Bishop Paul Michael Boyle C.P.

Ex-Superior General of the Passionists and retired Bishop of Mandeville, Jamica, died on January 10, 2008, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Message and brief Greeting to be read at Memorial Mass of Bishop Paul M. Boyle, C.P.

From (Most Rev.) Ottaviano D'Egidio Superior General, C.P., Rome.

Your Most Reverend Excellencies, my dear brother Passionists, Sisters and Lay members of our Passionist Family, priests and faithful here present: through Father Clemente Barrón, my personal delegate to the Memorial Service in Detroit and representative of the General Council of the Passionist Congregation living and working in 68 countries of the world, I share with you in your prayers for the eternal repose of Bishop Paul Michael Boyle who, having run the straight race has now finished his days in our midst soon after the Christmas celebrations and the feast of Epiphany, our Lord's manifestation.

Now that mystery, lived in faith during his many years of religious life and his episcopal ministry to which he devoted his life, will be manifested to him face-to-face in all its reality. That he may not be all alone in this his encounter with the Lord, we are accompanying Bishop Boyle in this sacrifice of the holy Eucharist and through our prayers beseeching God's mercy and smile as he faces the Eternal One and says on bended knee, "Here I am!"

I am quite convinced that his encounter with God will be, for Bishop Boyle, one of love, because he has offered Him his religious life at the service of his brethren, and Jesus has taught us in the Gospel that "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life." I recall with gratitude his efficacious actions at the service of his Congregation during his twelve years as Superior General from 1976 till 1988, marked by his strong sense of belonging.
One of his outstanding moments was when he guided and animated the 1982 General Chapter, when the Passionist Congregation its new Rule and Constitutions which govern its life and mission in the light of the second Vatican Council.

In fact, those Constitutions, beyond their solid Christological and juridical foundations which are of their specific competence, inspire a feeling of profound humanity and prophetic openness meant to confront the evils of our present-day world and the many challenges it presents. He was convinced, as was Saint Paul of the Cross, our Father and Founder, that the most effective remedy for the evils of our time is, even today, the Passion of Jesus, "the greatest and most overwhelming work of God's love."

The very heart of our Constitutions is in # 55 which states that, "We Passionists make the Paschal Mystery the center of our lives. This entails a loving commitment to follow Jesus Crucified, and a generous resolve to proclaim his Passion and death with faith and love. His Passion and death are no mere historical events. They are ever-present realities to people in the world today, 'crucified' as they are by injustice, by the lack of a deep respect for human life and by a hungry yearning for peace, truth, and the fullness of human existence." One cannot help but note how very forceful and relevant these words are today after twenty five years, which Bishop Boyle, together with the Passionist Congregation, made his own as the specific mission of his religious consecration and his pastoral ministry as a bishop.

Continued .....

Bishop Paul Michael Boyle Passionist, (1926-2008).

May he rest in Peace.