Washington D.C., Dec 5, 2012 / 00:30 am
Archbishop Harry J. Flynn has called on U.S. Catholics to help support retired religious brothers and sisters, voicing his deep appreciation for "the sacrifices that they have made in order to serve God's people in our country."
"I have thought, and thought often, as to where the Church would be if it were not for the women religious and the men religious," said Archbishop Flynn, the archbishop emeritus of St. Paul-Minnesota. "Where would the Church be in the United States without them?"
Archbishop Flynn recalled the role religious sisters played in his life.
"My father died when I was six years of age. My older brothers were away in the military service in September of 1945. I was home alone with my widowed mother," he recalled.