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Richmond Bishop Francis DiLorenzo dies at 75

By Catholic News Service

Richmond Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo gives his homily at “Virginia Vespers: Evening Prayer for the Commonwealth” in 2016 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond. COURTESY JAYNE HUSHEN | CATHOLIC HERALD FILE

CROP_DiLorenzo-Vespers-2016.jpg

This article was updated Aug. 21.

 
 

RICHMOND — Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond died at a
hospital late Aug. 17 from heart and kidney failure. He was 75.

A native of Philadelphia, he was named the 12th bishop of
Richmond by Pope John Paul II March 31, 2004. Before he was appointed to the
Virginia diocese, he was the bishop of Honolulu. He also was a former auxiliary
bishop in Scranton, Pa.

“He was a faithful servant of the church for 49 years and a
shepherd of the Diocese of Richmond for 13 years,” said Msgr. Mark Richard
Lane, vicar general. He said he was announcing the bishop’s death “with
great sadness.”

“It is with sadness but also with hope in the Resurrection that I
learned the news that Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, Bishop of the Diocese of
Richmond, died last night,” Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said in a
statement released Aug. 18. “I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to
Bishop DiLorenzo’s family and all in the Diocese of Richmond.

“Prior to my arrival in the Diocese of Arlington, I knew Bishop
DiLorenzo as a devoted man of God,” Bishop Burbidge said. “He has always been
highly regarded for his firm grasp of the Church’s moral teaching and as a
pastoral leader. We share the bond of having been ordained priests of the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia and of serving as Rector of St. Charles Borromeo
Seminary. He will be dearly missed.

“During my tenure in the Diocese of Arlington it has been a
privilege to serve and collaborate with him. I respected and admired his zeal
for Christ, his pastoral skills, and his administrative abilities. His joy for
the Catholic Faith was evident to everyone who knew him or witnessed his
devoted service to God’s people.

“I join Bishop Paul S. Loverde, the priests, deacons, consecrated
religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Arlington in offering heartfelt
prayers for the repose of the soul of Bishop DiLorenzo. May he find the peace
and salvation offered by Christ, now and forever,” Bishop Burbidge said.

As one of the founding bishops of the Virginia Catholic
Conference, Bishop DiLorenzo guided, shaped, nurtured and inspired the
conference’s work in ways too numerous to count, said Executive Director Jeff
Caruso. “His keen understanding of the importance of bringing our faith to the
public square and his passion for just public policies have been a driving
force for our work. They will continue to be so.
“Mostly, we will miss Bishop DiLorenzo’s concern for others, his humility —
which was an integral part of his nature — and his love and compassion for his
flock, and, indeed, for all the people of Virginia. We commend his spirit to
our Good God,” Caruso said.

Bishop DiLorenzo was one of the first to call for peace during
the chaos- and hate-filled weekend in Charlottesville, when white supremacists
holding a rally clashed with counterprotesters Aug. 11 and 12. The events led
to the deaths of three people and injuries to more than 19 others. His first
statement Aug. 11 was followed by a second one the next day.

“In the last 24 hours, hatred and violence have been on
display in the city of Charlottesville,” said Bishop DiLorenzo. “I
earnestly pray for peace.”

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori remembered Bishop DiLorenzo
as a “good moral theologian,” an “excellent seminary
rector” and a bishop who “cheerfully did whatever the church asked of
him.”

The archbishop had known Bishop DiLorenzo since the late 1980s,
when Bishop DiLorenzo was named auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Scranton.

“He had a personality that was larger than life,” said
Archbishop Lori, who had worked with Bishop DiLorenzo more closely in the past
five years after being named archbishop of Baltimore. The Diocese of Richmond
is part of the ecclesiatical province of Baltimore.

“He had a wonderful sense of humor,” Archbishop Lori
said. “He was a realist who understood how to face difficult situations,
but he always brought good things out of these situations.”

Born April 15, 1942, Francis Xavier DiLorenzo was the son an
Italian-American butcher and a homemaker. He was ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1968 and served in pastoral and educational
assignments until 1971.

In Rome, he earned a licentiate in sacred theology in 1973 from
the Academia Alphonsiana and a doctorate in sacred theology in 1975 from the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Then-Father DiLorenzo served as chaplain and instructor in
theology at St. Pius X High School, Pottstown, Pa., from 1975 to 1977. In 1977,
he was appointed chaplain and associate professor of moral theology at
Immaculata College.

In 1983, he became vice rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary,
becoming rector two years later. In 1988, he was named auxiliary bishop of
Scranton.

He was appointed apostolic administrator of Honolulu Oct. 12,
1993, when Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario, head of the diocese since 1982, retired
for health reasons. He became bishop of Honolulu Oct. 4 1994.

At his Mass of installation to head the Richmond Diocese, Bishop
DiLorenzo told the 1,200 people in the congregation that he saw his role as
servant leader in which he has to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus.

“As a follower of Jesus and a bishop in his church, I should
imitate his example and be a servant leader,” he said.

On the national level over the years, he had been a member of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee, the Committee on
Doctrine and an Ad Hoc Committee on Bishops’ Life and Ministry. He was chairman
of the conference’s Committee on Science and Human Values. He helped launch a
series of teaching brochures on the relationship of science and religion and on
bioethical issues such as genetic testing and screening of embryos.

Funeral arrangements

 

Bishop DiLorenzo’s body will be taken to the Cathedral of
the Sacred Heart, 800 S. Cathedral Place in Richmond, at 3 p.m. Aug. 24.
Visitation will follow. Vespers will be at 7 p.m. The bishop will lie in state
throughout the night Thursday. The doors will close at 9 a.m. on Friday and
reopen at 10 a.m. A funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at
the cathedral. The bishop will be entombed in the Cathedral Crypt. A reception
will follow at the Altria Theater.

 

 

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