By Lyn Stegemiller
South Bend Tribune
April 12, 2007
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/Lives05/704120477/-1/LIVES/CAT=Lives05
The Most Rev. John M. D'Arcy, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, finds he has something in common with Frank Sinatra.
Regrets? Yes, he's had a few but, then again, too few to mention.
A smiling D'Arcy cites the song lyrics as he talks about his five decades as a Roman Catholic priest. The diocese will mark the 50th anniversary of his ordination with a celebration in Fort Wayne on Sunday.
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| The Rev. John M. D'Arcy celebrates his ordination to the priesthood on Feb. 2, 1957, flanked by his parents, Margaret Moran D'Arcy and Michael John D'Arcy. D'Arcy would go on to become the Most Rev. John M. D'Arcy, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. |
"The priesthood has been an extraordinary gift," D'Arcy says in a recent interview. "I've never had a moment of regret. I think it's a beautiful life if it's a life of love for Christ and for the people.
"I think it's a great adventure."
He had help along the way.
"In the great moments of life, when I had to make decisions, I've always prayed," he says.
Born Aug. 18, 1932, he grew up in Brighton, Mass., "surrounded by faith" in the heavily Catholic town.
| Planned celebrations An anniversary Mass, reception and dinner, all open to the public, will be held in Fort Wayne on Sunday in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Most Rev. John M. D'Arcy's priestly ordination. Mass will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 1122 S. Clinton St. The reception and dinner will follow at the Grand Wayne Center, across the street from the cathedral. The bishop asks that there be no personal gifts. Those who wish may donate to the Catholic Education Fund to assist children who could not otherwise attend Roman Catholic schools. There also will be an 11 a.m. anniversary Mass on May 13 in St. Matthew Cathedral, 1701 Miami St., South Bend. |
He attended public school until the eighth grade, then went on to study at Jesuit Boston College High School. His parish church and the strong faith of his parents were powerful influences in his life.
"We were not well off, but food was always on the table," D'Arcy says, noting how much he enjoyed working as a 9-year-old boy alongside his father in his father's grocery store.
D'Arcy toyed with pursuing careers in journalism and law, as well as the priesthood, before deciding on the religious life.
"I always say (I decided) when I found out I wasn't good enough to play second base for the Red Sox," the sports enthusiast jokes. "But I think it was always there."
After high school, he entered St. John's Seminary, within walking distance of his family's home. He studied there for eight years.
"I really did want it," he says of becoming a priest. "The most painful thing was that I might not be worthy.
"I trusted that God wanted it. He doesn't give you evidence, but He gives you enough so that you can stake your life on it. If you have the desire and you're willing to make the sacrifice it entails, that's how He shows you."
A photograph from D'Arcy's Feb. 2, 1957, ordination shows a 24-year-old man -- Irish eyes smiling and proud parents at his side -- eager to begin his priestly duties. He always thought he'd be a parish priest but never expected he'd become a bishop.
D'Arcy's calling would take him to Beverly, Mass., to serve for almost nine years as one of four parish priests leading a 3,500-family congregation. He loved all of it, he says.
But, again struggling to discern God's will for his life, he was led to study spiritual theology in Rome.
His calling then would bring him back to the Boston area, where he served as spiritual director and director of spiritual theology at his old seminary. He went on to become auxiliary bishop for Boston, vicar for spiritual development and regional bishop for the Lowell region. Finally, in 1985, his call would bring him to Indiana, to head a diocese with 160,000 people.
"I totally believed that the call came from God," he says. "It has been wonderful."
He arrived with the national priest sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church and was lauded for having sent warning letters to his superiors about priests' misconduct.
Locally, D'Arcy reported in 2003 that 16 priests had sexually abused 33 children in the diocese since 1950, with the last credible complaint of physical sexual abuse being in 1987.
It was not hard to know what to do, he says of handling the local situation, but it was "awful" listening to the stories of the victims and their parents.
Other difficult times have included merging churches and closing schools. D'Arcy recalls, too, the hard times surrounding the hotly debated dismissal of a Catholic high school coach (at St. Joseph's High School in South Bend) after the coach left the faith.
D'Arcy's most moving moments have come in his interactions with people, he says, being there when they are dying and hearing their confessions.
"You see the tremendous goodness of people," he says.
He also loves working with young people. He notes there are now 18 seminarians, the largest number in his 22 years as bishop.
D'Arcy says he believes in continuing the requirement of celibacy for priests. He is glad, though, that seminarians now can mingle with regular college students when pursuing their studies and that seminaries are of higher quality.
With the late Pope John Paul II a great influence, D'Arcy's priorities as bishop included placing highly qualified priests, strengthening parish life, promoting prayer and the sacraments, and reaching out to young people, he says.
"I did the best I could."
The public nature of his position sits well with him, D'Arcy says. But he enjoys private-time pursuits such as praying, walking along the ocean, going to ballgames and reading religious books, as well as books on Irish history and poetry.
With a mandatory letter of retirement due from him on his 75th birthday in August, he finds himself attracted to the idea of becoming a parish priest again.
He also anticipates having more time for prayer, reading and maybe learning Spanish.
"I am looking forward to a less intense life," he says.
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