The gregarious, affable bishop absorbed plenty of criticism from area Catholics for shuttering venerable old churches and splintering tightly woven parish communities that dated back more than a century.

But Kmiec's supporters, including many priests, said the changes were necessary and long overdue, despite all of the unpleasantness.

Kmiec wasn’t bishop when the sexual-abuse scandal broke in Buffalo, but he had a checkered history dealing with abuse claims. He was criticized for his mishandling of an abuse allegation while bishop in Nashville, an accusation the diocese denied.

As a bishop of Buffalo, Kmiec would quietly remove two priests from ministry but refused to say why. Years after his retirement, diocese officials acknowledged that the priests had credible allegations of child sex abuse or inappropriate behavior with children lodged against them.

Kmiec described his experiences as a priest and bishop as sometimes daunting and frightening, but more often satisfying and fulfilling. He often relied on a favorite prayer from St. Teresa of Avila, which concludes with the words, "Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices."

In fact, as a young seminarian Kmiec envisioned himself being pastor of a small Catholic parish on the New Jersey shore, News Reporter Jay Tokasz wrote in 2011. But Kmiec later came to understand that while he had a plan for himself, God had a better one.

Born June 4, 1936, in Trenton, N.J., Kmiec was the son of Polish immigrants, the youngest of five children.

He left New Jersey to attend St. Charles College in Catonsville, Md., and later earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore in 1958.

Kmiec continued his theological studies in Rome, where he earned a graduate degree from the Gregorian University and was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 20, 1961 at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Upon returning to the United States in 1962, Kmiec served as associate pastor of St. Rose Parish in Belmar, N.J., before being named secretary to the bishop of Trenton, a position he would hold through 1980.

In 1982, he served as auxiliary bishop in Trenton and by 1992 was installed as the 10th bishop of Nashville, where he would spend 12 years. He was installed as the bishop of Buffalo on Oct. 28, 2004, the first and only bishop of Polish descent to serve in this community with strong Polish ties.

"This isn't the cruise I signed up for," he said in 2011. "Looking back, what a cruise it has been."

Kmiec was personable and down to earth. He liked to talk sports and smoke a good cigar on occasion.

After his retirement, Kmiec was Bishop Emeritus of Buffalo and resided at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral rectory, but enjoyed spending summers on the New Jersey shore visiting friends and family from the Trenton area, where he grew up.