Retired Bishop Sullivan to Go Home for Hospice Care

By Steven G. Vegh
The Virginian-Pilot
December 6, 2012

http://hamptonroads.com.nyud.net/2012/12/retired-bishop-sullivan-go-hospice-cancer

Retired Catholic Bishop Walter F. Sullivan has an inoperable liver tumor and was due to be released Wednesday from St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond for hospice care at home, a diocesan spokesman said.

"He's not in any pain," said Stephen Neill, the editor of the Richmond diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Virginian.

Sulllivan was ordained a bishop in 1970 and became head of the Richmond diocese in 1974. He took mandatory retirement at 75 in 2003.

During his tenure as the diocese's leader, Sullivan established many new parishes, including St. John the Apostle in Virginia Beach and St. Stephen Martyr in Chesapeake.

After his retirement, South Hampton Roads' only Catholic high school was renamed Bishop Sullivan Catholic High; the school is in Virginia Beach.

Sullivan, who kept a vacation house in Sandbridge, has remained active in retirement, celebrating Mass and preaching at the invitation of parishes.

His ministry has included strong support for ecumenical and interfaith relations. In 1993, he memorialized Holocaust victims with a statue, "Rachel Weeping for Her Children," on the grounds of the Richmond cathedral.