father Chuck chose instead to act as a resource, a constant aide and supporter. He took pride in the fact that the majority of programming at Newman was created, organized and carried out by students.
“He constantly encouraged us in all of our undertakings, giving us vital insights and advice, and made it a point to offer praise and thanks for any good efforts,” McKnight said. “He had a unique and personal way of relating faith to everyday life.
His style was one that college students really responded to, McKnight added. “College is a time when faith and authority are often challenged, especially on a secular campus, but Father Chuck’s kindness, sincerity, humility and dedication helped the Catholic community at Penn flourish.”
Father Chuck was perfect for his assignment as spiritual leader for young adults because he encouraged discussion and welcomed everyone, she added.
And he liked pie. “Every year around Thanksgiving we would have a pie social after the 10 p.m. Mass [at St. Agatha-St. James Church],” McKnight said. “I can still see the joy on his face as he described the various apple, cherry and pumpkin pies that would be offered. His enthusiasm was infectious, and as a result, the pie socials were often attended by well over 100 students.”
In closing remarks at Father Chuck’s funeral liturgy, Cardinal Rigali said: “The presence today of so many people is a wonderful expression of Christian love ... of the love that is inherent in the life of the Church and is part of the community for which Father Chuck was ordained, for which he gave his life and for which he died.”

CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org