Bishop’s integrity, charity recalled Hundreds attend O’Leary’s funeral

PORTLAND – Shards of sunlight burst through the stained glass windows of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception late Tuesday morning as 400 mourners recalled a Bangor boy who grew up to become a bishop known for integrity and charity.

The Most Rev. Edward C. O’Leary died April 2 in a Portland nursing home at the age of 81. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland for 14 years before retiring in 1988.

A cardinal, 30 bishops, more than 150 priests and members of religious orders joined lay leaders from around the state to pay their respects to O’Leary at a funeral Mass.

O’Leary, a 1938 graduate of John Bapst High School in Bangor, will be buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in the city during a private service.

Cardinal Bernard Law of the Archdiocese of Boston said O’Leary came to the priesthood with “a profound gift for life as a Christian and as an ordained priest. His life as bishop was a loving sacrifice to the church and he was graceful in his service to the diocese.”

O’Leary’s successor, Bishop Joseph Gerry, delivered the homily, using the same passage from the Gospel of Luke that O’Leary had selected for his ordination as a priest and his installation as bishop. Gerry remembered O’Leary as a good man and good bishop, who served with kindness, compassion, integrity and charity.

“He was never a man who promoted himself,” Gerry said. “His two primary concerns as bishop were the spiritual life and health of the clergy, and strengthening the vitality of the parish. He believed that the mission of the diocesan church is fulfilled through vital parishes with informed and vital laity.

“As people of faith thankful to God for having had Bishop O’Leary as their shepherd,” concluded Gerry, “we shall continue to remember him at the altar and we know that he will not forget us whom he loved and served, as we continue the pilgrimage that he has now completed.”

Members of the Knights of Columbus, wearing brilliant plumed hats of green, gold, purple and white, led the procession out of the church. The priests and bishops, dressed in white linen vestments, followed as Law blessed O’Leary’s casket and the Mass ended.

Afterward, the Rev. Frank Murray, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bangor, said the service revived memories for him: “He lived his faith more than he preached it,” said Murray, who was ordained by O’Leary. “He was a man of great perseverance who handled challenges without letting them discourage him. … Gathering at this time in [the church’s] history, the Mass was very supportive and life giving.”

Each parish in the state received two tickets to O’Leary’s invitation-only funeral.

Dawn MacKay, the catechistic leader at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Brewer, attended the Mass with her husband, Tim.

She said in an interview that in light of the recent scandals about the sexual abuse of children by priests, the service offered a healing moment for the state’s Catholics.

“I thought it was very healing to see so many priests together after all the problems lately,” Dawn MacKay said. “Seeing all the priests and bishops and lay people together reinforces our faith and shows us that the church is still strong.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.