FATHER GENE GUIDES FAITH
St. Anthony friar counsels on abortions, marriages
Father Gene, as he’s called at St. Anthony Shrine located in the heart of the city’s bustling intersection of prosperity and poverty, said he will never forget the moment he felt God.
“It wasn’t audible,” he said. But it was reassuring.
This solemn friar who counsels women who’ve had abortions and couples whose marriages are on the rocks sought solace for his own troubles.
“With my brother’s illness and death, I felt I had to rely upon God’s word: ‘I am with you always,’ ” he said. “Through his words I could feel more hope. I couldn’t hold this on my own.”
His brother died at age 32, his sister at 47. The Rev. Gene Pistacchio has known loss.
He said he often thinks of the time he prayed with a mom over the body of her son who had just committed suicide. “I felt speechless,” he said of being asked to come over. He prayed with her next to the boy and “sensed that she felt consoled.” Prayer, he said, was a “stabilizing presence in the midst of darkness.”
“Yes,” he added, “I’ve felt God.” The 59-year-old friar’s favorite Bible passage is Isaiah 30:15, “By waiting and by calm you shall be saved.”
And that’s his secret. He remains grounded as he guides men and women past their pain on a quest for spiritual healing.
“Terrible events happen — they do. It’s how we go through them that makes the difference,” he said. “I listen and not judge.”
He said he asks couples and women who have had abortions to draw on “the riches of the gospels” and what Jesus taught to find peace. He also runs a prison program.
He recommends downloading the “Pray as you Go” Bible app for daily readings. Podcasts for the soul, he says.
He also takes women and couples on retreats to slow life down.
“I enjoy listening to people’s journeys,” he said of the getaways. “Healing needs to be proclaimed and accepted so we can live a more abundant life.”
The 11-story shrine on Arch Street is manned by 27 friars dressed in simple brown robes who put their heart into the job. They feed the hungry and heal the downtrodden.
Bankers and the homeless are equally welcomed in the shrine. Confessions are taken, Masses held, pets blessed, a food pantry stocked, women treated at a health clinic and counseling offered.
It’s an oasis of faith among the skyscrapers.
Father Gene quietly stands tall in this Franciscan fellowship. He’s devoted to his role and a disciple of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order.
All he asks for, he told the Herald, is to measure up. “I ask for the wisdom and strength to carry out the ministry of Jesus,” he said. “I ask that my love will continue to grow and not become stifled or burned out.”
In his tiny office at the shrine, he stressed he’s not a professional counselor. “I’m a priest,” he said.
Above his desk are drawings of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare, one of the earliest followers of St. Francis.
Tiny sea shells from the Holy Land are spread out on a table where his guests sit. Lost children? Lost love? They are touchstones that spark reflection.
“I try to listen to people,” he added, “and repair what’s fallen apart.”