“Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan had the courage to take a bold step - that necessary, decisive step needed to bring the Church into the mainstream of contemporary life,” Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin, his auxiliary, said in a funeral homily Monday.

“There may be some who say he was ahead of his time,” the bishop said in his talk before the apostolic delegate, two cardinals and nearly 40 bishops. “Perhaps he was. But I think his genius was that he saw that time was running out. He had the courage to take a bold step - that necessary decisive step needed to bring the Church into the mainstream of contemporary life. It is for this reason that he was a prophetic figure. It is for this reason that his influence will long be felt.”

The Liturgy of the concelebrated Mass for Archbishop Hallinan, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, stressed that Christian death is the triumph and reward of the Christian. The hymns were Easter songs to remind Christians that those who die have passed over to the father. The vestments and the pall covering the coffin were white.

Principal concelebrant at the Mass was Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. Bishops of the Province of Atlanta, two abbots and Bishop Bernardin were also concelebrants.

Archbishop Hallinan, 56, died Wednesday, March 27, of hepatitis and liver failure, two days before he would have completed his sixth year as first archbishop of Atlanta.

Among dignitaries attending the funeral at the Cathedral of Christ the King was Gov. Lester Maddox, with whom the archbishop had publicly disagreed on several occasions.

Bishop Bernardin said, “Archbishop Hallinan has left us a legacy which we must not forget. He was more clearly than many of us the real challenges of our times. He understood that the renewal is more than a matter of external, superficial changes; that it is basically a change of mind and heart which is much more difficult to achieve.”

“He was realistic enough to know that we must have order; that without structure our human condition would become chaotic,” the bishop said. “But he also believed that structure was always intended to help people, to bring out the best in them and never to stifle them. By putting this conviction into practice in his own life, he opened the door for many who otherwise would have been disillusioned or frustrated.”

Bishop Bernardin said two qualities contributed more than anything else to Archbishop Hallinan’s greatness. “The first was his humanness. Despite all the honors which came to him, he was a very simple person who was always uncomfortable with pretension. And he was so sensitive to the needs and feelings of others.”

“Whenever he saw tension building up among those who worked with him, he always knew what to do or say. His wit and humor - no matter how incongruous it might have seemed at the time - always relieved the situation. He reached out to people with a genuine warmth that told them that they were important and he was interested in them.”

“The second quality was courage. He had a deep faith in God which seldom permitted him to falter or to become discouraged when he was convinced of the rightness of a decision or course of action. He was a secure, humble man who never held back because he was afraid of the personal repercussions his stand might have.”

“He frequently changed his position but not because of weakness or lack of resolve on his part. Rather, it was because he listened to people and was not reluctant or embarrassed to make a change when the circumstances warranted it.”

Bishop Bernardin said it was the archbishop’s humanness which made it possible for him to relate to people. “It was his courage always to do or say what he thought was right that made him a prophetic figure. Both of these traits in the archbishop were tested time and again in the arena of Church renewal. Practically speaking renewal for him meant cutting through red-tape in order to get to the real heart of the matter as quickly as possible.”

Bishop Bernardin quoted what the archbishop wrote on openness in the Church. The archbishop said, “The ordinary course of the Church’s mission must be openness. Secrecy for the sake of charity, necessary privacy for the common good can be permitted only when it is of the greatest urgency. Communication is the norm. ‘No comment’ is the exception.”

“And speak he did,” the bishop commented. “His voice was constantly raised in behalf of those who were suffering because of prejudice or injustice. He was especially concerned about the plight of the Negro. He never ceased to appeal to the conscience of the archdiocese and the community to accept all men as brothers.

“Another vital issue on which he frequently spoke was peace. He insisted that new efforts must be made to end the war in Vietnam. While he admitted that intent of our country was good, he was deeply concerned that many of the practical judgments regarding the conduct of the war were wrong. He was firmly convinced, for example, that a halt should be called to the bombing of North Vietnam as a means of getting negotiations underway. He was impatient with the clergymen who felt that all questions relating to the war should be left to the military or the diplomats and politicians.”

