.- More than 2,500 gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Oct. 30 for the funeral mass of James A. Cardinal Hickey.
Cardinal Hickey was renowned for his work on behalf of the poor and immigrants during his 58 years as a priest, 20 of which he served as archbishop of Washington.
Cardinal Hickey retired in 2000 and died Oct. 24, surrounded by clerics he considered friends; he was 84.
A large number of clergy and religious were in attendance. A procession of priests, bishops and cardinals reportedly passed through a cordon of the Knights of Columbus in ceremonial capes and plumed hats, and more than a dozen pews were filled with nuns.
The current archbishop of Washington, Theodore E. Cardinal McCarrick, delivered the homily.
"He cared about the poor, and he cared about eradicating prejudice and bias," said Bishop Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland, where Cardinal Hickey has served as bishop before being named to Washington.
Priests who concelebrated the mass included many who had studied under Cardinal Hickey or were ordained by him.
