Statement on the Death
of Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle
Nancy
and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle.
We send our heartfelt sympathy to his family and to all the people of the
Washington Archdiocese, where he served so faithfully and so well for more than
a quarter century. Like the great Irish saint for whom he was named, the patron
of the New York Cathedral where he was ordained a priest of God in 1921,
Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle perceived for himself a clear mission in life -- to do
God's will, because ``Nothing is impossible to God.''
As
the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Washington Archdiocese, Cardinal
O'Boyle took the motto, ``Remain firm in the faith.'' He remained true to that
motto throughout his long life of service, and with all of his wit, gentility,
and wisdom, it is perhaps for the firmness of his moral leadership that he will
best be remembered. Cardinal O'Boyle never ceased to champion the rights and
the dignity of all human life, and he never hesitated to take action in its
defense. A staunch opponent of racism, he led the way to desegregation of our
nation's schools by integrating the Catholic schools of
The
life of Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle paralleled the course of this century and
epitomized the finest qualities of a turbulent era in the life of