CHICAGO _ Hysni Selenica's path to becoming the first Muslim chaplain with the Chicago Police Department began at a storied Catholic high school he attended across the street from police headquarters.
A born-and-raised Southwest Sider, Selenica attended De La Salle Institute, which counts at least five Chicago mayors among its alumni. One day a religious brother asked about his roots.
Selenica explained that his father was from Albania, a communist country at the time where practicing your faith was forbidden. His father kept his faith private even after fleeing to the United States.
"You're Muslim," the brother said matter-of-factly. Selenica, now 43, still remembers the brother's thick drawl.
"I guess?" Selenica replied. The first Iraq War was raging at the time.
Despite the brother's insistence that Selenica did not have to attend Mass anymore, Selenica said he chose to keep going. He was curious about the Christian concept of the Trinity.
It would take years to get back to the faith of his ancestors. But he believes he was destined to make that journey.
"I just felt it's constantly been beating at my door, that it's truly a calling from (God) and I really don't have the knowledge or expertise," he said. "But I can't deny his wisdom."
He spoke while volunteering at a chili dinner at the Calumet District police station on the Far South Side. The district lost two officers to suicide, among four in the department this year.
In his brief time as chaplain, Selenica has also seen two officers die in the line of duty. After an officer was gunned down at a Near South Side hospital on Nov. 19, he and the department's other chaplains prayed with other officers at the morgue.
"Our faith anchors us to be able to handle these situations," he said after a Thanksgiving interfaith prayer service.
