Father Flanagan of Boys Town fame moves closer to possible sainthood
CBSN
Pope Leo XIV put the Rev. Edward Joseph Flanagan a step closer to possible sainthood Monday as he proclaimed the "heroic virtues" of the founder of Boys Town, a Nebraska home for at-risk youths that gained national renown and inspired an Oscar-winning biopic performance. In:
Pope Leo XIV put the Rev. Edward Joseph Flanagan a step closer to possible sainthood Monday as he proclaimed the "heroic virtues" of the founder of Boys Town, a Nebraska home for at-risk youths that gained national renown and inspired an Oscar-winning biopic performance.
With Leo's proclamation, the priest commonly known as "Father Flanagan" is now officially declared "venerable." Later steps on a possible path of sainthood would include beatification and ultimately canonization.
Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern said he is "overjoyed" with the news.
"We continue to pray that he will one day be beatified and ultimately declared a saint," the archbishop said in a statement. "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."
Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, Ireland, in 1886 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1904. He was ordained a priest in 1912 and began work in the Diocese of Omaha in 1913.

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