Funeral arrangements have been announced for Bishop Bernard McLaughlin, who died Monday at the age of 102. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday morning at St. Joseph Cathedral downtown. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York City, will preside.
McLaughlin served as auxiliary bishop emeritus in the Buffalo diocese and was the second oldest living bishop in the world at the time of his death.
Current Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone said Wednesday he had visited with Bishop McLaughlin on several occasions.
"We always enjoyed wonderful conversations. He was attentive to what was going on in the world and in the diocese, "Malone said. "He was ever ready to comment on what was going on in the diocese as well."
Bishop Malone said they were last together around the Thanksgiving holiday.
"He asked for my blessing. Then, I knelt down before him and asked for his blessing," Malone recalled. "It was a beautiful blessing from his heart. That was the last time I saw him."
Bishop McLaughlin's body will lie in state at St. John the Baptist Church in Tonawanda, where he was pastor emeritus, Thursday from 2 to 7pm, followed by a parish Mass.
Then Friday, he will lie in state at St. Joseph Cathedral -- again from 2 to 7pm.