Abp. Hannan's funeral services were emotional, historic

There have been jazz funerals and gyrating second lines for New Orleans music legends, and there have been solemn, somber funerals for governors, mayors and the high and mighty who made their fortunes or their careers in the Crescent City.

But the four days of funeral liturgies and celebrations for former New Orleans Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, who died Sept. 29 at age 98, may have been unique in New Orleans history for the emotional, public display of devotion and respect for a man known by people of all faiths as the pastor of the entire community.

Archbishop Hannan, who served as archbishop of New Orleans from 1965 to 1988, was laid to rest Oct. 6 in a vault beneath the sanctuary of St. Louis Cathedral following a funeral Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, whom he ordained as a priest in 1975.

Appropriate for the man

The funeral services, planned by Archbishop Aymond and a small team of priests and aides, were designed to pay tribute in broad strokes to a spiritual leader who in many ways was larger than life. 

The last funeral for a New Orleans archbishop had taken place in 1964, when Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel died. Archbishop John P. Cody, who succeeded Archbishop Rummel and later became cardinal-archbishop of Chicago, died in 1982 and was buried in Chicago.

Left no instructions

Since Archbishop Hannan, who succeed Archbishop Cody, did not leave any specific funeral instructions, Archbishop Aymond worked with Msgr. Kenneth Hedrick, director of the Office of Worship, and Father Philip Landry, who has handled special archdiocesan events since 2003, and members of the Hannan family, especially his brother Jerry, to plan the funeral.

In addition, Father José Lavastida, the rector of Notre Dame Seminary, made sure the seminary was prepared for three days of public viewing of Archbishop Hannan’s body, and Msgr. Crosby Kern, rector of St. Louis Cathedral, worked with police to receive the archbishop’s body at the end of an emotional horse-drawn procession from the seminary to the cathedral.

Some of the decisions tracked what was done for Archbishop Rummel in 1964. Archbishop Hannan’s body lay in repose for public viewing at the seminary from Oct. 3-5 in order to provide ample parking and easy access for those who wanted to pay their respects.

“What we did was try to plan the funeral in such a way that it would reflect who he was and would be a tribute to him for what God had done through him for the city and for the archdiocese,” Archbishop Aymond said. “I thought it was really important to reflect the culture of New Orleans.”

Delegated responsibilities

While Father Landry handled the logistics of inviting bishops from across the U.S. and public officials to attend the funeral Mass and also set up plans for overflow crowds by placing a giant TV screen outside the cathedral, Msgr. Hedrick was charged with the responsibility of planning prayer services for priests and deacons on Oct. 3 and 4 and then the funeral Mass itself.

The funeral Mass, attended by 20 bishops, opened with Palestrina’s “The Strife Is O’er,” and the responsorial psalm was Psalm 23, “Shepherd Me, O God,” by Marty Haugen.

Anne Milling, a longtime friend of Archbishop Hannan who helped coordinate the 1987 papal visit of Pope John Paul II, read Isaiah 25: 6-9 for the first reading: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.”

Daughter of Charity Sister Anthony Barczykowski, who headed Catholic Charities during Archbishop Hannan’s tenure, read Revelation 14:13 for the second reading: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

Deacon Jim Swiler, who was appointed head of the permanent diaconate by Archbishop Hannan, proclaimed Matthew 25:31-40 for the Gospel: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

Poignant stories

Msgr. Clinton Doskey, one of Archbishop Hannan’s closest friends and collaborators in the formation of the archdiocesan Social Apostolate, delivered a homily in which he described not only the archbishop’s many accomplishments – healing racial tensions, providing food and housing for the needy, and advocating for better education – but also his humanity and deep faith.

When Archbishop Hannan came to live with Msgr. Doskey at the St. Pius X rectory, the archbishop insisted on doing the dishes after Msgr. Doskey did the cooking. Msgr. Doskey also told of the many nights he would walk down the hall to his bedroom and see Archbishop Hannan in his room, kneeling at his bedside to pray the rosary.

