A Mass for parishioners was held Thursday, March 14, at Holy Family parish, Flushing, to pray for the repose of their late pastor, Bishop Ignatius A. Catanello. Over 50 parishioners attended, as well as the children from the parish elementary school.

Parishioners had the opportunity to pray beside the bishop’s casket and pay their final respects.

“I knew that he was suffering,” said Terence O’Reilly, a parishioner at Holy Family whose sons attended the school. “His suffering is over and he’s in a better place, but he will be very sorely missed.”

Father Louis Aufiero, who resides at Holy Family rectory, celebrated the Mass. Concelebrants included Father Casper Furnari, pastor, and Father Daniel Champoli.

“Bishop Catanello, who we call with affection ‘Bishop Iggy,’ was a good shepherd,” Father Aufiero said in his homily. “He lived a life for so many others.”

Father Aufiero framed his homily around the selection of Pope Francis. He explained that Bishop Catanello was a Third Order Franciscan who stripped himself of everything for God, just like St. Francis of Assisi.

“The name Francis is a humble name of great service in living just for the good of another,” Father Aufiero said, “and I think Bishop Iggy lived that way.”

After Mass, Deacon Joseph Catanello, the bishop’s younger brother, spoke of how Bishop Catanello was surrounded by the Little Sisters of the Poor at Queen of Peace Residence, Queens Village, when he passed away peacefully on March 11.

“It was very beautiful and moving,” Deacon Catanello said. “If you’re going to be sent off, that’s the way to go. I love my brother very much. As magnificent and as sacred as life is at any stage, no matter how sick, it gets to a point where it is time to go God.”

Deacon Catanello said he was prepared for this day since Bishop Catanello had been sick the past four years. But even so, Deacon Catanello said that the past few weeks have been “an emotional roller coaster.”

“I don’t know how people get through life without having a faithful relationship with God,” Deacon Catanello said. “If it wasn’t for God’s grace, I could have never done it.”

At the wake service the night before, more than 500 people attended. Deacon Catanello urged family members, friends and attendees to try to celebrate his life, rather than mourn his death, by remembering the happy times they had with his brother.

“My lasting impression of him is that he wanted to serve people,” Deacon Catanello said. “They loved him as much as he loved them. They respected his priesthood and his education, but he was huggable; he was a friend.”

Parishioners at Holy Family, where Bishop Catanello served as pastor, fondly recalled his skill as a preacher.

“Whenever I saw Bishop Catanello march down the aisle for Mass, I knew I was going to get a good homily,” said Arthur Sherman.

“He’s a very good man, and we loved him very dearly,” said Ella Mendoza, a lector at Holy Family. “I loved his homilies, and he was very good to the people.”

Lupe Rivera, a former parishioner at Our Lady of Sorrows, Corona, who now lives in Brentwood, L.I., said that Bishop Catanello baptized both of her daughters, and Deacon Catanello serves as the girls’ godfather.

“It was an honor to have known Bishop Catanello,” Rivera said. “He’s a man we will never forget. We just pray that his soul will rest in peace.”

Deacon Catanello said that his brother’s suffering is finally over after four long years.

“I feel relieved myself but more relief for him because he’s home,” Deacon Catanello said. “He finished the race. He’s at peace now, and that’s the most important thing.”

At Thursday evening’s Mass of Transferral, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Frank Caggiano at Holy Family Church, Msgr. Joseph Nugent preached a homily which called Bishop Catanello “a gift,” explaining that the bishop was “very much caught up in the life of St. Francis.”

“He had privately taken a vow of simplicity, to share his life, his love with everyone.”

Msgr. Nugent explained that he had served as a deacon in St. Rita’s parish, Long Island City, with a young Father Catanello.

The priest would take the deacon out walking in the neighborhood and gave him the advice that as a priest his job started by being in the streets with the people.

He pointed out that Father Catanello emulated Don Bosco by reaching out to the young. “He always made young people feel at home,” said Msgr. Nugent.

“He lived simply and he served the diocese over and over and over again,” concluded Msgr. Nugent.

In his final days, Bishop Catanello “united his suffering with the suffering of Jesus on the cross,” said Msgr. Nugent.[hr] Contributing to this article was Ed Wilkinson.