Curry

Born with one arm, Curry baked bread, tailored clothes, established the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, and wrote two bestselling cookbooks during his 48-year career as a Jesuit brother.

Like many of the transitioning Soldiers he works with, the 66-year-old never imagined himself with a new vocation, that is until The Most Rev. Timothy Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services, ordained Curry a Jesuit priest Sept. 13.

How common is it for a 66-year-old Jesuit brother to become a priest?

“It’s very unusual,” Curry said. “It’s because I started working with the wounded warriors who wanted a priest.”

In 2003, Curry began a writer’s program in Maine for veterans wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. They asked him to hear their confessions. Only priests heard confessions, Curry said. He explained that he never sought ordination because he didn’t think he was called to become one. The consistent requests for confession changed his mind.

Curry began the meticulous process for priesthood Jan. 2004. He returned to school for a graduate degree in theology in June 2008 and obtained special permission from the Vatican to celebrate Mass with one hand in March.

“Having one arm is the greatest gift that the Lord gave me,” Curry told the congregation assembled in the hospital chapel at Walter Reed Monday to hear his presentation, “Reconciliation: A Call to Forgiveness.” “It looked like a negative, and it actually turned out to be a positive. It’s been a great gift to me, personally, and it’s been a great gift to other people.”

“It’s the message that I want to get across to the disabled veterans: it looks like its all bad news but in fact, it’s all very good news,” Curry said. “Gifts are different; they’re indifferent ó it all depends on how you use them. They can be used negatively or positively,” Curry said.

After a receptionist at a midtown Manhattan advertising agency refused him entry to audition for a mouthwash commercial, Curry decided to start his workshop which trained thousands of disabled persons in theater arts in its 32-year history.

“It was incomprehensible for me to think someone who was born with one arm couldn’t at least try to gargle nationally,” Curry said. “It was the first time I ever saw or recognized or realized the blatant face of prejudice. I was so hurt and angry.”

He wondered about others with disabilities greater than his; did they have an opportunity to study theater which had been such a great gift to him?

“And that’s when I decided to start the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped,” Curry said.

He plans to launch a new program for veterans at Georgetown University in January 2010 to train veterans to bake cakes, set up their own retail bakery and write a dramatic monologue. Cakes and writing?

“I didn’t realize how helpful [writing] would be in dealing with post traumatic stress. [Writing] opens up the flood gates,” Curry said.

He said the year-long program will teach the fundamentals of baking, and offer vets assistance with financial management, legal advice along with other services. Curry wants to include patients currently receiving care at Walter Reed, where he began visiting amputees two years ago.

The priest said amputees have to focus on themselves for a period of time but, “It’s not until you can get them to start seeing that their disabilities can serve others that they find joy in their lives,” Curry said. He urged the audience to learn to focus on their own weaknesses, and use them in service of others.