Nobody who has been a part of the retreats and service programs offered by Capuchin Family Ministries over the last 20 years could ever forget Fr. Fred Nickle.
In a way, Father Fred has become synonymous with our youth evangelization ministry. He embodies the joy of the Gospel for the teenagers, young adults, and parents whose lives have been changed by their encounters with Christ at our programs. St. Francis of Assisi was called the Christ of Umbria, because he had such a deep love for Christ, and people could see Christ through him. In his own way, Father Fred has made Christ visible to others through his love for God and neighbor.
“At Capuchin Family Ministries, we give a definition of a Christian: a Christian is someone in whom and through who Christ lives. So when I first heard that, I said that was the heart of it, if we could all live that way,” Father Fred said. “And St. Francis did that so wonderfully.”
In prayer, fraternity, and ministry, Father Fred has been imitating Christ for decades, including 60 years as a priest this year.
A Calling Stirs
He remembers two priests who visited his parochial school in New Hyde Park, N.Y. In sixth grade, there was a priest from the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. They had a high school in Alabama for boys who were thinking of becoming priests. The priest showed young Fred slides of some “very happy young men” playing softball and basketball. In eighth grade, a Capuchin came, Fr. Aidan Neenan, who was the vocation director for the Province. He offered to take Fred to Garrison, N.Y., to see Glenclyffe, our own high school for priest candidates. Fred went up with a couple of friends, saw the softball field and basketball court, and was sold! Soon after, as he was going to bed one night, he said a prayer and asked God which high school he should attend. When he woke up, he chose Glenclyffe and the Capuchins … although he was still not sure what a Capuchin was!
He would find out in time. The high school was on one side of the property, and across the way was Mary Immaculate Friary, our house of theological studies. “And I saw these men in these brown robes, and I was very impressed,” he said. Fred learned that these young friars were getting ordained, and only a month later some of them were being sent to Guam, Honduras, or Okinawa.
Their dedication inspired Fred. He marveled that they were willing to leave their families and not see them again for years. He was amazed that they would go so far from home so soon after being ordained.
That was it. He wanted to be a Capuchin priest. He graduated from Glenclyffe in June 1957 and entered our novitiate at St. Lawrence Friary in Milton, Mass., that August. He was given the religious name of Theophane, after the French missionary martyr, St. Theophane Venard. After one year in Milton and four years in Hudson, N.H., to study philosophy, he returned to Garrison as one of those men in brown robes that he once admired from the high school. He was ordained on Nov. 13, 1965, after which he resumed the use of his baptismal name.
Formator, Pastor, Youth Chaplain
Father Fred would never serve in a foreign mission, but he brought a missionary zeal to all his assignments.
His first destination was Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Manhattan’s Lower East Side at a time of high poverty in the neighborhood. “I wish I kept a diary. It was a wonderful experience. It was a very exciting parish to live in.” He counseled a teenager at the parish school who was contemplating suicide. Years later, he celebrated her wedding. She has kept in touch with Father Fred ever since, as have so many others who experienced the healing and forgiveness of Christ through him.
After this taste of parish ministry, Father Fred returned to the friaries where he received his religious training. He was the assistant director of novices in Milton for six years, then guardian at the house of philosophy in Hudson for five years. He embraced the routine of religious life being modeled for the younger friars. “I loved it. I liked the regular prayer life. They were large communities. We had the gift of community.”
Two assignments as pastor followed: first at St. Joseph Parish in Portland, Me., from 1987 to 1995; then St. Pius X Parish in Middletown, Conn., from 1995 to 2002. Father Fred cherishes the hikes he took in Maine and the robust parish community at St. Pius. He said, “I have met some wonderful people who have helped me the best possible pastor I could be with my limited gifts and talents.”
In 1981, Father Fred was first assigned to Capuchin Family Ministries. This brought him back again to Garrison, where his Capuchin journey began nearly 30 years earlier with that first visit to Glenclyffe. He served until 1985 and returned in 2002 after his term at St. Pius X. He has remained a youth chaplain ever since.
“I love the youth ministries. I love the energy. I love working with the young people,” he said. Far and away, Father Fred has attended more of our retreats than any other friar. “On the retreats I think the high point for me was just to see the young people growing in their relationship with Christ in a matter of days on a weekend.” Seeing them come to understand the devotion of Eucharistic adoration has been a blessing. And while some people fall away from their Catholic faith when they go to college, Father Fred remains committed to bringing young people to Christ by simply welcoming others as Christ did.
A Priest for Life
How does being a Capuchin shape Father Fred’s priestly ministry? “Living in community is very important to me. It’s a tremendous help. We can share our ministry experiences. In the community I live in now, we can share with each other. As a friar, we pray regularly in community. We have our office every day, we have our Mass together, and that is a real source of strength for me in religious life.”
To this day, Father Fred continues to be inspired by the old missionary priests who, during their return to the United States once every three years, always visited the houses of formation in Garrison and Hudson to give talks. Their fidelity to their vocation gave him courage and strength to move forward as a young friar.
“Usually, whatever bothered me was nothing major and would always pass. I never had any real trials that made me want to leave religious life or priesthood,” he said. “I remember making my final vows, and the other guys said I did it with such confidence that it helped them. I had no doubts that this was for me. Once I made my final vows, I felt stronger because I said this is it for life. There was no temptation to leave after that.”
