Pope Leo XIV has taken a significant step towards the possible sainthood of the Rev. Edward Joseph Flanagan, the Irish-born priest who founded Boys Town in Nebraska. On Monday, the Pope proclaimed the “heroic virtues” of Father Flanagan, granting him the title of “venerable”. This is the first formal stage on the path to canonisation, with beatification and eventual sainthood as potential next steps.
Archbishop Michael McGovern of Omaha expressed his joy at the announcement, stating: “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.”
Father Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, Ireland, in 1886 and emigrated to the United States in 1904. He was ordained in 1912 and began his ministry in Omaha, where he provided shelter for homeless men. This work led him to establish a home for boys in 1917, and by 1921 he had acquired a farm that became the Boys Town campus. His famous motto, “There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad example, bad thinking,” is inscribed on his tomb at the Dowd Memorial Chapel.
Flanagan died of a heart attack in 1948 while visiting Germany. His life and work were immortalised in the 1938 film “Boys Town”, starring Spencer Tracy, who won an Oscar for his portrayal. The organisation has since expanded across the US and began accepting girls in 1979. The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints reviewed a detailed dossier on Flanagan before the Pope signed the decree attesting to his heroic virtue.
For beatification, a miracle attributed to Flanagan’s intercession must be confirmed, and a second miracle is required for canonisation. Father Flanagan is the second cleric with Midwestern ties to be advanced this year under Pope Leo XIV; in February, the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen was approved.
