Priest, Sculptor, and Irish Musician, Father Anthony Brankin Uses his Talents to Serve the Lord

By Christine Lawless

Father Anthony J Brankin, multi-talented Chicago pastor, sculptor, and Irish musician, knew he wanted to be a priest since the age of 7. “As a child, I had a beautiful dream…. in which I felt a strong presence of Jesus and His Love. The experience was palpable, and the memory indelible.” That began Brankin’s life-long journey devoted to serving God and His people. On June 15th starting at 430pm with Mass at St Thomas More Church at 81st and California, Brankin celebrates his 50th anniversary as a priest. 

Brankin’s Irish roots trace back to his grandparents Philip Brankin of Co Armagh, and Annie Philbin, of rural Co Mayo. In the early 1900’s, Philip and Annie met and married here in Chicago, settling in Bridgeport, among the growing masses of Irish people who at the time comprised about 25% of Chicago’s population. Their son, Anthony J Brankin Sr was born in 1910, and grew up to become a Captain in the Chicago Police Department. He married Angela Carioscia, and the couple made their home at 60th and Fairfield in St Rita’s Parish. The future Father Anthony Brankin, b.1949, was the second oldest of their five children.  

When asked if he had any priest role models, Brankin offered, “Oh yes, the Augustinian priests at St Rita’s were all great men... all the more manly because of their Catholic faith and piety. You could see in their demeanor and hear in their voices, kindness and generosity and the Faith. They were fathers to us.”

In the 1960’s, men entered seminary training at a very young age. So at age 13 Brankin entered Quigley Preparatory Seminary South at 77th Street and Western Avenue, joining over 1600 other like-minded young men. He spent the next 12 years learning to be a priest. Brankin said one of the first things he had to learn was “how to think critically.” Instrumental in helping Brankin achieve this was educator Father Victor LaMotte. “He (LaMotte) was brilliant, really brilliant…. he pushed all of us to think, to push back to the first principles (root causes) and build your argument from that…. like Socrates must have done.” 

Though Brankin learned to draw alongside his siblings as a child in the Brankin home, it was during those long seminary years that he discovered sculptor Malvina Hoffman, best known for “Hall of the Races of Mankind,” a collection of 104 life-size bronze statues created for Chicago’s Field Museum and exhibited during the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933. Around 1967, while still in high school, Brankin picked up Hoffman‘s book, “Sculpture Inside and Out,” and by following her detailed instruction, he produced his first statue, a bust of an early 19th C General. He noted “I was quite pleased with it, and that began my career in sculpting. She (Hoffman) really inspired me.”  Brankin received Holy Orders in 1975. 

Father Brankin believes he has done at least one major statue annually since 1983. He has never advertised or had an agent or a website promoting his work. “I never made statues to sell them. I have only been commissioned; someone would come to me asking I do a statue and I would do it.”  Working mostly in bronze, he most often creates religious art. His works are scattered throughout Chicago, the United States, and Europe (Rome). Most are quite large. 

Located right here in Chicagoland are the Famine Memorial at Gaelic Park (featured on the cover of IAN in January of 2010), St Patrick baptizing St Brigid and St Brendan at St Alexander’s Parish in Palos Park (unique in that it has a functioning water feature), and Guardian Angel and Street Children at Mercy Home Chicago. Further north in LaCrosse WI is St Joseph the Workman, commissioned by Cardinal Burke for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this piece Saint Joseph is teaching young Jesus how to work with wood. California is home to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, informally known as the Lily of the Mohawks. 

Nowadays Brankin spends most of his time on his family farm in Galena IL, spending at least 4 hours daily working on his sculptures. His current project is an altar screen of the Apostles and Evangelists, commissioned by Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee WI. The farm is equipped with a large art barn, where he has plenty of space to work and store his statues. 

As if not enough to be brilliant priest and gifted sculptor, Brankin has loved and played Irish music for many, many years. Two years of piano lessons as a child got him started, but after that he was self-taught, learning accordion, mandolin, and Irish harp. His favorites are piano and harp. Because of his abilities, it is no surprise he makes Irish harps, and decorates the soundbox with Celtic art. 

In 1975, Brankin’s first assignment as a priest was at Our Lady of Charity, Cicero IL. After 6 years there, Cardinal Cody sent Brankin to Rome to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma (Academy of Fine Arts) and pursue a doctorate in sacred theology at the University of St Thomas (Angelicum). When he returned, he was assigned to St Thomas More Church, where he would spend the next 21 years with its heavily Irish population. He wrote and directed a series of Irish musical plays, intended to bring people together as a community and to highlight the beauty of traditional Irish music and song. Brankin put his heart and soul into those plays, and those who participated in them still talk about them 40 years later. 

In 2004, Brankin had a sabbatical for 2 years to do the commission from Cardinal Burke, and then started at St Odilo in Berwyn, where he retired in 2019.  He did not speak a word of Spanish when he got there, but after just 2 years, he became fluent enough to give sermons and hear confessions. His parish community musical showcases continued in the form of the annual “Odilopalooza,” celebrations, featuring all types of music, and except for the mariachi bands, Brankin would share the stage with the Blues Bands and even the Irish Ceili bands! 

One would think it would be difficult to juggle all these talents and avoid them competing with one another. But that has not been an issue for Brankin. He reflected, “Priesthood has always been the most important thing in my life and any other talent I had, I used to serve my vocation.”  Thus, drawing, sculpting, music, instrument-making all served his priestly calling. His art and music depicted the beauty of God; his sessions and plays brought his parishioners together in community, and he often made harps for other musicians. Brankin’s motivation in all is love and service to others. 

When he returns to Chicago for his 50th anniversary of priesthood, over 1500 parishioners, friends, family, and clergymen are expected to honor him. St Odilo parishioner Virginia Cannella explained why he is loved so much by his parishioners, “Father Brankin is a relatable person and prayerful.  His priesthood impels him to make every action a prayer and that comes across in how he responds to people and through his actions.”  A former parishioner, Chris L said, “Fr. Brankin has a big heart, and freely gives a lot of love to his parishioners. The natural response is to love him back.“

In a world where the Irish priest is becoming a relic of the past, Brankin stands out as a gem, a shining example of total life-long commitment to the priesthood, and use of his vast talent in service to that vocation and his people.