Richmond’s new diocesan administrator Msgr. Mark Richard Lane, who served as vicar general under Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, prays at the bishop’s casket during the overnight vigil. (Photo by Billy Nguyen.)
Bishop DiLorenzo praised for love of Christ, church, life
By Joseph Staniunas Special to Herald
Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo was remembered during the homily at his funeral Mass Friday, Aug. 25, as the image of Christ, a shepherd who embraced the fullness of life and devoted himself to the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.
Bishop Joseph Pepe of the Diocese of Las Vegas, a close friend for 50 years, told more than a thousand people in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart — priests, sisters, deacons, lay people — that he had come to honor an exceptional man.
At the funeral representing the Diocese of Honolulu, where Bishop DiLorenzo had served from 1993 to 2004, was Father Thomas Gross, who had been the bishop’s vicar general and the diocesan administrator for a year between Bishop DiLorenzo’s leaving and Bishop Larry Silva’s installation.
“The cathedral was packed,” Father Gross said. “There were about 100 priests, 15 bishops, a couple of cardinals. It was really a nice celebration. Very well done. I was glad I was able to be there.”
The last time he had been in the Richmond cathedral, he said, was for Bishop DiLorenzo’s installation.
For the short time he was in Richmond, Father Gross said he received the impression that the bishop was a popular, widely respected leader.
“It seemed like he was very well liked, very much appreciated,” Father Gross said.
Said Bishop Pepe, “he was a person who had a depth, a really true acuity in perceptions of theology, in Catholic teaching, in church policy, pastoral life. He was a man who could take things and define them, see what he had to do and accomplish it. And you have the results of that in your diocese.”
Those results could be seen in a congregation reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of a diocese of 220,000 Catholics that runs from the mountains in the far southwest to the shoreline in the east, people like Laura Bailey of South Hill in Mecklenburg County.
“A wonderful man, jovial, always had a smile,” she said. “He had the best intentions for the diocese.”
His brother, Paul, did like to remind “Fran,” as the family called him, that despite his education and position in the church “he was just a kid from West Philly. Fran loved to eat but he was nourished by human interaction and intellectual curiosity … and the need to keep trying the make the world a better place.”
Presiding at the funeral was the Archbishop of Baltimore, William E. Lori who praised him for his “wisdom and creativity.”
Clergy in white vestments flanked the altar and included Bishop Michael Burbidge and Bishop (emeritus) Paul Loverde, from the Diocese of Arlington; Bishops from Scranton, where Bishop DiLorenzo had served, and from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where he became a priest. And those priests included many of the missionaries Bishop DiLorenzo arranged to bring from a host of other countries to keep some parishes open.
He was very proud of the 22 priests he ordained, according to Msgr. Walter Barrett from St. Mary Star of the Sea in Hampton. “Some of us were a little jealous of the affection being shared with the young priests,” he said with a chuckle in his voice during an interview the day before the funeral, “but he knew that if younger clergy were not cared for and supported we could lose them.”
Bishop DiLorenzo died Aug. 17 from kidney and heart failure. The 12th Bishop of Richmond was 75.
Among the dignitaries in attendance at the funeral were leaders of other faiths, former Governor Bob McDonnell and Paul Reagan, chief of staff to Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
The day before the funeral, the afternoon sun broke through the clouds as seminarians carried the bishop’s coffin up the steps to the cathedral, through the main entrance framed by black bunting, to the front of the altar where he had presided for 13 years. His brown, wood crozier was placed to the side.
After the Rite of Reception, the service to receive the bishop’s body, family and friends and other mourners lined up to spend a few minutes at the open casket — among them, Gov. McAuliffe.
“We didn’t always agree on all the issues, of course, but there were so many things that we did agree on,” the governor said in an interview outside the cathedral. “Medicaid expansion, providing healthcare for everyone and making sure everyone has an opportunity for a quality education. We had a good working relationship.”
“He had an eye for social justice despite what some may say,” Msgr. Mark Lane, who was elected diocesan administrator Aug. 22, said in his homily at Vespers a few hours later. “He saw poverty in Southwest Virginia and said that their poverty is our poverty.”
Bishop DiLorenzo’s death came less than a week after the political violence in Charlottesville that he had condemned in clear, strong words.
Listing some of his many accomplishments — keeping parishes open, aiding Catholic education, fundraising — Msgr. Lane also recalled that the bishop liked to sing Bob Hope’s signature tune “Thanks for the Memory,” “though he was always off-key”
“We are far better as a church for having had him,” Msgr. Lane concluded. “Bishop DiLorenzo, we return you to God and it is with heartfelt gratitude that we say: thanks for the memories.”
This story was first published on Aug. 25 by The Catholic Virginian, newspaper for the Diocese of Richmond. It is used here by permission. Patrick Downes contributed to this story.
