By Angela Marshall
McGann died at Mercy Medical Center on Jan. 29. He was 77.
McGann's funeral, which was attended by more than a thousand people from all walks of life, was the last of three services held in celebration of his devotion to God, the Church and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
It was during Sunday's Mass of the High Priest that one of McGann's closest friends offered an example of the bishop's dedication. Msgr. Joseph Colligan, who was befriended by McGann in the seminary more than 50 years ago, said the two were discussing the meaning behind this Gospel passage:
"When you have done all you have been commanded to do, say we are useless servants; we have done no more than our duty."
Colligan thought the passage severe, but McGann was undaunted by the challenge it provoked. "What I think it means," he said to Colligan, "[is] you are supposed to do the job you are given. Just do it, don't complain and don't look for praise."
It was easy for McGann to understand, Colligan said, because that is how the bishop lived his life. "He gave himself to the task at hand wholeheartedly, faithfully, almost relentlessly. He never looked for acclaim or applause although he often received both."
Edward Cardinal Egan of the Archdiocese of New York was the principal celebrant of the funeral mass. Calling McGann a man of "immense goodness," Egan said that although everyone in attendance was probably feeling great sorrow, they should take comfort that the bishop had been given the "bright promise" of everlasting life in heaven.
"There he is going to watch very closely over Bishop [William] Murphy," Egan said, adding a light moment at the otherwise solemn occasion.
Murphy is the fourth bishop of the diocese. McGann's immediate successor, Bishop James McHugh, died 13 months ago of cancer. Although he had retired in Jan. 2000, McGann spent many hours helping Murphy adjust to his new home.
In his homily during the funeral, Murphy said McGann knew "every neighborhood, every road, every road sign, - and could - and did - share with you the history of every parish and every town and village he visited... He knew and loved this island and its people with a deep and abiding affection."
As bishop, McGann led more than 1.5 million Catholics in 134 parishes across Long Island.
He served in Brentwood for five years., but it was St. Agnes Parish that McGann called home for most of the last 57 years. And it was here that he chose to live out his retirement.
"All of us at St. Agnes think of him as the pastor here, for that is surely what he always was," Murphy said. "He took masses, visited the sick, confirmed the young, counseled the adults and, with that extraordinary gift of friendship which is the mark of this man, became the priest and bishop in whom everyone could confide, toward whom everyone could turn and from whom everyone would received a father's blessing, a friend's support."
Murphy credited McGann with several changes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, including consecrated women and men being given leadership roles in the church and laity being allowed to share apostolic ministries. Murphy also credited McGann with fostering ecumenical and interfaith relationships.
In addition to Bishop Murphy and Cardinal Egan, the mass was concelebrated by Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, more than two dozen bishops and scores of priests.
Also attending the funeral were McGann's two living siblings, his twin sister Mary, and brother James. McGann's twin, a nun, is known as Sister John Raymond, former general superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
The bishop was laid to rest in the crypt at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington.
