 Mysterious Priest Showed Up to Pray With Missouri Crash Victim 
 
 As responders struggled to remove Katie Lentz from her wrecked car, a priest appeared and prayed with her, then vanished. Dowling actually identified himself in a comment posting on a story about his actions on the National Catholic Register website Friday night. Katie Lentz was trapped in her older-model Mercedes after being struck by another vehicle that passed into her lane. That car's driver has been charged with DWI. CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY 
 
 After emergency responders spent an hour trying to remove a young woman from her wrecked car near Center, Mo., a priest appeared with anointing oil and prayed with her, and then inexplicably vanished. Father Dowling was driving by Center, Mo., while on his way back from offering Mass in Ewing. “I left when the helicopter was about to take off, and before I got to my car…” 
 
 The Archdiocese said Dowling, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo., in 1982. He currently serves in prison ministry, and also ministers to the Spanish-speaking population of the Diocese of Jefferson City. Though the highway was blocked off, Father Dowling revealed he “did not leave with the other cars.” After parking as close as he could to the scene of the accident, he said he walked the remaining 150 yards. I asked the Sheriff’s permission and approached the scene of the accident. Lentz eventually asked the workers to pray aloud with her, and at that time the priest appeared to pray with them and reassure them. I stepped to one side and said my Rosary silently until the lady was taken from the car.” 
 
 He observed that the rescue workers “worked with the harmony of a Swiss watch.” 
 
 “The Highway Patrol sergeant was amazingly calm and completely in control,” he said. “I was probably part of the answer to their prayers: I came by, and anointed, and absolved,” he said.
– A mysterious priest who showed up to pray at the scene of a Missouri car crash may have been heaven-sent, but he only traveled about 150 yards to get to there. It turns out the "angel" priest who prayed with Katie Lentz, 19, then seemingly disappeared last Sunday is the very earthbound Rev. Patrick Dowling of the Jefferson City Diocese. Fox News reports that Father Dowling actually revealed his identity via a comment posted to a story about the incident on the National Catholic Register website Friday, but it escaped notice until yesterday. "I had Mass in Ewing MO as the regular priest was sick," he wrote, explaining that he came upon the scene on his way back. "I parked behind a large vehicle about 150 yards from the scene. I asked the sheriff’s permission and approached the scene of the accident. I absolved and anointed Katie, and, at her request, prayed that her leg would not hurt. Then I stepped aside." But Father Dowling tells the National Catholic Register that a bit of a mystery does still persist: He says that after the anointing and absolution, "I didn't say another word. I did not say anything like the machinery would begin to work or they would succeed in getting her out of the car. That did not come from my lips, though two people heard it."