Father Patrick Dowling (CNA) 
 
 | Aug. 12, 2013 
 
 Mystery Priest in Missouri Rescue Revealed 
 
 Father Patrick Dowling says he was the priest on the scene, but he can't explain some mysterious events reported by rescuers. 
 
 CARL BUNDERSON/CNA 
 
 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The mysterious priest who gave anointing to a Missouri woman trapped in her wrecked car has been identified as Father Patrick Dowling of the Diocese of Jefferson City. 
 
 “I thank God and the amazingly competent rescue workers,” Father Dowling stated in a comment on Catholic News Agency’s original article on the Aug. 4 incident. (The priest also recounted his story in a comment posted at NCRegister.com for the National Catholic Register.) 
 
 “I thank them for making me welcome in such a highly charged situation and allowing me to minister as a priest,” he said. 
 
 Katie Lentz was trapped in her older-model Mercedes after being struck by another vehicle that passed into her lane. That car's driver has been charged with DWI. 
 
 Rescue workers spent an hour trying to get Lentz out of her car, but the solid materials of its construction were dulling the fire department's emergency equipment. 
 
 Father Dowling was driving by Center, Mo., while on his way back from offering Mass in Ewing. A native of Ireland, Father Dowling was ordained a priest for the Jefferson City Diocese in 1982. He currently serves in prison ministry, and also ministers to the Spanish-speaking population of the Diocese of Jefferson City. 
 
 Though the highway was blocked off, Father Dowling revealed he “did not leave with the other cars.” After parking as close as he could to the scene of the accident, he said he walked the remaining 150 yards. 
 
 “I asked the sheriff if a priest might be needed,” he said. 
 
 “When the young lady asked that I pray her leg stop hurting, I did so. She asked me to pray aloud, and I did briefly,” he said. 
 
 Father Dowling added, “The rescue workers needed space and would not have appreciated distraction. I stepped to one side and said my Rosary silently until the lady was taken from the car.” 
 
 He observed that the rescue workers “worked with the harmony of a Swiss watch.” 
 
 “The Highway Patrol sergeant was amazingly calm and completely in control,” he said. 
 
 Once Lentz was removed from her vehicle, Father Dowling stated, “I then shook hands with the sheriff and thanked him as I left. I have to admire the calmness of everybody involved.” 
 
 
 
 Mysterious Questions Remain 
 
 CNA spoke with Father Dowling Aug. 12, and he said that he gave Lentz the anointing of the sick as well as absolution. 
 
 He affirmed that it was in the normal duties of a priest, “except that there was something extraordinary it sounds like, in the sequence of events that coincided in time with the anointing.” 
 
 “You must remember: There were many people praying there, many, many people … and they were all praying, obviously, for healing and for her safety,” he said. 
 
 “I was probably part of the answer to their prayers: I came by, and anointed, and absolved,” he said. 
 
 But Father Dowling said he could not explain other mysterious events that coincided with his ministering at the accident scene. 
 
 “I didn't say another word,” he said. “I did not say anything like the machinery would begin to work or they would succeed in getting her out of the car.” 
 
 The priest said, “That did not come from my lips, though two people heard it.” ||||| Mystery solved. 
 
 The “angel priest” who appeared at the scene of a Missouri car crash, anointed and prayed with the teenage victim, then vanished has been identified as Rev. Patrick Dowling of the Jefferson City Diocese. 
 
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 A press release provided to FoxNews.com by the diocese said Father Dowling had been travelling Highway 19 between Mass assignments in northern and central Missouri when he arrived near the crash scene Aug. 4. 
 
 The arrival of the unidentified priest, who seemed to come out of nowhere, then attend to the victim before disappearing just as mysteriously, touched off nationwide speculation about the identity of the “angel” cleric. 
 
 Dowling actually identified himself in a comment posting on a story about his actions on the National Catholic Register website Friday night. The posting, one among many, appeared to go unnoticed for several days. 
 
 “I had Mass in Ewing MO as the regular priest was sick,” he wrote. “As I was returning, I arrived at the scene. The authorities were redirecting traffic. I waited till it was possible to drive up closer. I parked behind a large vehicle about 150 yards from the scene. I asked the Sheriff’s permission and approached the scene of the accident. 
 
