Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan, who died at age 89, was buried in St. John's Cemetery after an overflowing crowd attended a funeral Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral. He was buried near Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, in a special section reserved for clergy.
Bishop Daniel P. Reilly, who officiated at the funeral, talked of Flanagan's many contributions as the diocese's second bishop. He served at the time of the Second Vatican Council, enthusiastically bringing the changes mandated by the council to the diocese, Reilly said.
"He read the signs of the time," Reilly said. He returned from the council "inspired and energized" by what happened there and started making reforms in liturgy, ecumenism and role of the laity.
He called Flanagan a "priest's priest," who was with fellow clergy "in good times and in bad" and who built Vianney House, 222 June St., as a place where they could retire in dignity.
Reilly said Flanagan was never judgmental and always kind about people.
Flanagan, a native of Vermont, was as "sturdy and solid as the granite of his home state," Reilly said. Typical of Vermonters, Flanagan would volunteer little in conversation, he said. "Ask a question, though, and you got a very direct answer," Reilly recalled.
Flanagan, who attended all sessions of the Vatican Council, reinstituted the diaconate, which gave married men and those who chose not to be priests a way to serve the church.
Flanagan held a degree in canon law and was instrumental in revising and streamlining the marriage annulment process. Reilly recalled how Flanagan in the early 1970s made two trips to Rome to discuss the changes with Pope Paul VI - changes the pope later approved. This gave the church a new "pastoral way" of helping people, he said.
When the Code of Canon Law was revised in 1983, it adopted language regarding marriage and annulment produced by Flanagan and his committee, Reilly said.
In the sanctuary at St. Paul's were the New England Catholic bishops, including Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger and Cardinal Bernard Law, as well as Bishop Gordon P. Scruton of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts; Bishop Robert L. Isaksen of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Bishop Methodios of the Boston diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church.
The ecumenical delegation had people from other churches, including the Rev. Diane Kessler of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, and representatives of Protestant, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. TIME AND ENERGY
Kessler, in a statement, said Flanagan began working quietly and behind the scenes with leaders of other Christian churches before the council, and after the council, he moved forward with enthusiasm.
"This significance of his willingness to commit time and energy to ecumenical gatherings should not be underestimated. It communicated to clergy and laity, by presence as well as words, that the quest for Christian unity was important," she said.
"He was a Christian friend to many religious leaders. He offered quiet words of understanding, insight and spiritual counsel, borne of his own rich spirituality," she said.
Flanagan was remembered for his accomplishments in opening talks with other Christian churches, including the Episcopal, Lutheran and Orthodox churches.
"It's the end of an era," the Rev. F. Stephen Pedone remarked after the Mass. Pedone noted that the bishop's casket was closed and sealed Monday night, and his bishop's ring was removed and replaced with another ring. "That was the ring that Pope Paul VI gave him at the Vatican Council," Pedone remarked.