Another stirring moment during the Mass was the tenor solo during the offertory procession by Gerald Stroup of “The Holy City Hymn”: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your gates and sing, Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to your King!”

“Gerald lives in Florida now, but he called and offered to sing that hymn because he had done it in the past for Archbishop Hannan, and it was one of his favorites,” Msgr. Hedrick said.

The recessional was another Archbishop Hannan favorite: “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

“What I will take away from this was the love this city had for Philip Hannan himself as shepherd and as archbishop but also as a man of true charity and true love for all,” Father Landry said.

Thousands gathered to pray

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the funeral week was the five-mile procession in a horse-drawn carriage with Archbishop Hannan’s body from the seminary to St. Louis Cathedral on Oct. 5. More than 7,000 Catholic and public school students lined the streets, and there were thousands more “regular” New Orleanians there as well, genuflecting and making the sign of the cross as the cortege passed by.

Young people sporting the various plaids and polo shirts of local elementary and high schools lined the route on a picture-perfect day.

Many of the faithful spread folding chairs and grasped rosaries for an event that was equal parts a parade-like celebration of life, and a solemn “thank you” for Archbishop Hannan’s 46 years of ministry to the archdiocese.

Jesuit High School dismissed its 1,400 students  early so they could be present at the historic occasion. To assure a good vantage point for all, the Jesuit students spread themselves along the South Carrollton Avenue neutral ground, forming a single line of khaki stretching from Banks Street to Cleveland Avenue.

As waning traffic down Carrollton signaled the approaching cortege, Jesuit’s chaplain, Father Don Saunders, led a recitation of the rosary over a P.A. system set up on the neutral ground. The high school’s Marine Corps Jr. ROTC and Color Guard saluted the passing hearse as St. Augustine High’s “Marching 100” band played the Jackson 5 song “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

A ‘fitting’ tribute

Jesuit Father Raymond Fitzgerald, Jesuit’s president, said it was “an honor for us to be here,” adding that the procession was a very fitting tribute to a man who was the spiritual leader of our community for many years.”

“As we commend his soul to the Lord whom he served so well we join together as a community of faith reminded by the presence of God and the service of Jesus that unites us all,” Father Fitzgerald said.

While awaiting the procession, Margaret Fanning, a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Uptown New Orleans, recalled attending a dinner about a dozen years ago at the old Hyatt Regency Hotel at which Archbishop Hannan was a guest of honor.

During the event, Fanning approached Archbishop Hannan to ask him why one of his biggest accolades – being honored by the German government for saving sacred vessels and artwork from Cologne cathedral during World War II – was rarely, if ever, mentioned in public.

“His response to me was, ‘Oh,everybody did that,’” Fanning said. “For a country to honor one man is phenomenal. You know it had to be pretty good and pretty monumental for that to occur, yet he was so humble about the whole thing.”

After the dinner, Fanning ran into the archbishop again in the hotel’s garage and was amazed to see the then-octogenarian driving himself.

“He never had a chauffeur or anything,” she marveled.

Earlier, at Notre Dame Seminary, Archbishop Hannan’s casket was placed into a black hearse drawn by four white horses. Some of the last to pay their respects to the archbishop as he lay in repose inside the seminary chapel were more than 300 students from the high school founded in his honor: Archbishop Hannan High.

Attendance at the event was not limited to Catholic schools. Along the procession route, members of the Color Guard at Warren Easton Charter High saluted the cortege outside their Canal Street campus. And, although located far from the procession route, Lusher Charter School flew its flag at half-staff.

Another poignant display of affection was erected outside a home on Bayou St. John, not far from a house in which the archbishop lived following his retirement. Above statues of St. Francis of Assisi and a fleur-de-lis-crested jockey was the following handwritten sign, crowned with an American flag: “Goodbye Hannan, Old Warrior!”

Jerry Hannan, the archbishop’s last surviving sibling, said he was most struck by the utter silence of the people as the cortege pulled into the French Quarter and approached the cathedral.

“All you could hear were the hoof-beats of the horses,” he said. “That was impressive.”