VA Chaplain Fills Spiritual Niche in Community,
as well as Ministering to Hospitalized Veterans
PHOENIX - At the 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday, Father Ken Kleiber often preaches to a full house. As a full-time chaplain at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix, the Catholic priest is charged with meeting the spiritual needs of hospitalized veterans, but has found that his role also includes providing an opportunity for many in the surrounding community to attend weekly Mass.
The chapel in the VA Medical Center holds about 100 worshippers, and most attending the Saturday Mass are from the surrounding community. Their presence also may benefit patients of the medical center.
"On Saturday, when the patients come down for the Mass, they are really surprised to see a full house," says Chaplain Kleiber. "Many of the patients are just starting to get their lives in order, so when they see the full house, they no longer are isolated from the community. I think it makes them feel good to be part of a group again."
Chaplain Kleiber has worked with veterans since he served as a priest in Chicago, where he was ordained in 1968. He has worked at the VA Medical Center since 1993, and has been the full-time staff chaplain for the veteran's hospital and clinics since December 1998.
Chaplain Kleiber attends to the spiritual and emotional needs of Catholic and non-Catholic veterans who are patients in the hospital and nursing home care unit. He says that serving veterans gives him a chance to give back the benefits this country has given him, and adds that a change took place in him when he started to work with veterans.
"When a person goes through military training and lives the life for a period of time, even in peace time, the person is never the same when discharged... he is different," says Chaplain Kleiber. "We employees of the VA understand this. When I think of what these people have endured while serving in the military, it makes me humble. It is truly an honor for me to be taking care of them."
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Media Note: Chaplain Kleiber is available for interviews. Contact Paula Pedene, Public Affairs Officer, at 602-200-6279.
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