Hundreds turn out for missing seminarian’s memorial

Brian Bergkamp’s funeral began with a procession of 51 seminarians, 78 priests and three bishops.

The long line was only a small fraction of the hundreds who gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Monday morning to honor Bergkamp, the 24-year-old seminarian who disappeared in the Arkansas River more than a week ago.

Police reported Bergkamp was kayaking with five other friends on the morning of July 9 when the group hit rough waters under the 21st Street Bridge. Bergkamp stopped to help save a fellow kayaker who had fallen into the rapids.

He was able to help the woman get to shore, but could not save himself. As of Monday, his body has still not been found.

The cathedral had trouble accommodating the number of people who arrived to pay their respects. About 800 people crowded into pews in the main sanctuary. Down the hall, in a separate gathering space, more than 400 people watched the Mass via video. Even with overflow seating, many were forced to stand in corners and along walls.

Bishop Carl Kemme of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita celebrated the Mass. Standing by the altar – next to Bergkamp’s family, mentors and close friends – he spoke of the deceased’s faithful life and his honorable death.

“Brian’s untimely death also touches us as a diocesan family,” Kemme said.

“As you all know, Brian was a model seminarian, well on his way to embracing sacred orders. In the short time that I have been here, he always impressed me and so many others by his dedication, his loyalty, his work ethic, but also by his worth; his innate sense of human.”

Gathered in the front row were Bergkamp’s family members, including his parents, Ned and Theresa, as well as five siblings. His older brother, Andrew, who had recently been ordained a deacon, gave the homily.

He said he did not initially want to, but after some prayer decided to approach the pulpit.

“I was ordained less than two months ago, and one of the few things a deacon can do is preach,” Andrew Bergkamp said. “Brian probably would tell me, ‘Well, you better go do your job.’ ”

Andrew Bergkamp spoke about his brother as someone who was faithful, someone who was willing to step up and someone who was “ready to give his life at a moment’s notice.”

“Brian was a servant of the Lord, doing the work entrusted to him,” Andrew Bergkamp said.

His homily focused strongly on themes of faith and hope, and he said although the death of a young person is tragic, loved ones can be comforted by God’s promise of life after death.

“We have hope in eternal salvation, in the reunion of our loved ones, because it is indeed possible,” Andrew Bergkamp said. “Although not a given, and not easy, the Lord makes it possible. And that is why we have hope.

“And although the sadness we feel is so very real, and although it will not go away by tomorrow, we have well-founded hopes and prayers that Brian is well on his way to the Lord, if he is not already there.”

The service lasted 90 minutes. Then priests, deacons and seminarians gathered on the front steps to shake hands, hug and comfort each other; one less in number, but no less in faith.

“He may not have been a priest,” Kemme said. “But he lived and died in a most priestly way.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Hundreds turn out for missing seminarian’s memorial."