Documentary | 1h 30m | Biographical, Historical, Religious | Oct. 8, 2024
The film section of The Epoch Times always attempts to keep an eye out for subject matter that inspires and uplifts. The documentary “Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story” fits the bill better than any film I’ve personally reviewed to date.
Father Edward J. Flanagan (1886–1948) was a Catholic priest, of whom it must be vehemently declared, “they don’t make ’em like that anymore.” Flanagan is currently being considered for sainthood by the Vatican; on Feb. 25, 2012, the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha opened the canonization process for him.
Two confirmed miracles are required to establish canonization, and Flanagan’s confirmed miracles stand at 20 and counting. The process for becoming a saint has four steps: Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint. At a 2012 prayer service at Boys Town’s Immaculate Conception Church, he was given the title “Servant of God”—hence the film’s title.
Flanagan’s story, told via extensive archival footage and interviews with historians, former townsfolk, and even his great nephew, inspires hope that true servants of God still live in this dark world and work tirelessly at dedicating their lives to serving their fellow man. The documentary examines Flanagan’s courageous vision for Christ-centered education for delinquent and homeless children, at a time when many Americans still viewed Catholicism with suspicion.
Humble Beginnings
Edward J. Flanagan, son of tenant farmers, was born in the townland of Leabeg, County Roscommon, near the village of Ballymoe, County Galway, Ireland. The eighth of 11 children, he had a weak constitution that plagued him his entire life. The only farm task the frail boy could handle was looking after the sheep. It was the perfect job for a young would-be priest—Flanagan started off as an actual shepherd. He would later use this skill set to found Boys Town, the community outside Omaha, Nebraska, that he built for the education of homeless and destitute youth.Coming to America
Flanagan prepared for the priesthood at an Austrian seminary, where his studies were interrupted twice due to ill health. Finally ordained, he was assigned to a parish in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1904.In 1915, Flanagan opened a shelter for homeless men, but when he saw that they had more interest in nightlife rather than getting jobs, he decided to switch to caring for boys. He hoped to help raise them to become men of strong character who would contribute to society.
American eugenicists at the time (to say nothing of Hitler, who would come later) advocated the “improvement of the race” through the infanticide of malformed babies and the sterilization of “mental defectives” and criminals. Father Flanagan’s motto was “There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.”
Because he saw the face of Christ in every child, regardless of race or religion, and was raising a sizable, multi-hued, tight-knit band of brothers, Flanagan received death threats from the resurgent Ku Klux Klan, which saw Catholic immigrants as a threat to the group’s interpretation of the American way of life.
While not a fire-and-brimstone preacher, Father Flanagan nonetheless had something of the intrepid prophet about him, and had no problem speaking truth to power, even when it ran counter to the zeitgeist. When it came to societal injustice, he wasn’t having it, and therefore flew in the face of Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination, at a time when such a stance was unthinkable. He accepted any boy, no matter his race or religion. He spoke out powerfully against eugenics in the early 20th century, at a time when there was much cultural support for that pseudoscience.
However, since it was still the Jim Crow era, it was against the law to house white and black children under one roof. Due to his spiritual practice, Flanagan wanted to be impeccably observant of all laws, and in 1921, he had an inspired idea for a work-around. He moved out into the middle of a cornfield, just outside the Omaha city limits (and therefore beyond the reach of the law) and literally started his own town, on Dec. 12, 1917.
Boys Town
Boys Town was the first fully integrated community of its kind in America. It was the time of the Great Depression, when families were abandoning their children all across the country. Flanagan raised his giant flock of boys to become good Americans, stressing civic virtues and moral inner strength.
The indomitable Irish priest walked his talk in all his actions. He was a shining example to his boys of how to stand guard over truth and justice in every circumstance. Having an unshakable belief in the inherent dignity of every human being, he treated every boy under his care as a valued, unique, unrepeatable creature of God.
One of the things about Flanagan that resonates with me above all else is his ultimate vision. He wanted all his boys to have the opportunity to become actual saints. Up until viewing “Heart of a Servant,” I’d thought Rudolf Steiner’s Waldorf education system to be the ultimate educational vision. I now find Flanagan’s concept of raising a cornfield full of young saints to eclipse that.
I also appreciate the fact that he put his spiritual practice first despite his chronic ill health, and found strength for his mission in his dedication to prayer. Standing always as a beacon of light for his boys and setting powerful examples, at one point he gathered all his boys together and hustled them into the chapel for a hefty prayer session when the food in the Boys Town kitchen was down to a single eggplant. Later that evening, rather miraculously, a local grocer delivered a truckload of food supplies.
Finally, I deeply appreciate that this priest was dead serious about his vows of celibacy and never wavered from that dauntingly austere path. Only a true saint could have had the moral strength to withstand the level of moral temptation that accompanies worldwide fame.
Japanese Children
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, Flanagan championed another unpopular cause. The mass internment of Japanese Americans as “dangerous enemy aliens” didn’t sit well with him; he wasn’t having any of that, either.In the film, Marilyn “Winkie” Takahashi-Fordney recounts how Flanagan rescued her whole family from the bleak internment camps and invited them to become residents of Boys Town. “Everyone there worked together as a family,” she said. Flanagan liberated hundreds of Japanese Americans from internment.
After the War
Backed by President Truman, Flanagan turned his attention to rebuilding the wastelands created by the strategic bombing of World War II. Millions were homeless, and the numbers of orphaned children in Japan and Europe was legion.Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who led the Allied occupation of Japan, invited Flanagan to Japan and Korea in 1947 as his adviser on child welfare. MacArthur also invited him to review conditions the next year in occupied territory in Austria and Germany. Flanagan, with no consideration for his always failing health, sought to spread his arms as wide as he possibly could to enfold all those children in a compassionate embrace and save them.
Though this trip abroad left him physically drained, he continued to do God’s work of saving the little ones, right up until his ill health finally caught up with him. Flanagan died of a heart attack in Berlin on May 15, 1948, at age 61. His body was returned to the United States, and he was buried in his beloved earthly home at Dowd Memorial Chapel in Boys Town, Nebraska.
The Movie
Flanagan took full advantage of every avenue at his disposal that would help him spread his message of God’s love and compassion. He used radio to share the stories of the children of Boys Town (which had also come to be known as “The City of Little Men”). These stories were performed by voice actors and were accompanied by a short personal address from Flanagan at the end of each show.The message eventually caught the attention of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Newspaper stories raised the profile of Boys Town, which in turn attracted Hollywood producers.
Flanagan’s name became familiar to many Americans in the 1930s and 1940s, largely because of the 1938 Hollywood smash hit “Boys Town,” starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. After Tracy won an Oscar for his performance, MGM had another statuette made with this inscription: “To Father Flanagan, whose great humanity, kindly simplicity, and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort. Spencer Tracy.”
“Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story” delves deeper into Flanagan’s life than “Boys Town,” revealing not only his effect on children, families, communities, and even countries, but also his influence on presidents, titans of industry, and celebrities.
In Conclusion
About halfway through the documentary, I knew “Heart of a Servant” was a much needed film about one of the world’s most important men. It reminds us that one heroic person really can move mountains, change the entire world, and make an enduring impact, when backed by the power of faith.Fidelma Croghan, a resident of Flanagan’s birthplace in Ballymoe, Ireland, offers a fitting tribute to one of Ireland’s favorite sons: “Father Flanagan is definitely a saint for our time. We need him. The Church needs him.”
