Robert Dermot O'Flanagan (March 9, 1901 – December 31, 1972) was an Irish-born American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska from 1951 to 1968.

Biography

Early life

Robert O'Flanagan was born on March 9, 1901, in

Lahinch Lahinch or Lehinch ( ''or'' ) is a small town on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon, roughly by road southwest of Galway and nort ...

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

in Ireland. In 1908, he entered

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

in Dublin. After graduating in 1971, he entered

St Stanislaus College St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaste ...

, a Jesuit novitiate in Tullabeg, County Offaly. In 1920, the Jesuits sent O'Flanagan to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to study at Ignatius College in Valkenburg.

Priesthood

O'Flanagan was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Jesuit Order by Bishop Laurentius Schrijnen in Valkenburg on August 27, 1929. Returning to Ireland, he taught at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

in County Kildare from 1930 to 1932. In 1932, dissatisfied with the Jesuit Order, he decided to leave it. At a eucharistic conference in Dublin, O'Flanagan met Reverend Patrick J. O'Reilly, a missionary from Alaska and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. After speaking with O'Reilly, he decided to go to Alaska on a three-month mission. Arriving in

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

, in January 1933, O'Flanagan was assigned by Bishop Joseph Crimont as a pastor of a parish in

Seward, Alaska Seward (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ; Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Tl'ubugh'') is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated ...

, to fill in for a priest on leave. Arriving in Seward, he received a warm welcome from both Catholic and non-Catholic residents. Their hospitality encouraged him to stay in Alaska permanently. Later in 1933, O'Flanagan was assisting Reverend Dane, the pastor at Holy Family Parish in Anchorage. Dane wanted to take a medical leave and asked O'Flanagan to substitute at Holy Family. O'Flanagan would remain at Holy Family until 1951, eventually becoming pastor there. For 18 years, he would travel once a month to Seward, 120 miles from Anchorage, to minister to the parish there. In 1936, O'Flanagan headed a civic group to establish a new hospital in Anchorage. The existing hospital, built by

Alaska Railroad The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that operates freight and passenger trains in the state of Alaska. The railroad's mainline runs between Seward, Alaska, Seward on the southern coast and Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, near the center of ...

in 1915 primarily for its employees, was reaching its limits due to the increased population of the city. After obtaining local funding, O'Flanagan persuaded the Catholic Sisters of Providence to staff and operate the new hospital for the general public.

Providence Hospital Providence Hospital may refer to: *Providence Hospital (Columbia, South Carolina) *USA Health Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama * Providence Hospital (Southfield), Michigan *Providence Hospital (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. *Providence ...

opened on June 29, 1939. O'Flanagan became a member of the operating committee for the first USO center in Anchorage. On November 30, 1943, O'Flanagan became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

American citizen.

Bishop of Juneau

On July 9, 1951, O'Flanagan was appointed the first

of the newly erected Diocese of Juneau by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. He received his

episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

on October 3, 1951, from Bishop Francis Gleeson, with Bishops Charles White and

Joseph Dougherty Joseph Dougherty is an American television producer, writer, and director. He has written for such television series as ''Thirtysomething'', for which he won an Emmy Award and a Humanitas Prize. Dougherty has also written for ''Judging Amy'' ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. O'Flanagan attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

in Rome between 1962 and 1965. O'Flanagan's early resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Juneau due to poor health was accepted by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

on June 19, 1968. He soon left Juneau to live at a Catholic retirement home in

La Mesa, California La Mesa () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, located east of downtown San Diego in Southern California. The population was 61,121 at the 2020 census, up from 57,065 at the 2010 census. Its civic motto is "the Jewel of ...

. Dermot O'Flanagan died in La Mesa on December 31, 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oflanagan, Robert Dermot 1901 births 1972 deaths People from Lahinch Roman Catholic bishops of Juneau American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Participants in the Second Vatican Council People educated at Belvedere College 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests

Biography

Early life

Priesthood

Bishop of Juneau

See also

References