Msgr. Francis J. McGann dies at 95; parish priest at St. Mark’s 1953-1965

Monsignor Francis J. McGann

Monsignor Francis J. McGann, a priest of the archiocese of Boston for 71 years who spent a dozen years in Dorchester in his early years of service, died at Massachusetts General Hospital on April 24 of complications related to a Covid-19 infection. He was 95.

Just four years out of the seminary, Rev. McGann joined the team of priests at St. Mark’s Parish in Dorchester in 1953 and stayed for a dozen years, a stretch that encompassed the end of the fighting in Korea and the institution of wide-ranging changes in the protocols of his church in the wake of the Vatican II council in the early 1960s.

To his young parishioners in the parish grammar school and local high schools, the Woburn-born Father McGann was a striking figure. His fellow priests in the rectory, especially the old-school, my-way-only pastor, Msgr. Patrick J. Lydon, were seen as remote and figures for the most part; he was an impressive presence on the altar, following ancient ceremonial rubrics with elan while at the same time giving sermons that spoke both theologically and practically to things on the ground in the lives of his parishioners.

Placed in charge of a very active CYO, the dynamic young priest was always present – for social gatherings, religious discussions, civic observances, plays, and sports, which were mostly played at opponent sites, given St. Mark’s lack of an athletic facility. It may seem strange to young Catholics of today, but it was astonishing in the 1950s for kids playing hockey at frozen-over Wainwright Park to look up and see Father McGann maneuvering the puck past them en route to a goal made up of piles of snow.

But that’s the way it was in those days, a picture-postcard scene for Catholics of a certain age today. As testament to his influence over his young parishioners of that era, a large number of them later would not consider their marriages legitimate unless Father McGann was on the altar as celebrant or witness.

But time passed, and so did Father McGann, to a monsignorship and to parish assignments as curate and pastor in Walpole, Cambridge, Hingham, Lynn, and Winchester. He also served the archdiocese on a number of clerical bodies, including the Priests’ Senate before retiring in the late 1990s and taking a “senior priest” status at St. Joseph’s Parish in Needham, where he actively served for some 20 years, the notion of “senior” being anomalous.

In a message to the parishioners in Needham last Friday, the Rev. Peter L. Stamm wrote that Msgr. McGann “so thoroughly devoted himself to our parish — through the celebration of Mass, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, attending every school play and musical, and simply offering an ear to listen to anyone, at any time of the day or night. He was a mentor, friend, and shining example to so many of his fellow priests, who benefited from his wisdom and camaraderie. He was a spiritual father to all who came in contact with him, pointing with gentleness and joy toward the reality of Jesus’s victory over death.”

Funeral services for Msgr. McGann were limited to family members. St. Joseph will hold a remembrance service at a later date.


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