Priest prayed with COVID patients, fought for justice

When news first trickled out that Chris Ponnet, the longtime pastor of the St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care in Lincoln Heights, had died, images and condolences popped up online.

- ANDREW J. CAMPA

KENT NISHIMURA Los Angeles Times

'HE ALWAYS WANTED TO HELP' Chris Ponnet was the longtime pastor at St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care in Lincoln Heights.

There was a photograph of him being arrested in 2011 at a blockade in downtown Los Angeles over the war in Afghanistan. Another image showed him at a rally holding a cross with the message "replace the death penalty" written across the center.

The condolences included one from Sacred Heart High School in Lincoln Heights, where he was praised as a "beloved presider and homilist at our masses." Ponnet is remembered as a man who often served as the lone visitor to hundreds dying of COVID-19, who presided over an annual service honoring the unclaimed dead and who attended protests and was arrested dozens of times in the process.

For family members, though, he was "the person who cared most for us," said his brother Jim.

The family announced Ponnet's passing on Oct. 7 at the age of 68.

He is survived by his sisters, Elizabeth and Mary Alice, and brother, Jim. He was an uncle to more than 20 nieces and nephews.

A viewing, rosary and vigil will be held at St. Luke's in Temple City on Monday, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The formal celebration of life funeral Mass is scheduled for Tuesday at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles at 10 a.m.

Both the viewing and funeral are open to the public, while the burial is private.

Ponnet spent the last 30 years as pastor of St. Camillus, which is across the street from USC's health sciences campus.