Bishop Gerald Walsh / Archdiocese of New York
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Gerald Walsh, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of New York, passed away May 4 at the age of 83. Cardinal Timothy Dolan shared the news from Rome, where he is currently participating in the papal conclave preparations.
“I heard the somber news of the passing of our trusted, beloved brother, Bishop Gerald Walsh,” Cardinal Dolan wrote in a message to the archdiocese. He had spoken to Bishop Walsh by phone just days earlier.
“He was upbeat, happy, confident, eager to move on as he reported improvement in his health,” Cardinal Dolan said. “But sure, he was ever like that, hopeful and ‘raring to go.’”
Born in Manhattan in 1942, Bishop Walsh was ordained in 1967 and served the Archdiocese of New York in numerous capacities, including as a pastor, a vicar general, a director of Catholic Charities’ Family Services, and a rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary. He was appointed auxiliary bishop in 2004 and retired in 2017.
Cardinal Dolan commended the bishop’s “sterling years of apostolic service” and added, “I loved him and will miss him.”
“As I write from this city called ‘eternal,’ I am consoled by trust that he, by God’s mercy, will now reside in the real one,” he said.
The cardinal closed his message with a personal note to his archdiocese: “I miss all of you as well, and am homesick. The white smoke cannot appear soon enough!”
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