Bishop Raymond E. Goedert was remembered as a humble, compassionate and fearless man at his funeral at Holy Name Cathedral Dec. 18, 2023. Bishop Goedert, 96, died Dec. 9. He had been a priest since 1952 and an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago since 1991. During his long ministry, he held many positions within the archdiocese, serving as an assistant pastor and pastor, as a canon lawyer in the metropolitan tribunal, as vicar for priests, as an episcopal vicar serving Lake County and the northwest suburbs and as vicar general. “In this holy season, we hear the words that, ‘The word became flesh and God pitched his tent in our midst.’ I think that phrase, God pitching his tent, is apt for describing Bishop Goedert,” Cardinal Cupich said at the end of the funeral Mass. “It evokes words such as loyalty, fidelity, steadfastness, all of which he was. But there’s another word that comes to mind as I think of him in terms of one who pitches his tent. He was fearless. “Maybe that doesn’t come to mind as easily given that he was a humble and even meek person. But he was fearless in moments in which he was asked to take up tasks for which there were no road maps. He was fearless in moments in which he was criticized, and maybe didn’t get the support and affirmation that he deserved. He was fearless also in moments in which he knew that maybe the first time, he didn’t get it right, but he was willing to stay with it in order to make sure that things would be correct. He was a man who was fearless, who took up a challenge, who stayed with it, who was willing to sacrifice himself, and we are better for it.” Cardinal Cupich was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass, which included auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese and visiting bishops and dozens of priests. The cardinal also recalled how much Bishop Goedert, the last surviving of 12 children in his family, loved to brag about his brothers and sisters, as well as their children and grandchildren, and his Luxembourger heritage. Father Scott Donahue first met Bishop Goedert when he was assigned to be associate pastor of St. Barnabas Parish in the Beverly neighborhood after being ordained in 1982. Donahue also recalled Bishop Goedert boasting. “If he had one fault, it was that he would brag too much,” Donahue said. “He would brag about his love for God. He would brag about his siblings, about his nieces and nephews. He would brag about his love for the church, and his life as priest. He was always about others.” He loved the people of the parish, Donahue said, and they loved him. He told his young associate that he learned how to be a pastor not from the seminary, but from his parents. Being aboard the ocean liner Andrea Doria when it sank in 1956 was a formative experience for Bishop Goedert, Donahue added, noting that the future bishop did “what any good priest would do: He went to be with the people.” Even after he became a bishop, Bishop Goedert lived a simple life, Donahue said, without many possessions. He was frugal with himself, but not with the poor, and he was persistent in his life of prayer. Donahue said that it was appropriate to remember and celebrate the life of Bishop Goedert during Advent, “a time of great anticipation, a time of great hope, a time to celebrate a wonderful life lived, the life of Bishop Raymond Goedert, a very good man who has gone home to God.” “He knew in his bones that without Jesus, he was nothing. That’s what he chose as his motto as a bishop,” Donahue said. “He was not afraid of death. He looked forward to meeting the Lord. He was always very clear about that. He looked forward to death, to being reunited with Jesus Christ and with his family.”