 “I absolved and anointed Katie, and, at her request, prayed that her leg would not hurt. Then I stepped aside to where some rescue personnel and the (rescue helicopter) pilot were waiting, and prayed the rosary silently. 
 
 “I left when the helicopter was about to take off, and before I got to my car…” 
 
 The Archdiocese said Dowling, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo., in 1982. He has served at parishes in Moberly, Monroe City, Indian Creek, Milan, Unionville and Eldon, Mo., and in the diocese’s mission parishes in Marcona and Nasca, Peru. 
 
 He is currently serving in prison ministry and in parish ministry to Spanish-speaking Catholics. 
 
 Family and friends of the victim, 19-year-old Katie Lentz of Quincy, Mo., had said they hoped to find the priest and thank him. 
 
 Rescuers told Fox4KC said a 26-year-old driver crossed the center lane and hit Lentz' car head-on. Authorities spent about 45 minutes trying to cut her out of the car, but the metal on her older car dulled the equipment. 
 
 She asked the rescuers to pray with her and at that point the priest appeared. 
 
 Adding to the mystery, Fire Chief Raymond Reed said the department took 80 photos of the scene and the priest did not appear in any of them. ||||| Mysterious Priest Showed Up to Pray With Missouri Crash Victim 
 
 As responders struggled to remove Katie Lentz from her wrecked car, a priest appeared and prayed with her, then vanished. 
 
 CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY 
 
 After emergency responders spent an hour trying to remove a young woman from her wrecked car near Center, Mo., a priest appeared with anointing oil and prayed with her, and then inexplicably vanished. 
 
 “He came up and approached the patient and offered a prayer,” Raymond Reed, the New London, Mo., fire chief explained to KHQA-TV about the Aug. 4 incident. 
 
 “A sense of calmness came over her, and it did us as well. I can’t be for certain how it was said, but myself and another firefighter, we very plainly heard that we should remain calm, that our tools would now work and that we would get her out of that vehicle.” 
 
 Once the victim, Katie Lentz, was removed from her car and put into an Air Evac helicopter, the emergency responders wanted to thank the priest, but he had disappeared. 
 
 The two-lane Missouri state highway on which the crash occurred had been blocked off for a quarter of a mile throughout Lentz’ rescue, barring bystanders and nearby vehicles. 
 
 Lentz’ older-model Mercedes was struck by another car that had passed into her lane. That car’s driver has been charged with DWI. 
 
 Rescue workers spent an hour trying to get Lentz out of her car, but the solid materials of its construction were dulling the fire department’s emergency equipment. 
 
 Lentz eventually asked the workers to pray aloud with her, and at that time the priest appeared to pray with them and reassure them. Another fire department arrived with fresh equipment, and Lentz was removed from her car. 
 
 She is now in a local hospital, having already undergone surgery on some broken bones. She is in serious condition and faces further surgeries. 
 
 “All along the way, her foremost request is for people to pray and to pray out loud,” Luntz’ mother told KHQA-TV. “We would like nothing more than to carry that message forward for her.” 
 
 The priest's identity is unknown. According to KHQA, the Jefferson City Diocese has not “heard directly from any” of its priests about the incident.
– A mysterious priest who showed up to pray at the scene of a Missouri car crash may have been heaven-sent, but he only traveled about 150 yards to get to there. It turns out the "angel" priest who prayed with Katie Lentz, 19, then seemingly disappeared last Sunday is the very earthbound Rev. Patrick Dowling of the Jefferson City Diocese. Fox News reports that Father Dowling actually revealed his identity via a comment posted to a story about the incident on the National Catholic Register website Friday, but it escaped notice until yesterday. "I had Mass in Ewing MO as the regular priest was sick," he wrote, explaining that he came upon the scene on his way back. "I parked behind a large vehicle about 150 yards from the scene. I asked the sheriff’s permission and approached the scene of the accident. I absolved and anointed Katie, and, at her request, prayed that her leg would not hurt. Then I stepped aside." But Father Dowling tells the National Catholic Register that a bit of a mystery does still persist: He says that after the anointing and absolution, "I didn't say another word. I did not say anything like the machinery would begin to work or they would succeed in getting her out of the car. That did not come from my lips, though two people heard it."