Bernardin Is Remembered as Teacher, Man of Peace

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, the son of Italian immigrants who rose to become the nation’s senior Catholic Church official, was mourned Wednesday as a man who used his own graceful death as his last sermon.

His funeral Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles before 1,300 friends, religious leaders and politicians, followed two days of mourning during which more than 90,000 people filed past his coffin at Holy Name Cathedral in an around-the-clock visitation.

Many of the 1,300 inside the cathedral wept as Msgr. Ken Velo told human and spiritual anecdotes about Bernardin. Hundreds who wouldn’t fit inside the church stood outside in the cold, listening to the service over loudspeakers.

“The homily of this Mass has been given over the months of his illness,” Velo told mourners. “Didn’t he teach us? Didn’t he show us the way?”

Bernardin, leader of Chicago’s 2.3 million Catholics, died last week after a 17-month bout with pancreatic cancer. He spent his final months telling his followers he was at peace with his fate and his beliefs.

Days before his death, he wrote to the U.S. Supreme Court, urging it not to allow doctor-assisted suicide.

Velo said Bernardin’s greatest legacy was as a man who bridged differences of race, politics and religion, weighing in as a mediator on emotional issues ranging from nuclear war to AIDS education and prejudice.

His last major undertaking was the Common Ground Project to open dialogue with Catholics who dissent from church teachings on such issues as birth control, celibacy of priests and ordination of women.

“He wanted to make common ground holy ground,” Velo said to wide applause from an audience that included Vice President Al Gore, Gov. Jim Edgar and Mayor Richard M. Daley. “He brought people together. He worked hard to do that.”

All nine surviving U.S. cardinals and a number from around the world were at the Mass, along with more than 150 bishops. Many of them knew Bernardin from his decades-long role as organizer and leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Besides Gore, several members of President Clinton’s Cabinet attended.

Hundreds stood in the fall chill as the funeral procession wound its way through Chicago’s West Side to Mount Carmel Cemetery in suburban Hillside, where other late cardinals of the archdiocese also have been laid to rest.

Snow fell on mourners who gathered near a mausoleum. “He was an inspiration to people with cancer,” said Neil Meccia, 67, who suffers from prostate cancer.

“Cardinal Bernardin was many things to people, but he was teacher. He taught the lessons of life,” Velo said at the service. “In this darkened cathedral and darkened archdiocese, he brought life and light that continues this day.”

Velo, who often acted as Bernardin’s chauffeur, closed his remarks by saying he wanted a personal word with the late prelate: “Cardinal, eminence--you’re home, you’re home.”