St. Joseph's Basilica in Edmonton was filled Feb. 16 for the funeral Mass for Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, who died at 93. He was Archbishop of Edmonton fro 26 years, retiring in 1999. (Grandin Media photo)
Beloved Archbishop of Edmonton. Shepherd of the Catholic faithful. Friend to everyone who met him.
This was how Archbishop Joseph MacNeil was remembered during a funeral Mass at St. Joseph’s Basilica on Feb. 16. Over 1,000 people from the archdiocese and across Canada came to say goodbye to Archbishop MacNeil, who died Feb. 11 after suffering a stroke. He was 93.
“His warm welcome, attentive listening, quick understanding, shared laughter or pain, gentle counsel, and faithful accompaniment assured us that, in his estimation, we were, indeed, his ‘very good friends,’” Archbishop Richard Smith said in his homily.
Archbishop MacNeil served as the fifth Archbishop of Edmonton for 26 years until retiring in 1999. As president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, he formally invited Pope St. John Paul II to Canada for a historic visit that included Edmonton. To this day a bronze plaque hangs in St. Joseph’s Basilica, depicting the two fathers of the Church together on that site.
Archbishop Richard Smith celebrated the funeral Mass with dozens of his brother priests and bishops, including Bishop Lionel Gendron, the current president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Robert Harris of the Diocese of Saint John, where Archbishop MacNeil first served as bishop.
In Rome, Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, who succeeded MacNeil as Archbishop of Edmonton, celebrated a Mass for him. Through the Vatican, Pope Francis shared an apostolic blessing for those mourning the beloved archbishop.
The last funeral for an archbishop of Edmonton was that of Archbishop Anthony Jordan, who died in 1982. Archbishop MacNeil himself was the celebrant for that Mass.
Grandin Media