The Catholic Diocese of Birmingham removed the majority of the Catholic statues, crucifixes, and religious artifacts from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham after UAB Hospital purchased it last year.
The enormous steel cross that decorated one of the towers of St. Vincent’s Hospital, however, was too large to be removed with ease.
A crane business was given the task, and one of its employees chose to save it from a pile of metal scrap. He was in a men’s Bible study group with Richard Bradley of Gardendale, who felt it could be useful at the Cornfields Community Baptist Church in Arizona, where he was conducting mission work in Navajo Nation.
The men’s Bible study group also includes Tony Camardella, a Cullman nurse who used to work at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He offered to take the cross over to Arizona.
In order to assist and share their religion, Camardella and his wife, Veronica, operate a ministry called People Must Know RV, where they travel to hurricane and other storm disaster areas with their recreational vehicle and gas generator.
Signs advertising The Chosen TV series, in which the Camardellas were extras in the audience while the feeding of the 5,000 miracle was being filmed, are displayed on their RV.
According to Camardella, people are drawn to the RV with the decals. If people visit that RV, they are aware. Our only purpose is to serve as a kind observer.
The cross required considerable work before it could be used as a cross that could be placed in front of a church. It required both a base and a back. The back was constructed with labor and materials given by Warrior’s Sloan Supply Co.To enable the cross to be stood up and fastened down, Coyote Coatings in Hueytown constructed and donated a steel base.
In Birmingham, Bradley loaded the cross onto his trailer. Camardella used a truck that he employs for his stump-grinding business to haul it.
On July 6, he and Veronica departed Birmingham to deliver the cross. According to Veronica, people adored the concept. We received donations for motels and gas.
On July 8, after traveling 1,700 miles, they brought the cross to the Navajo Nation chapel in Cornfields, Arizona.According to Veronica, they thanked us by singing hymns in English and then Navajo.
According to Tony, they gave us Navajo tacos and Navajo flatbread. While we stood there, they prepared it fresh.
Bradley intends to return to Cornfields shortly in order to pour concrete, support the cross, and fasten it to the base.
According to the Camardellas, the Navajo expressed gratitude for the present.
The Navajo were shown images and a video of the cross descending from Birmingham’s St. Vincent’s Hospital by the Camardellas.
Veronica stated that they were simply bursting with appreciation. It was really stunning.
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