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Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Bishop Murphy of Rockville Centre recalled for ‘joyful witness’ of pastoral leadership


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OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Obituaries

The “faithful service” of retired Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, who died March 26 at age 85, “leaves a lasting legacy on Long Island and throughout the universal Church,” said Bishop John O. Barres, the diocese’s current shepherd.

During more than 15 years of episcopal ministry in New York, Bishop Murphy, the fourth bishop of Rockville Centre, “led the diocese with an evangelizing and reforming spirit, offering a joyful witness of prayer, preaching, and pastoral leadership,” Bishop Barres said in a March 26 statement.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Bishop Murphy April 7 at the Cathedral of St. Agnes in Rockville Centre. Bishop Barres will be the celebrant and Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn will be the homilist.

“Bishop Murphy was widely respected for his expertise in Vatican diplomacy and international relations and was deeply committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue,” Bishop Barres said in his statement. “With a gift for friendship, he generously mentored many priests and bishops and championed the apostolate of the laity and their vital role in the public square.”

In a March 27 statement, Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez expressed his sadness at Bishop Murphy’s death, recalling that the late bishop had ordained him as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 2012.

“From that time until his retirement as Ordinary in 2016 and for years after, he generously shared his wise counsel and deep experience as a shepherd and an administrator,” said the archbishop, named to head the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 2020 after three years as the bishop of Cleveland.

Bishop Murphy also was known “for his pastoral leadership and zeal for evangelization in the spirit of Missionary Discipleship. He actively cultivated ecumenical and interfaith dialogue,” said Archbishop Pérez, noting, “We remained close friends after my assignments to Cleveland and Philadelphia. I am deeply grateful for the gift of his life and his priesthood.”

William Francis Murphy was born May 14, 1940, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Cornelius and Norma Murphy. He attended Boston public schools, including Boston Latin School for Harvard College, and pursued studies for the priesthood at St. John’s (Major) Seminary in Boston and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in sacred theology.

He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston at St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 16, 1964, and returned to Boston. Over the next 10 years, he served as an assistant pastor in three different parishes while also teaching at Emmanuel College and Pope John XXIII Seminary.

In 1974, Father Murphy was called back to Rome where he became a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He was appointed under secretary in 1980, a position he held for seven years. He wrote various publications for the council, including “Person, Nation and State” in 1982 and, a year later, “True Dimensions of Development Today.”

Decades later, he would be “a driving force behind the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,” published in 2004, “which remains an important and enduring reference,” said Bishop Barres, a contribution Archbishop Pérez also highlighted.

While in Rome, Father Murphy was also a lecturer in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas.

In 1987, he returned to the Boston Archdiocese to serve in several capacities, including secretary of community relations, director of the Office of Social Justice, director of Pope John XXIII Seminary, and administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Lexington, Massachusetts.

St. John Paul II gave him the title of monsignor in 1979. Then-Msgr. Murphy was named vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1993.

He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Boston Nov. 21, 1995, and his episcopal ordination Mass took place Dec. 27, 1995.

On June 26, 2001, St. John Paul appointed Bishop Murphy to head the Diocese of Rockville Centre, succeeding the late Bishop James T. McHugh. He was installed as bishop of Rockville Centre Sept. 5, 2001, and served until his retirement was accepted by Pope Francis Dec. 9, 2016.

Bishop Murphy served several times as a member of a Holy See Delegation for United Nations conferences and as a member of the Third United Nations Special Session on Disarmament in 1988. He was a member of three presidential delegations to Haiti in 1987, 1990 and 1991, and was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2001.

These missions were part of a broader career focused on Latin America and international affairs within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His service to the USCCB also included being a member of the Administrative Committee, the Committee on Priorities and Plans, and the subcommittees on the Church in Latin America and on Health Care Issues. He was a consultant to the Subcommittee on the Catechism and the USCCB Committee on Migration.

He most recently was a member of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace and was a past chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development.

Bishop Murphy served on the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and was a representative to the Orthodox Union and the Orthodox Rabbis of the Rabbinical Council of America. He also served on the USCCB Committee on International Policy.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Murphy to serve as a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. In 2008, Bishop Murphy was appointed a consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He was a participant in the National Council of Synagogues-USCCB Dialogue.

Bishop Murphy was awarded several honorary degrees, including a doctorate of theology from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a doctorate of humane letters from Salem State College, also in Massachusetts, both in 1999. He received the Rabin Peacemaker Award from Merrimack College in Massachusetts in 2002 as well as a doctor of laws from St. John’s University in New York in 2002.

Bishop Murphy is survived by his brother Robert and his sister Sister Paul St. Katherine Murphy, a Sister of Notre Dame. His brother Paul and sisters Virginia Murphy and Katherine Woerner preceded him in death.

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