CAMDEN – Ed Danzi says that throughout his life, he always felt a call to hospital chaplaincy.
“But I wasn’t listening,” he admits.
It wasn’t until entering the Diocese of Camden’s Diaconate Program two years ago – and hearing of the growing need for hospital chaplains – that he took definitive steps toward the ministry.
Now, he said, “I’m walking with people in the way that they’re feeling, in their time of sickness.”
Danzi, associate chaplain at Cooper University Hospital, was among those to meet with Rutgers-Camden University students last month. The students are enrolled in an anthropology class titled “Death and Dying,” with Associate Teaching Professor Kimberlee Moran.
Deacon Joseph Janocha, director of hospital chaplaincy for VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services Diocese of Camden, joined Danzi in speaking about the ministry and answering students’ questions.
He stressed that good chaplains must have compassion, be fully present and be willing to listen when interacting with patients and their families.
“Some will talk to you for 20 minutes or a half-hour, some do not want to talk at all,” said Deacon Janocha, associate chaplain at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital. Regardless, he said, he does his best to leave each patient with a blessing.
In addition to ministering to patients and their families, the chaplains minister to doctors, nurses and hospital staff. They can walk with others for days, weeks or months.
Noting the supporting community around him, Danzi said hospital chaplains of all faiths meet regularly to talk about their day and be there for each other.
While not seeing herself as a chaplain one day, Kayla Parker, a freshman psychology major, said the presentation gave her “a better appreciation for what chaplains do, in guiding people near the end of their lives.”
That was among the reasons Moran wanted her students to meet hospital chaplains. Having previously introduced her class to hospice nurses and funeral directors, she said it was important to de-mystify death for the students. “It’s not something we talk about until it’s too late.”
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