The Father Flanagan League Society of Devotion announced Monday that the founder of Boys Town, Father Edward J. Flanagan, is a step closer to becoming a saint.
The cause for possible sainthood for Servant of God Flanagan began in 2012 and the Archdiocese sent its investigation files to the Vatican in June 2015. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been reviewing these files since October of 2015.
On Monday, the Congregation of Causes of Saints at the Vatican announced that it has issued a decree of judicial validity. The decree will move the process to the next step that could potentially move Flanagan’s status to venerable.
“We’re blessed in so many ways to have had the life and work and now the legacy of Father Flanagan in our community and our archdiocese," Archbishop George Lucas. “We put this all in God’s hands where everything always is anyway and in Father Flanagan’s.”
Monday marks the 69th anniversary of Edward J. Flanagan’s passing in Berlin, Germany in 1948.