Pope Leo XIV placed Reverend Edward Joseph Flanagan nearby potential holiness On Monday as he announced the “heroic qualities” of the founder of Boys Towna Nebraska home for at-risk youth that gained national acclaim and inspired an Oscar-winning biopic.
With Leo’s announcement, the priest known as “Father Flanagan” is now officially declared “venerable.” The final steps on the possible path to sainthood would include crucifixion and canonization.
Omaha Archbishop Michael McGovern said he was “overjoyed” by the news.
“We continue to pray that one day he will be anointed and become a saint,” the Archbishop said in a statement. “In the meantime, may we work to strengthen the dignity of every person created in the image of God by serving the poor, the abandoned and the vulnerable, especially the vulnerable youth.”
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Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, Ireland, in 1886 and immigrated to the US in 1904. He was ordained a priest in 1912 and began working in the Diocese of Omaha in 1913.
He gave shelter to homeless men, whose stories convinced him that many of the problems of the elderly are caused by broken homes and parental neglect, according to his biography on the website of the Father Flanagan League, a community dedicated to promoting his saintly cause.
Flanagan began training boys in the juvenile justice system and established his first home for boys in 1917 in downtown Omaha. In 1921, he bought a farm on the western edge of Omaha and began building what became known as Boys Town, which still exists in the village of the same name.
In the 1930s, hundreds of boys lived in the area, including a school and dormitory where the boys elected their own mayor, council and commissioners, according to the organization’s website.
Flanagan went to Japan after the war 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 correctional institutions, which he denounced as exploitative.
Flanagan died of a heart attack in 1948 at the age of 61 while visiting Germany. His grave at the Dowd Memorial Chapel in Boys City displays one of his most famous quotes: “There are no bad boys. There is only a bad environment, a bad example, a bad mindset.”
His work was featured in the 1938 film “Boys Town,” starring Spencer Tracy as the heroic Flanagan and Mickey Rooney as one of the boys he cared for. The film featured Oscar wins for Tracy (best actress) and writing (original story).
Peter Smith / AP 
The Boys Town organization opened various locations across the country and began accepting girls into its residential programs in 1979.
The Boys Town organization applauded the Vatican’s announcement on Facebook on Monday.
Flanagan “believed that children have the right to be informed, to have the basic needs of life and to be protected,” he said. “His life-saving work continues across the country today.”
Flanagan is the second US pastor with Midwestern connections to be brought closer to sainthood this year under the papacy. Papa Leo was born in Chicago. In February, the Vatican approved Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s ordination ceremony in his hometown of Illinois after years of delays.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has reviewed a lengthy dossier on Flanagan’s life, writings and works. Leo, on Monday, signed a declaration attesting that Flanagan lived a heroic life. Such a rule does not mean that he was without sin or faults, but it means that he had a reputation for holiness by living all Christian virtues in a heroic manner.
The next step towards possible sainthood is beatification. For Flanagan to be successful, the postulator – the person responsible for advancing the cause – must find a person who was miraculously healed by praying Flanagan’s intercession. The process involves the examination of religious and medical experts. If convinced, the dicastery sends the case to the pope, who signs a decree that the candidate can be baptized.
A second miracle is required for a candidate to be declared a saint. Martyrs—people killed for their faith—can be defeated without a miracle. However, a miracle is necessary for the martyrs to be honored as saints.
The pope can also waive the miraculous requirements for canonization, as Pope Francis has done occasionally during his 12-year papacy. Francis made St. Junipero Serra was canonized during a visit to Washington, DC, in 2015, although the Vatican had not confirmed the second miracle resulting from his intercession.
