Alcantara

U.S. Army Corp. Juan Alcantara

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U.S. Army Corp. Juan Alcantara, Cardinal Egan presided at a Funeral Mass at St. Elizabeth's Church in Manhattan for U.S. Army Corp. Juan Alcantara, 22, who was killed Aug. 6 when a bomb explosion destroyed a house in Baghdad that he and his fellow service members were searching. More than 300 people, including his family members, attended the Aug. 17 Mass. Father Osiris Salcedo, S.D.B., who serves at the parish, was the celebrant and Father Luis Saldana, assistant director for Hispanic vocations and a faculty member at St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, delivered the homily. Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, the new rector of St. Joseph's Seminary who has served as pastor of St. Elizabeth's parish, said that Corp. Alcantara was the fifth member of the military from the Washington Heights parish to die while serving in Iraq. The Alcantara family lives just a couple of doors away from the church on Wadsworth Avenue, the bishop told CNY. Corp. Alcantara's survivors include his mother, Maria Alcantara; his sister, Fredelinda Pena; his fiancee, Sayanora Lopez, and their infant daughter. Following are the cardinal's remarks at the Funeral Mass:

Alcantara