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By CECE TODD; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, November 08, 1996 Page: 1A
SCRANTON — The Most Rev. J. Carroll McCormick never sought the limelight.
But it shone all around him Thursday as hundreds of clergy and Catholics
poured into St. Peter’s Cathedral to say goodbye.
From the choir loft, an orchestra played. In their plumed caps and capes,
the Knights of Columbus marched. And in vestments of varying designs and
colors, one bishop, priest and deacon after another filed in to the pews and
sanctuary.
With all the pomp and pageantry befitting a bishop, they remembered,
mourned and prayed for McCormick, the former bishop of the Diocese of
Scranton. From the Most Rev. James C. Timlin, the current bishop, they learned
a little more about McCormick, the man.
“He was certainly not flamboyant, nor did he ever seek the limelight,” said
Timlin. “He actually was rather shy and retiring …
“If there is any one, single, overriding constant purpose which
characterized the life of Bishop McCormick, it was his stubborn and untiring
determination to serve his Lord and Master …”
Just weeks away from his 89th birthday, McCormick died Nov. 2 at Mercy
Hospital in Scranton. He would have celebrated the 50th anniversary of his
ordination as bishop early next year.
His funeral brought together two families — McCormick relatives and the
religious community he prayed with for more than 60 years. The ceremonies also
drew dignitaries such as former Gov. Robert Casey, Scranton Mayor Jim Connors
and the Lackawanna County commissioners.
Timlin explained that normally, a cardinal would conduct a bishop’s
funeral, but the Catholic cardinals are in Rome to celebrate Pope John Paul
II’s 50th anniversary as a clergyman.
Timlin prompted a few chuckles by adding, “Bishop McCormick would not mind
at all … playing second fiddle to His Holiness, the Pope.”
The Vatican had sent a letter expressing the pontiff’s “heartfelt
condolences.” Cardinal John O’Connor, McCormick’s successor as Bishop of
Scranton, also sent his respects in honor of “the gentle Bishop McCormick.”
“An era has ended,” Timlin said, his voice breaking. “A great bishop has
gone to God.”
McCormick was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in 1932, in the
Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome, by his uncle, the
late Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, archbishop of Philadelphia.
In 1966, he was named the sixth Bishop of Scranton. He was one of the
original voting prelates at the historic Second Vatican Council in Rome, which
brought sweeping reforms to the Catholic church in the mid ’60s.
“One might be tempted to credit his fast rise in the hierarchy of the
church to the role and influence of his uncle,” Timlin said, prompting more
warm laughter by adding, “And I am sure that did not hurt.
“But despite all this … Bishop McCormick never sought any honors, was
forever a perfect gentleman, a fair and thoughtful man.”
Surrounded by lilies and white roses, candlelight and images of angels, the
gentle bishop found peace at St. Peter’s for the last time, his body lying in
state as a painting of Jesus looked on from above.
“The grain of wheat has died and now comes eternal life,” Timlin said. “God
now wipes away all tears from the eyes of Bishop McCormick, since death for
him shall be no more.”
TIMES LEADER/FRED ADAMS
TIMES LEADER/BRIAN K. DIGGS
Above, seminarians from the Scranton Diocese pass the casket of Bishop
McCormick. At left, are nuns who attended the bishop’s funeral.
TIMES LEADER/BRIAN K. DIGGS
Bishop McCormick’s niece, Eleanor O’Brien, holds her grandson, Christopher
O’Brien, at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow. Michael Calcagno, 9, left,
looks on. The late bishop baptized Christopher and Michael.