Submitted by: Dan Rich

Rev. James G. Karaffa CSC

Jan. 10, 1952 - June 23, 2002

South Bend Tribune 6/27/2002

Reverend James G. Karaffa, CSC, 50, died on Sunday, June 23, in Nairobi, Kenya, as the result of an accident while hiking in a game park near Mount Kenya. Father Karaffa was born on Jan. 10, 1952, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of the late John and Anastasia (Devaty) Karaffa. He attended St. Patrick Elementary School in Lakewood, Ohio, and graduated from St. Edward High School operated by the Holy Cross Brothers in Lakewood. In 1970 he entered St. Joseph Hall as a first-year seminarian and the University of Notre Dame from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Earth Sciences in 1974. After his novitiate, Father Karaffa began studies of theology at the University of Notre Dame for one year and, in 1976, transferred to the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., where he earned his Master's in Divinity in 1978. He served a regency period in Peru during 1979.

On Aug. 14, 1974, he was received into the novitiate of the Congregation of Holy Cross at Bennington, Vt. He made his first vows on July 10, 1976, in Holy Cross Church, North Easton, Mass., and pronounced his perpetual profession on Nov. 23, 1979, at Canto Grande, Lima, Peru. From March to September, 1980, he served as a deacon at St. Stephen Parish, South Bend, Ind.

Father Karaffa was ordained to the priesthood at Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame, on Sept. 13, 1980, by the Most Reverend James H. MacDonald, C.S.C., Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

For one year, 1980-1981, Father Karaffa served on the faculty of Bourgade High School in Phoenix, Ariz. For the next three years he served in the District of East Africa in pastoral ministry at Holy Cross Parish in Dandora, Nairobi, Kenya, and teaching at the Apostles of Jesus Seminary. In 1984 he returned to the states and served as assistant rector of Flanner Hall, and began studies that eventually led to a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.

From 1986 to 1989, Father Karaffa served on the counseling staff of DePaul Treatment Center in Portland, Ore. In 1989 he returned to the District of East Africa to teach counseling skills and serve as a counselor at Tangaza College, a theological seminary in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 1994 Father Karaffa began two years of study at the Catholic University of America and received a licentiate degree in canon law, allowing him to serve as a judge in the marriage tribunal of the Catholic Church. For five years, 1996-2001, Father Karaffa served as a judge on the marriage tribunal of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, working out of the South Bend chancery office. During the first three years he lived and assisted at St. Pius X Parish, Granger, Ind.; the last two years he lived at the Rectory of Holy Cross Parish, South Bend. He had assisted in Hispanic ministry in Bremen and Goshen, Ind., during this time.

In July 2001, Father Karaffa returned to the District of East Africa as a teacher of canon law and pastoral counseling at Tangaza Theological College in Nairobi, and lived in the Bishop McCauley Formation House in Nairobi. He had just completed his first year and was spending some restful time at the game park near Mount Kenya where he died.

Father Karaffa is survived by one brother, Dr. John Karaffa of Lakewood, Ohio, and by several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Jerome. Father Karaffa was a gentle man, having many and varied interests. He was a lover of nature and spent many hours in the woods and wilderness. He was a devotee of the martial arts, specializing in Aikido and teaching it. He was inquisitive about hypnosis and its use in the healing arts. He learned Spanish and Swahili for his pastoral ministry. He was eager someday to travel to China and learn Chinese.

The funeral for Father Karaffa will be celebrated at Holy Cross Parish Church in Dandora, Nairobi, Kenya. Father Tom McDermott, a classmate, will preside and preach. Burial will follow in the cemetery for religious priests, brothers and sisters in Nairobi. A memorial Mass in remembrance of Father Karaffa will be celebrated in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 28, 2002. The Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling local arrangements.