Boys Town founder's cause moving at 'lightning speed,' says official
BOYS TOWN, Neb. (CNS) -- Three years to the day that the Archdiocese of Omaha officially opened the sainthood cause for Father Edward Flanagan, local officials plan to submit its findings to the Vatican.
The announced date of March 17, 2015, will cap what started as a grass-roots effort among alumni more than a decade ago for sainthood for the Omaha priest and founder of Boys Town.
During a Sept. 15 presentation at the Great Hall on the Boys Town campus, Steve Wolf, president of the Father Flanagan League Society of Devotion, said the process was moving at "lightning speed," crediting background work at Boys Town, the tribunal and commissions installed by Archbishop George J. Lucas and the prayers of supporters.
"Their dedication and focus is moving this cause forward at a speed that is almost unheard of," Wolf said.
Also speaking at the presentation were Father Steven Boes, executive director of Boys Town and pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish on campus; Thomas Lynch, chairman of the Father Flanagan Cause for Beatification Historical Commission and director of community programs and the hall of history at Boys Town; Father Ryan Lewis, episcopal delegate for the archdiocesan tribunal and pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Omaha; William Fitzgerald, board member of the Father Flanagan League; and Andrea Ambrosi of Rome, who as the postulator will present the case to the Vatican for the archdiocese.
When the Irish-born priest's cause was officially opened, he was given the title of "servant of God." Since then documents have been collected on his life and ministry and testimony gathered from dozens of witnesses who knew of his ministry. That material will be submitted to the Vatican.
The effort has been buoyed by two unrelated, alleged miracles reported April 9, bringing to 16 the number of alleged miracles attributed to Father Flanagan's intercession that have been reported to the league over the past 10 years, Wolf said.
In the cases reported in April, a Canadian woman and her baby both survived pregnancy complications, and an American man recovered after being placed in hospice, he said.
With the cooperation of the families and doctors involved in both cases, a preliminary review has begun on each, led by Ambrosi.
Having multiple alleged miracles associated at this stage with any cause for sainthood is unusual, Wolf said. Fewer than half of the causes first arriving in Rome have any alleged miracle associated with their cases, and less than 5 percent of the current causes in Rome have even two alleged miracles, Wolf said.
Still, Father Flanagan's cause could take years, even after it is submitted to Rome, officials working on the case have said.
Once the archdiocese does submit its findings, Ambrosi will present the case to the Vatican's Congregation for Causes of Saints. In Rome, church officials will determine if the priest heroically lived the Christian virtues. If so, the Catholic Church will give him the title "venerable," the first step in the canonization process.
Generally, two miracles attributed to the candidate's intercession are required for sainthood -- one for beatification, when the person would be declared "blessed," and the second for canonization.
There has been a groundswell of support for Father Flanagan in multiple countries. There are four established prayer groups in Ireland, including one in Father Flanagan's hometown of Ballymoe, Wolf said.
"Something really extraordinary is happening here," he said.
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Gouger is senior writer at the Catholic Voice, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Omaha.