By Edward J. Thompson

Don Zirkel’s name is synonymous with excellence in Catholic journalism.

As editor of The Tablet from 1968 to 1985, he and his staff received numerous national awards and commendations from the Catholic Press Association for outstanding Catholic reporting and editing.

He was a celebrity in Catholic journalistic circles, an outstanding editor of this leading Catholic newspaper for nearly two decades. As a leader in the Church after Vatican II, he advocated for reform and recognition of the role of the laity, especially women. One of the ways he promoted the importance of women in the Church was the publication of Ms. Tablet, which appeared for several years on the date closest to Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

DEACON DON: Don Zirkel was the Editor of The Tablet when he was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1979. Here he is shown on his ordination day with his wife, Marie.

He also published an outreach to the growing Spanish community in Brooklyn and Queens with Supplemento en Espanol and later Nuevo Amanecer, a Spanish bi-weekly covering local and global issues related to the Hispanic community.

He was the protégé of the long-standing conservative journalist and editor, Patrick Scanlan. He worked his way up the chain of command until he became Scanlan’s right-hand man. Scanlan had been and still is a legend in Catholic journalist circles. In 1968, Scanlon retired and Zirkel took his place.

I didn’t know Don during his journalistic life. One of the first times I met him and Marie (Re), his loving wife, was when they invited a group of us to a Souper Bowl Sunday party at their house in Hicksville, L.I. It was on Super Bowl Sunday, but there was no football. We had homemade soup and bread and the donations were given to the poor. I saw in Don an intense compassion for the lost, the least and the lonely, that I had not seen before.

That was more than 20 years ago. Our friendship has grown since then over many prayer meetings, breakfasts, and of course his favorite, Chinese buffet. In fact, for these past 20 years, I’ve seen Don at his pastoral best.

As an ordained deacon working in St. Kilian’s parish, Farmingdale, L.I., Don’s homilies and compassionate spirit with the people of the parish set him aside as a specially gifted preacher and ready counselor. His giftedness as a homilist flowed directly from an innate ability to accept and apply the challenge of the Gospel to his own life as husband to Marie and as father to their nine children. Sometimes, he would have Marie take part in his homilies, which I thought was an effective way to have a female viewpoint heard. Most importantly, Don’s homilies gently challenged the people in the pews to repent and to realize the great love that Jesus has for each one of them.

Don’s days at St. Kilian’s were coming to a close after the death of Msgr. Charles Swiger in 2001. Fortunately, he found a home in Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch, L.I. It was a “marriage made in Heaven!”

Don and Marie, I believe, were rejuvenated by the pastor, Father Bill Brisotti, and especially by the multi-cultural diversity of the people of OLMM. Don and Marie continued to give reflections together at the Monday morning Communion service. His Sunday homilies were filled with the love of God for His people.

Don was in top form recently when he wrote a letter that the Long Island Catholic, the diocesan paper of Rockville Centre, printed. It was about being a peacemaker as Jesus was. He said: “The best way to honor the sacrifice of those who have died in war is to work to drastically reduce the number who will grieve after them. The best way to support our troops is to bring them home - alive and healthy. Violence should be the last resort. Please publish an editorial entitled ‘Blessed be the peacemakers.’ Till someone else does more.”

I can’t believe Don turned 80 years old last August. His and Marie’s calendar still would challenge any couple half their age. He tells me he is getting tired. Well, no wonder!... given all the work he continues to do for the Lord. If this sounds like a love letter, it is. Don is my friend…and my brother in Christ.