Retired Springfield Bishop Joseph Maguire dies at age 95

By Anne-Gerard Flynn
Republican
November 23, 2014

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/retired_springfield_bishop_jos.html

The Most Rev. Joseph F. Maguire, bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, rides in the 2004 Holyoke St. Parade's Parade.

This story is updated with remarks by Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, and preliminary funeral arrangements.

SPRINGFIELD - Bishop Emeritus Joseph F. Maguire, fifth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, has died. He had turned 95 on Sept. 4.

According to diocesan spokesman Mark E. Dupont, Maguire died at 6 p.m. at his residence in the Chancery on Elliot Street. His niece and nephews, along with caregivers were present.

"Until a week ago Bishop had been receiving guests and talking on the phone," Dupont said.

During a hastily called press conference Sunday evening, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, who was installed as diocesan bishop in August, paid tribute to Maguire as a prelate "committed to ministry and to the service of the people of the Springfield diocese."

"I could go anywhere, and people would tell me, 'When you see Bishop Maguire, tell him I say hello," said Rozanski, adding Western Massachusetts had "lost a great leader and friend."

Rozanski said Maguire, since turning 95, had grown weaker and "sensed his time was near."

"It made his faith stronger, which sounds like a contradiction," Rozanski said. "He laid down the burdens of the elder years."

A popular bishop, who enjoyed athletics and interacting with parishioners, Maguire also had to face allegations, in retirement, that clergy abuse and cover up of that abuse happened on his watch, and, in a 2012 settlement, he apologized for the victim's suffering.

When asked about that apology, Rozanski said it signified that Maguire had "felt the pain of those who had been let down."

"He was apologizing to those who had suffered," Rozanski said.

Rozanski said that Maguire was the second person he met in the diocese, after now retired Bishop Timothy McDonnell, whom Rozanski succeeded, and that he regularly sought Maguire's counsel.

"His was a legacy of love. He loved the people," Rozanski said.

Maguire had been installed as Springfield bishop, in 1977, and served through December 1991, suffering a heart attack four months into retirement. He and the late Leo E. O'Neil, who served as auxiliary bishop here, from 1980 to 1989, prior to being installed as bishop of New Hampshire, were a well-liked team in a diocese that had yet to face numerous allegations of sex abuse of minors by members of the clergy, or the closure and merger of parishes and diocesan schools. The Maguire Center for Health, Fitness and Athletics, at Elms College, in Chicopee, was named for the retired bishop in 1993.

In his remarks about Maguire, Rozanski paid tribute to both his "love of sports," as well as someone, in his younger years, who had played both hockey and baseball, with determination.

"The day that he was ordained, in 1945, he had a broken leg, from sliding into a base," Rozanski said.

A native of Roxbury, Maguire graduated from Boston College, and studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary, in Brighton. He was ordained, on June 29, 1945, at the Cathedral of Holy Cross, in Boston, served as assistant in several Boston area parishes, and as chaplain to the U. S. Army Reserve and Massachusetts National Guard. He was long-time secretary to Richard Cardinal Cushing, of the Archdiocese of Boston, and also served his successor, Cardinal Humberto Medeiros.

He was ordained auxiliary bishop of Boston in 1972. He was installed as co-adjutor bishop in Springfield, in 1976, and bishop a year later, succeeding Christopher J. Weldon.

Maguire had undergone aortic valve replacement, as well as bypass surgery, at Baystate Medical Center, in 2005, and had knee replacement surgery, in 2004, and in 2008. Until health issues began to confine him to his residence during the last year, Maguire, continued to assist at ordinations and attend social events.

Funeral arrangements are being finalized; a Liturgy of Christian Burial is planned for Dec. 1 at St. Michael's Cathedral, with the wake planned Nov. 30 at the cathedral.