The Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend announced at 2:28 p.m. Sunday that Bishop Emeritus John M. D'Arcy has died.
The bishop, 80, had been stricken with cancer just after Christmas.
D'Arcy died late Sunday morning at his home, where he was surrounded by loved ones, the diocesan announcement said. He died on the 56th anniversary of celebrating his first Mass as an ordained priest.
Born Aug. 18, 1932, in Boston, D'Arcy studied at Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, Mass., and was ordained Feb. 2, 1957. He also studied at the Angelicum in Rome, from which he received a doctorate in spiritual theology in 1968.
He was ordained as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston on Feb. 14, 1975, and also served as spiritual director and professor of spiritual theology at Saint John's from 1968 to 1985.
D'Arcy's effort to improve the quality of priests was one of the highlights his tenure as bishop – and also generated its share of controversy.
“I became known as 'D'Arcy the hatchet man,' ” he told The News-Sentinel in 2005, shortly before celebrating his 20th anniversary as bishop. “In addition to helping the good guys become priests, I would help others out of the seminary, and I was criticized for that.”
The following photos have been pulled from The News-Sentinel files highlighting some of the events he was involved in over his tenure in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.