Father John Mullins says the hand of providence was at work when Toronto Airport Catholic chaplains were able to respond after a jet skidded off the runway and flipped in a fiery wreck at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17.
Father Mullins wasn’t at the airport when he saw a news alert about the crash. He immediately called fellow chaplain Father Eduardo Lopez, who had already been summoned to assist. “I dropped everything and went there,” Father Mullins said.
Both priests spoke with passengers soon after their rescue, offering encouragement and consolation. “We had a role to play,” Father Mullins said. “We are in the world but not of the world, and we are in the airport but not of the airport, so we could really connect with the passengers in a personal way.”
Between Father Mullins seeing the news alert and Father Lopez happening to pick up the call in his office at Terminal 1, “all these things aligned and so the hand of God was there for sure.”
All 76 passengers and four crew members survived the crash-landing, with 18 people reported injured. Father Mullins pointed to Pearson’s mock emergency exercise two years ago, which simulated a plane crash, as one of the reasons operations ran so smoothly during the real incident.
He says his and Father Lopez’s efforts were “vital yet minor” compared to those of organizations such as police, fire crews and paramedics, Canadian Border Services, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and even retailers who supplied food for the passengers.
“Our presence to all was our contribution as we were in solidarity with both the rescue efforts and with the powerlessness of the passengers,” Father Mullins said.
Father Mullins noted that the last similar accident was the 2005 Air France Flight 358 crash. However, the Pearson Airport Catholic Chaplaincy has been part of the Archdiocese’s emergency plan for over 45 years.
“Beginning in 1978, Msgr. Paul Healy really drilled the organization to be a part of the airport community and to serve that community, whatever their needs are, especially in these kinds of situations,” Father Mullins said.
While the ministry provides Mass 365 days a year in chapels located in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, its true strength comes from meeting people where they are through comfort and faith.
“Father Lopez and I talked about what had happened very briefly because once I arrived it was about what we could do to serve the passengers there. He got on one bus with the passengers, and I got on another bus with the other passengers — we were able to be there and shepherd them during that time,” Father Mullins said.
Whether through daily support of travellers and airport staff or the abrupt shepherding needed in times of crisis, the Pearson Airport Catholic Chaplaincy continues to be a vital part of the airport community through both good times and bad.
“We are a fulfillment of what Msgr. Brad Massman and Msgr. Healy discovered as a great need, and we are living the promise of that need by being pastorally present for the last 45 years. We will always be faithful to bringing the world to Christ and Christ to the world,” Father Mullins said.
Canadian Catholic News
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