Titanic Faith

After hitting a submerged iceberg 400 miles east of Newfoundland on its 1912 maiden voyage to the United States, the “unsinkable” Titanic careened to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in just 2 1/2 hours, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 of its 2,222 passengers and crew.

On the heels of previous multiscreen exhibits that brought to life the art of Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, a new exhibition – “Titanic: An Immersive Voyage – Through the Eyes of the Passengers” – calls to mind the heroism and spiritual fortitude displayed by three Catholic priests who perished while providing spiritual solace in the midst of chaos.

Although the exhibit has no artifacts associated with the three priests – Father Thomas Byles, 42, from England; Father Juozas Montvila, 27, from Lithuania; and Father Josef Benedikt Peruschitz, 41, from Germany – it is clear through survivors’ accounts that they became spiritual lifelines for passengers, said John Zaller, executive producer of the exhibit.

In his 25 years of fascination with the Titanic disaster, Zaller has read just about everything there is to know about the ship – “the largest moving object ever created by human hands at the time” – its design and construction and its ill-fated journey. The actions of the three priests, he said, were calming and heroic.

“We all wonder what we would have done had we been on that boat deck that night,” Zaller said. “Would we have jumped into a lifeboat and saved ourselves or would we have gathered everybody we knew – and people we didn’t know – and gotten them to safety? That’s why the story of Father Byles is so powerful.”

 Father Byles was simply using the Titanic as a means of transportation from England to officiate at his young brother’s wedding in New York. He bought a second-class ticket, which cost 13 pounds, the equivalent of about $1,200 today. His parishioners may have paid for the ticket.

Father Byles celebrated Mass for passengers on the morning of the sinking – Sunday, April 14, 1912 – and was on the upper deck when the Titanic hit the iceberg. Accounts say Father Byles heard confessions for hours on April 13, in advance of the Second Sunday of Easter.

Survivors quoted his Sunday homily, which he delivered in English and French: “Our prayers and the sacraments of the church are spiritual lifeboats taking us back to God.”

Father Peruschitz, a Benedictine monk from Germany, delivered his homily in German and Hungarian. His message urged passengers to have a “lifeboat in the shape of religious consolation at hand in case of spiritual shipwreck.”

General absolution

Zaller said as the Titanic was doomed, Father Byles offered passengers general absolution.

“There were all those Irish Catholic passengers on board the ship who were coming to America in hope of a better life and who met their fate that night because of this cruel twist of fate – the iceberg,” Zaller said. “Father Byles led services and absolved everyone on board of their sins. It was really powerful.”

“The power (of the priests)was in their quiet, gentle demeanor, giving essential comfort throughout the journey,” Zaller added. “In the final moments, they gathered people around them and prayed the rosary. It’s a very powerful recollection that a lot of passengers had of those final moments.

“You’ve got every facet of human expression, of human reaction, of humanity expressed in that time period. You had whole families who were wiped out. You had people who snuck off in lifeboats. You have those who are helping others. You have the crew working furiously to save the shop and keep the power on long enough for those wireless (radio) messages to reach other ships.”

The exhibit features an explanation of how the Titanic wreckage was discovered in 1985 by oceanographer Robert Ballard, when he captured the first images of the grand staircase, rusting hull and personal artifacts resting 12,600 feet below the surface. 

Zaller said deep-sea bacteria is severely damaging the remains of the Titanic, which is in two sections about 2 1/2 miles below the surface.

“It looks a lot like it did the day it went down,” he said. “It’ll probably be with us for another 500 years before it really collapses on itself.”

For tickets to the exhibit, go to expo-titanic.com/new-orleans/. Children under 4 are free. Scottish Rite Temple, 619 Carondelet Street, # 621, New Orleans.

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