PROVIDENCE — A Memorial Mass was held at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul Monday to honor the service of the late Most Rev. Kenneth A. Angell, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Burlington, Vt., who first entered the episcopate in 1974 as Auxiliary Bishop in his home diocese of Providence.
Bishop Angell died peacefully October 4 in Winooski, Vt., after suffering a stroke, according to family members. He was 86.
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Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who upon learning of his death paid tribute to Bishop Angell as “a beloved son of the Church of the Diocese of Providence,” and remarked that “his personal goodness, warmth and wit will be missed by all who knew him, admired him and loved him,” served as principal celebrant for the Memorial Mass, which was attended by more than two dozen priests from across the diocese and about 300 worshippers.
Auxiliary Bishop Robert C. Evans, who attended Bishop Angell’s funeral in Burlington on Oct. 11, delivered the homily during Monday’s Memorial Mass.
“He lived his episcopal motto, ‘Serve the Lord with gladness,’ with a joy that helped lighten the hearts and raise the spirits of all with whom he worked and to whom he ministered,” Bishop Evans said.
“In humility and obedience he accepted the Holy Father’s desire to name him a bishop, although he knew well the demands of the office, having worked so closely with Bishop [Russell] McVinney and Bishop [Louis] Gelineau.”
Bishop Evans noted that on the 10th anniversary of his ordination as Auxiliary, Bishop Angell described a feeling of apprehension about taking the office that haunted him right up until the moment Bishop Gelineau imposed his hands upon him at the cathedral on Oct. 7, 1974.
Bishop Angell, in his own homily that milestone day, recognized that a true follower of Jesus Christ never turns back. He recalled that the imposition of hands at his ordination came an extraordinary sense of peace — “that inner peace that comes with following Jesus in whatever He has asked me to.”
He died three days before he would have celebrated the 42nd anniversary of his consecration as a Bishop.
Virginia Charpentier, a first cousin of Bishop Angell, sat in the front pew in front of the altar along with her son Craig, who was baptized by the Bishop in 1968.
Because of her health, she was unable to travel to Burlington last week to attend the funeral, so the Memorial Mass had added significance for her. Although Bishop Angell was buried later last week in the Angell family plot at St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston, the Mass was a way for the diocese and those who were part of his earlier years here to pay their respects.
“This is kind of a homecoming for him,” said Charpentier, a nearly lifelong member of St. Leo Church in Pawtucket, who noted that people loved and appreciated the sense of humor that became a hallmark of the shepherd she knew as Bishop Ken.
She recalled that sense of humor and his earnestness during an occasion in which she visited him at the assisted living facility in Burlington where he lived in retirement, planning to take him out for a nice dinner.
“We asked him where he wanted to go,” she said, thinking he might choose an upscale restaurant in the city.
“He said, ‘I want to go to Friendly’s,’” gesturing to the popular family restaurant across from where he lived.
“I love Friendly’s,” he responded to her surprised reaction.
“And that describes him perfectly, friendly,” Charpentier smiled as she remembered that visit, and how all the restaurant staff approached their table to greet their high-profile, but always down-to-earth diner who thoroughly enjoyed the evening meals he took there each week.
For Craig Charpentier, the passing of Bishop Angell on Oct. 4 brought a somber tone to the day which also marked his 48th birthday.
“He was a very outgoing and caring person,” said Charpentier. “He was down-to-earth too. He was a regular person.”
The headstone at the Angell family plot includes a notation to the tragic passing of his brother David Angell, 17 years his junior, and sister-in-law Lynn, both of whom were killed on 9/11 as they returned to Hollywood — where David worked as a television producer — aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which was piloted by terrorists into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
While no remains of the couple were ever recovered to bury, something which saddened Bishop Angell terribly, he still found the power to forgive those who perpetrated the horrific act of terror.
“It certainly took a toll on him emotionally. At the funeral, in his homily, he forgave everyone, he said that was his duty and he certainly did,” said Dennis Loux, who has fond memories of Bishop Angell’s days in Rhode Island, and who would continue to see him over the last few years of his life, serving as a driver for Bishop Emeritus Louis E. Gelineau when he would travel to Burlington at least three times a year to visit with him.
Despite the deep sadness he experienced, Bishop Angell’s spirit and sense of humor were never dampened.
“I used to tease him, what better name for a Bishop than ‘Angell,’” Loux joked, prompting roars of laughter from the jovial shepherd.
Loux recalled Bishop Angell’s humorous take on welcoming Bishop Gelineau — the first shepherd who didn’t descend from the Emerald Isle — to the Diocese of Providence.
“He would say in church, ‘Hail Mary full of grace, the Irish are now in second place.’”
“He had such a sense of humor,” he said.
Loux also recalled how Bishop Angell had a penchant for making everyone around him feel important.
“He would take the time, he’d shake hands, chat. He would never push anyone along. He would always take the time God bless him,” he said.
His sister, Pat Pryor, a fellow parishioner at St. Philip Parish, Greenville, attended the Memorial Mass with him.
“Bishop Angell always had such a happy face. We’ll miss him,” she said wistfully.
“He’s now in Heaven with his mom and dad and late brother and sister-in-law. As they say, he’s in a better place.”
Bishop Angell, who began his priestly ministry at St. Mark Parish in Jamestown in 1956, was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Providence by Bishop Gelineau on Oct. 7, 1974. He served here until being installed as the Eighth Bishop of Burlington on Nov. 9, 1992.
There, he led the diocese for 13 years, retiring on Nov. 9, 2005, succeeded by Bishop Salvatore Matano, who began his service to the Church in his native Rhode Island and who now serves as the Ninth Bishop of Rochester, N.Y.
In the Diocese of Burlington, Bishop Angell was also remembered for his sense of forgiveness, humor and kindness.
His Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Bishop Christopher Coyne, who, according to an account of the Mass prepared by Vermont Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Burlington, read a letter from the apostolic nuncio, Bishop Christophe Pierre, noting that Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the death of Bishop Angell and recalled with gratitude his years of service to the Diocese of Burlington.
Msgr. Richard Lavalley, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Winooski, Vt., and a friend of Bishop Angell, delivered the homily.
In it, he recounted the magnanimous gesture of forgiveness displayed when Bishop Angell — in offering the funeral Mass for his brother David and his wife Lynn following their deaths on 9/11, along with nearly 3,000 other innocent victims — forgave those who perpetrated the act.
“On those steps I heard the greatest homily I’ve ever heard in my life,” Msgr. Lavalley said. “Bishop Angell stood there, crozier in hand, and when asked how he felt about the terrorists who took the lives of his family members he said, “I am a Christian. I am told to forgive so I do.”
