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Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, retired archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and a native of the Albany Diocese, will speak on prayer and forgiveness at a Schenectady deanery-wide mission March 19-21.

"Everybody is called to a relationship with God," Archbishop Flynn told The Evangelist. Prayer "doesn't have to be dramatic or overwhelming.

"The journey to God is a very unique journey," he continued. "Everybody moves at a different pace. My goal is to simply encourage people to take the next step."

Archbishop Flynn grew up in the former St. Columba's parish and school in Schenectady. He attended Siena College in Loudonville for undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Ordained a priest for the Albany Diocese in 1960, Archbishop Flynn taught at Catholic Central High School in Troy while serving at St. Peter's parish in Troy, which since closed. He was then vice rector and later rector of Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., until 1979.

Homesick priest
He missed home. "I was a bigoted New Yorker and yearned to come back," he explained - so he spent a few years as director of continuing education for priests in the Albany Diocese, then was pastor at St. Ambrose parish in Latham until 1986.

After that, Archbishop Flynn became part of the Albany Diocese's distinguished history of producing bishops for other places: He became coadjutor bishop of Lafayette, La.

The culture and weather there were somewhat "traumatic," he said, so he was pleased when, upon starting as bishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis in 1994, it snowed in May.

"It was like coming home," said the archbishop, recalling an April snowstorm that had hit the last year he was in Latham. "The only thing that Minnesota does not have would be the mountains."

Since his 2008 retirement, Archbishop Flynn has guided three or four missions a year, confirmed young Catholics in Minnesota and led retreats for priests, nuns and seminarians throughout the country.

C'mon back
He visits the Albany Diocese three or four times a year, including summers, when he vacations in Schroon Lake.

The archbishop happily accepted a local priest's invitation to lead the deanery-wide mission to be held at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Schenectady.

"It was always a joy to be a priest in the Albany Diocese," he said. "I see a beautiful spirit among the people of God."

As in other dioceses, "I see the need for more priestly vocations," Archbishop Flynn noted. But, complimenting Rev. James Walsh of the diocesan vocations team, he said that "there should be a leadership on the part of every priest to encourage vocations."[[In-content Ad]]

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