“The archbishop was perhaps best known for his vital interest in the liturgy,” Bishop Bernardin said. “He was convinced that the liturgy was one of the chief ingredients of renewal. He understood that to have this effect it must be a living liturgy, intimately related to the realities of daily life. It was within this context that his constant plea for liturgical adaptation must be understood...He was quick to point out that life is not static, that it is subject to growth and development.”

“The most touching liturgical experience I ever shared with the archbishop was a Mass I concelebrated with him shortly before he died. Because of extreme weakness, he lay in bed, but this did not stop him from preaching a beautiful homily on the Eucharist and what it meant to him personally.” “Archbishop Hallinan’s life and his contribution to the Church and to humanity would be extraordinary, no matter what standard we used to judge him,” the bishop said.

“But the last few months of his life, beginning in January with the recurrence of the illness which had plagued him for the past four years, were his finest period. During that time all of the qualities which had marked his life came into sharp focus - his faith, his dedication, his courage, his compassion for the suffering of others.”

Bishop Bernardin also praised Archbishop Hallinan for his work in ecumenism. “He found it very easy and very satisfying to work with those of other churches and faiths. This was because he loved people. He always saw the good in them and believed that this goodness was a bond which already united them. Beyond this, he was convinced that unity was Christ’s desire and that all men of good will, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, must sincerely strive to prepare the way for it.”

Among the leaders of other faiths attending the funeral were Episcopal Bishop Randolph Claiborne of Atlanta; Suffragan Bishop Milton Wood; Dr. Bevel Jones, president of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta; Rabbi Jacob Rothschild of The Temple.

The final commendation and farewell in the cathedral was given by John Cardinal Krol of Philadelphia, a seminary classmate of the archbishop. His opening words were, “Our brother has fallen asleep. Let us commend him to the loving mercy of God.” Lawrence Cardinal Shehan of Baltimore and Archbishop John Dearden of Detroit, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, also attended the funeral.

The archbishop was buried in the priests’ plot at Arlington Cemetery, Atlanta.

Survivors include his brother, Arthur J. Hallinan of Cleveland, Ohio; six nieces and nephews and cousins.

Bishops of the Province of Atlanta were concelebrants at the funeral Mass for Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan last Monday. They were: Bishop Coleman F. Carroll, Miami; Bishop Gerard Frey, Savannah; Auxiliary Bishop Charles McLaughlin, Raleigh; Bishop Paul Tanner, St. Augustine; Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler, Charleston; Bishop Vincent Waters, Raleigh.

Other concelebrants were Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin, Atlanta; Abbott Augustine Moore, Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers; Abbot Walter Coggins, Belmont Abbey. Principal concelebrant was Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. John Cardinal Krol of Philadelphia gave the absolution.

Bishops attending the funeral were: Bishop Warren Boudreaux, LaFayette; Bishop Joseph Brunini, Jackson; Bishop Charles Buswell, Pueblo; Archbishop Leo Byrne, St. Paul; Bishop-elect John J. Cassata, Houston; Archbishop John Dearden, Detroit; Bishop John Dougherty, Newark; Bishop Philip Furlong, representative Military Ordinariate; Bishop Raymond Gallagher, LaFayette; Bishop Leonard P. Hagarty, Nassau; Archbishop Philip Hannan, New Orleans; Bishop Vincent Harris, Beaumont; Bishop Charles Helmsing, Kansas City; Bishop Joseph Hodges, Wheeling; Bishop Clarence Issenmann, Cleveland; Archbishop John J. Maguire, Phillipines; Bishop John Morkovsky, Gaveston-Houston; Bishop Ernest Primeau, New Hampshire; Bishop Leo Pursley, Fort Wayne; Bishop Vincent Reed, Oklahoma City; Bishop John Russell, Richmond; Auxiliary Bishop James P. Shannon, St. Paul-Minneapolis; Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, Baltimore; Bishop Robert E. Tracy, Baton Rouge; Bishop Joseph Vath, Mobile; Bishop John F. Whealon, Erie; Bishop Aloysius Wycislc, Chicago.