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American Morning

Priest's Good Works Among Thailand's Poor

Aired June 20, 2001 - 11:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An angel in the guise of a Roman Catholic priest is making living and dying easier for the sick and poor in Thailand. But he's not your typical missionary.

Here's CNN Bangkok bureau chief John Raedler.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN RAEDLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Father Joseph Maier comforts the dying -- this girl, one of 20 children in his AIDS hospice in a Bangkok slum.

REV. JOSEPH MAIER: Her name is Nam Fon, which means falling rain. She's 6 1/2. Her mother died of AIDS.

RAEDLER: So did her father, and now her short, sick life is about to end too.

MAIER: She's got this unbelievable will to live, but right now, her legs hurt very, very badly.

RAEDLER: A few days after our visit, Nam Fon died.

Father Joe, as he's known, has spent 30 years tending to the poor of Bangkok. This is one of 32 kindergartens he runs for slum kids. He ended up in Thailand, he says, because his Catholic superiors in his native America weren't sure what to do with him.

MAIER: He listens to the Grateful Dead. He asks questions.

RAEDLER: As a Catholic priest in a Buddhist country, he is anything but the conventional missionary. He does not preach. He does not proselytize. He illustrates his point by talking of this visit to a woman dying of AIDS in his hospice.

MAIER: What do I tell her? I mean, I can't tell her my "Our Fathers" and my "Hail Marys." All I can say is, Hey, I love you, I'll be your mom, and I'll be your dad, and we'll be together -- and it's OK, don't be afraid.

RAEDLER: Those words rang in the ears of 120 people who died in Father Joe's hospice last year. The death toll will be even greater this year, and the 61-year-old priest will act as mother, father and friend to each of them in their dying. He can't imagine doing anything else with his life.

MAIER: Well, I think I'd be useless at doing anything else. I probably couldn't make a living. I can just barely stay in the church, and they're quite tolerant.

RAEDLER: John Raedler, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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