'Venerable' Boys Town founder Father Flanagan 'a model of charity,' says Omaha archbishop

(OSV News) -- Nebraska's Catholic archbishop expressed his joy at the Vatican's March 23 announcement that Boys Town founder and youth advocate Father Edward Flanagan has been declared "Venerable."

"Father Flanagan made such an impression on the hearts of people, Catholic and non-Catholic, that people still speak of him with pride and a sense of reverence, even," Archbishop Michael G. McGovern of Omaha, Nebraska, told OSV News March 23.

Venerable Edward Flanagan, who was commonly known as just "Father Flanagan," was born in Ireland in 1886 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1904. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Omaha in 1912 and opened what would ultimately become Boys Town in 1917. Father Flanagan's initiative sought to provide impoverished, homeless and challenged youth with a stable, loving environment in which they could flourish.

In the process, Father Flanagan -- who died in 1948 -- became a visionary social reformer, countering the trend of merely punishing antisocial behavior and instead seeking to understand the unmet human needs that triggered it.

His work was dramatized in the popular 1938 film "Boys Town," starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, with the movie raising international awareness of his initiative. Today, the Boys Town network has expanded to include a range of child and family services, crisis services, a research hospital and outpatient behavioral care.

Archbishop McGovern summed up Father Flanagan's legacy as that of "such a good priest," one who experienced a call to work with disadvantaged youth while "very courageously" facing opposition and persisting in "taking several boys in and, eventually, creating Boys Town.

"It was a great act of charity," Archbishop McGovern said.

The archbishop said he is not aware of miracles attributed to Father Flanigan's intercession before God currently under review, but does know that people are asking for Father Flanagan's help in different situations in life.

During a recent visit to Boys Town for Mass, Archbishop McGovern spoke about the need for a miracle for the cause to progress to beatification, the final step before canonization.

In response, an individual from one of the families caring for the youths said, "Bishop, come to graduation at Boys Town this spring, and you'll see many miracles."

"He's right," Archbishop McGovern told OSV News. "The work they do is outstanding, with the troubled youth, with the difficult stories and needs, so that work continues."

In an official statement issued March 23, the archbishop said the timing of Father Flanagan's advancement toward possible sainthood -- a cause begun in 2012 -- was "fitting," as it coincided with the 100th anniversary of Catholic Charities' founding in the archdiocese.

"We continue to pray that he will one day be beatified and ultimately declared a saint. In the meantime, may we work to affirm the dignity of every person created in God's image by serving the poor, the abandoned and the vulnerable, especially at-risk youth," said Archbishop McGovern. "May Venerable Father Edward Flanagan's example inspire us to live the Lord's command: 'Love one another, as I have loved you.'"