Boys Town’s Father Flanagan moves closer to possible sainthood

Pope Leo XIV approached the Reverend Edward Joseph Flanagan to possible sainthood on Monday by proclaiming the “heroic virtues” of the founder of city ​​of boysa Nebraska home for at-risk youth that gained national renown and inspired an Oscar-winning biopic.

With Leon’s proclamation, the priest commonly known as “Father Flanagan” is now officially declared “venerable.” Later steps on a possible path to sainthood would include beatification and, ultimately, canonization.

Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern said he is “very happy” with the news.

“We continue to pray that one day he will be beatified and finally declared a saint,” the archbishop said in a statement. “In the meantime, let us work to affirm the dignity of every person created in the image of God 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 United States in 1904. He was ordained a priest in 1912 and began working in the Diocese of Omaha in 1913.

He provided shelter to homeless men, whose stories convinced him that many adult problems stem from broken homes and parental neglect, according to his biography on the website of the Father Flanagan League, a society dedicated to promoting his cause of sainthood.

Flanagan began counseling children in the juvenile justice system and established his first children’s home in 1917 in downtown Omaha. In 1921, he purchased a farm on the western outskirts of Omaha and began building what became the campus known as Boys Town, still located there in a town of the same name.

In the 1930s, hundreds of children lived at the site, which included a school and dormitories where children elected their own mayor, council and commissioners, according to the organization’s website.

Flanagan traveled to postwar Japan to help develop a child welfare program. In 1946, he visited his native Ireland and criticized its system of sending children to industrial schools and reform schools, calling them exploitative.

Flanagan died of a heart attack in 1948 at age 61 while visiting Germany. His grave at Dowd Memorial Chapel in Boys Town displays one of his most famous quotes: “There are no bad boys. There is only bad atmosphere, bad example, bad thinking.”

His work was depicted in the 1938 film “Boys Town,” starring Spencer Tracy as a heroic Flanagan and Mickey Rooney as one of the boys in his care. The film won Oscars for Tracy (best actor) and screenplay (original story).

The Boys Town organization has opened several locations across the country and began admitting girls into its residential programs in 1979.

The Boys Town organization applauded the Vatican’s announcement in a Facebook post on Monday.

Flanagan “believed that children had the right to be valued, to have the basic needs of life and to be protected,” he said. “Their life-saving work continues today across the country.”

Flanagan is the second American clergyman with connections in the Midwest to move closer to sainthood this year under the pontificate of the Pope Leo, born in Chicago. In February, the Vatican approved the beatification ceremony for Archbishop Fulton Sheen in his native Illinois, after years of delays.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints reviewed an extensive file on Flanagan’s life, writings and works. Leo signed the decree Monday attesting that Flanagan lived a life of heroic virtue. Such a decree does not mean that he was free of sin or errors, but it does mean that he had a reputation for holiness by living all the Christian virtues in a heroic way.

The next step toward possible sainthood is beatification. In order for Flanagan to be beatified, the postulator (the person responsible for advancing the cause) has to find someone who has been miraculously healed by praying through Flanagan’s intercession. The process involves research by theological and medical experts. If convinced, the dicastery sends the case to the Pope, who signs a decree saying the candidate can be beatified.

A second miracle is needed to declare the candidate a saint. Martyrs (people killed for their faith) can be beatified without a miracle. However, a miracle is needed for the martyrs to be canonized.

A pope can also evade miracle requirements by declaring a saint, as Pope Francis did at times during his 12-year papacy. Francis canonized St. Junipero Serra during a visit to Washington, D.C. in 2015, even though the Vatican had not confirmed a second miracle attributed to his intercession.