[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 74 (Wednesday, June 10, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1095-E1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A FOND FAREWELL TO FATHER ANTALL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 10, 1998

  Mr. LaTOURETTE.  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Rev. Richard 
C. Antall, who this week will leave St. Mary's Catholic Church in 
Painesville, Ohio, to return to El Salvador to work as a missionary. He 
will leave a void that many suspect will never fully be filled.
  For the residents of Painesville, Ohio, and indeed all of Lake 
County, Ohio, Father Antall was much more than simply a local priest. 
In the four years Antall spent as an associate pastor at St. Mary's, he 
immersed himself in virtually every aspect of the community, and was 
often considered the spiritual, legal, and political arm of the 
Hispanic community.
  Not only did Father Antall lead a Spanish-speaking mass each Sunday 
at the church, but he became intertwined in the lives of the migrant 
workers who travel to Lake County each year from Mexico to work in the 
county's many nurseries and farms. For a great number of the workers, 
Father Antall was not just their spiritual mentor, but also served as 
their advocate whenever disputes arose over working or living 
conditions. He was a friend, mentor, translator and a wonderful 
listener.
  Father Antall was tireless in defending the workers, and was of great 
assistance to me personally when I was new to the Congress, 
particularly when we began addressing immigration legislation and its 
effect on seasonal workers. His input was invaluable to me, and I 
witnessed firsthand the kindness that drew so many to him. Father 
Antall has a wonderful quality of placing those around him at ease--be 
they his parishioners, children, educators, lawyers or lawmakers.
  So many lives in the Painesville area have been touched by this 
selfless man, and while many wish he did not have to leave, those who 
know him certainly understand his need to pursue his lifelong dream of 
being a missionary in El Salvador. This will mark a homecoming to the 
remote Central American country where Father Antall spent seven years 
working with the Cleveland Diocese mission before coming to St. Mary's.
  It is my full expectation that Father Antall will provide a voice, a 
heart and a helping

[[Page E1096]]

hand to the neglected, the downtrodden, the silenced, and the dreamers 
in El Salvador, just as he has in Painesville. He will offer an 
uplifting message centered on the love of God, and the need to be kind 
to one's fellow man. On behalf of the 19th Congressional District, I 
thank Father Antall for his many acts of kindness and for the indelible 
mark he left on his community and his congregation. I wish him well in 
his new life, and hope that he will always save a space in his heart 
for Lake County.

                          ____________________