Frank was a creative, zealous Redemptorist confrere and priest. He had a great voice. He was a wonderful preacher and had a great laugh. He loved people and people loved him.
 

Frank was a strong man coming from his Irish roots. He defended the church, the Congregation, our ministry. There were several episodes that stand out during our time in Brazil together.
 

Adjacent to our sacristy in a small two-room setup which became our radio station “Radio Antonia” which was run in coordination with “Radio Paranagua,” we took turns every week on the radio for 15 minutes with a message of Evangelization preaching the Lord.
 

One day, one of the local politicians without our knowing it got on the radio for his personal political campaign. Frank confronted him and in no short terms let him know that this was not acceptable as our radio did not permit this. This was quite a courageous thing to do.
 

There was another confrontation with the mayor of the town. Our province was building a new residence next to the church which was on a small hill overlooking the bay. It was really a beautiful construction going up. Being on a hill, this demanded a protecting wall on the street below so that the whole thing would not collapse. The architect had brought in Spanish stone masons to construct he granite wall.
 

Frank had gone down to the town hall to get the necessary permits. This was all approved. We of course would widen the street. At the end of this retaining wall there was an older wall around the church hill.
 

The town did not appreciate what was being done until our retaining wall was complete. They then wanted to knock down several feet of the new wall. Sully then said “No, unless you bring back the Spanish stonemasons, there is no way will we do this.” They refused to do so. As a result, a major battle began with the mayor. The wall still stands as it was.
 

Another episode was with the patronal feast of our Lady of Pilar on August 15. This was a huge affair. The whole city was involved, a novena, prayer, eucharist celebration, a festival, and then a prayerful procession carrying the statue of Our Lady through the town with thousands of people.
 

This was a major celebration for the town and for the parish. The sisters had been decorating the church all year, every week, but a group of “ladies” wanted to run the show. Frank was insistent that the nuns who worked all year be on this committee, but the madams wanted no part of them. This caused a great conflict. The sisters did the decorations for the feast.
 

Another time with regards to the procession, there was almost a battle with people who wanted to carry the the Image of the Virgin of Pilar on a special portable shrine. This was a prestigious honor. At the end of the procession there was almost a fight on the steps leading up to the church of people who wanted the honor of carrying the virgin. A disgrace!
 

The following year we decided to put the image on the back of a pickup truck to avoid any future commotions. That year there was almost a riot because these so-called devotees wanted to carry the image. They wanted to rip the image of the Blessed Mother off the pickup. Most of these “devotees” were not real church goers but appeared only on the patronal feast.
 

Frank faced the crowd down. It was stressful and challenging for him. He was close to the people, as we had a community of really dedicated and committed parishioners. Antonina was a city, with deep superstition, voodoo, and serious evangelicals that hated the Catholic faith, a real missionary place. I share all this with you to show a little of who Frank was.