| William Murphy | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rockville Centre | |
| Church | Roman Catholicism |
| See | Diocese of Rockville Centre |
| In Office | 2001 — present |
| Predecessor | James T. McHugh |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | December 16, 1964 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 14, 1940 Boston |
The Most Reverend William Francis Murphy, D.D., S.T.D. (born May 14, 1940) is the fourth and current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, serving in this capacity since 2001. He was appointed bishop July 26, 2001, and installed September 5, 2001.[1]
Murphy is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Catholic University of America. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, December 16, 1964.[1]
He was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
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Prepared at Boston Latin School for Harvard College, 1961, he attended Saint John’s Seminary receiving his BA in 1961. Murphy was ordained a Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston at Saint Peter’s Vatican City on December 16, 1964. He was sent to Rome to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University receiving S.T.L. degree in 1965 and an S.T.D., in 1974. He was called to the Roman Curia to serve as Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1980-1987, having worked as an official in Justice and Peace from 1974. At the same time he served as lecturer in Theology, Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas from 1976 until 1980, while also serving as a lecturer in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University from 1972 to 1974.
He returned to the archdiocese Boston where he served as Secretary of Community Relations for the Archdiocese of Boston and concurrently director of the Office of Social Justice and director of the Pope John XXIII Seminary, Weston, MA all from 1987 to 1993. At the same time he served as a lecturer in Social Ethics at St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, MA.
He was named Chaplain of His Holiness in 1979. He served as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Boston from 1993-2001. In 1987 he was named a Prelate of Honuor.
Bishop Murphy has denied that he took part in protecting abusive priests while he was second in command in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, the epicenter of the crisis, before coming to Long Island in 2001.[2][3] Murphy's denials contradict a report by the Massachusetts attorney general in July 2010 that said Bishop Murphy and other top church officials "placed a higher priority on preventing scandal and providing support to alleged abusers than on protecting children from sexual abuse."[4]
The same report stated: "There is overwhelming evidence that for many years Cardinal Law and his senior managers (Bishop Murphy is identified in the report as a senior manager and a top archdiocese official) had direct, actual knowledge that substantial numbers of children in the Archdiocese had been sexually abused by substantial numbers of priests. Any claim by the Cardinal or the Archdiocese’s senior managers that they did not know about the abuse suffered by, or the continuing threat to, children in the Archdiocese is simply not credible.”[5]
The Catholic League defended Murphy point-by-point contending, amomgst other things, that the allegations were unfounded and that Massachusetts did not require clergy at the time to report abuse; and the internal pastoral response was at the time the norm in all religions. The League also praised Murphy’s leadership and actions on issues involving sexual abuse since his appointment to the Diocese of Rockville Centre in September, 2001.[6]
Bishop Accountability.Org alleges that Murphy is "is a key figure in the sexual abuse crisis, both because of his earlier role in the Boston archdiocese and because of conditions in Rockville Centre." [7]
Murphy was heavily criticized for spending more than $5 million on renovations for St. Agnes Cathedral that included a palatial residence for himself. Murphy took over the third floor of an old convent that was being renovated to accommodate six nuns and forced them to relocate. The convent has room for 37 apartments. “The sisters, I think, were disappointed,” Murphy said, “but a disappointment they expressed with great generosity. They understood my dilemma.”
Murphy was not satisfied living in the cathedral rectory because it lacked privacy and that a separate donated house was not large enough to entertain visiting prelates. The original estimate of $500,000 for construction and furnishings for his new residence ballooned to $800,000.
Murphy invited a Newsday reporter to review the accommodations who indicated that the suite consisted of a lavishly decorated living room, a new fireplace with an oak mantel and a kitchen that features top-of-the-line appliances, a bishop’s bedroom and marble bath, a bedroom and study for his secretary, and a separate suite called “the cardinal’s suite.” A public wing has a fourth bedroom for visiting laity. The ceiling in the dining room has been lowered at additional expense so that a chandelier could be installed. An extra $120,000 was spent on three Oriental rugs and a new table was bought for the dining area along with 12 specially upholstered chairs. The Murphys’ personal art collection adds to the design. In all, the bishop's residence can serve at any one time as a residence for the bishop, his secretary, the cardinal, and other visiting laity.
The kitchen has a double Sub-Zero refrigerator with an adjoining pantry that has an under-counter temperature-controlled wine storage cabinet for 50 bottles of wine. The top shelf in the cabinet is set at 45 degrees for champagne and white wine while the lower shelf is set at 55 degrees for red wine. There is a six-burner Viking professional range.
A few days after the story about his new residence appeared, it was reported that Catholic Charities in the Rockville Centre diocese was terminating a $1.1 million home care program that will no longer serve 500 indigent, mentally ill people on Long Island. Catholic Charities attributed its decision to “mounting expenses.” Kate Bishop, the program’s coordinator fumed to the press: “It’s interesting that our deficit [$140,000] is about the same amount as what the church is spending on the kitchen appliances and Oriental rugs in the [bishop’s] residence.” “Our mission is to serve people who are marginalized and disenfranchised. For them to turn around, with no notice, and end the program, is horrible.”[8]
In October 2003, 52 priests requested a meeting with Murphy, sending a letter that spoke of a "general malaise and even an abiding anger" within the diocese, a perception of "a fairly widespread dissatisfaction with the way you have related to some clergy and the laity" and "a certain lack of confidence in your pastoral leadership." Issues raised included Bishop Murphy's management style, his $1.1 million renovation of a diocesan building in Rockville Centre to serve as a personal residence, sexual abuse by priests,[9] and his ban preventing the Long Island Voice of the Faithful, a lay group with more than 1,000 members seeking reforms, from meeting on church property.[10][11]
On December 5, 2011, Bishop William Murphy made the decision to close six Roman Catholic Elementary Schools on Long Island (St. John Baptist de La Salle Regional School in Farmingdale, St. Catherine of Sienna School in Franklin Square, St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville, Sacred Heart School in North Merrick, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Lindenhurst and Prince of Peace Regional School in Sayville.[12] Incensed Parishioners of Prince of Peace Regional School in Sayville placed a full page personal ad in Newsday (Long Island’s Newspaper) on December 21, 2011 challenging the Bishops decision, arguing that enrollment was actually up in 2010 & 2011. Students of Saint Catherine of Sienna School held a Protest on December 21, 2011 that was broadcast on Channel 2 News, News 12 (Long Islands News Station) and 1010 Wins News Radio (repeatedly claim to be the most listened to radio station in the world). Parents speaking at the Rally argued how they were excluded from the decision making process. Podium Speakers stated that several munificent Parishioners offered to make sizable donations to meet the relatively diminutive financial shortcomings of the Parish School, which they claimed Bishop William Murphy would not entertain. Additionally, Parishioners at the Protest alleged that 68 students enrolled in Saint Catherine of Sienna’s Nursery and Pre-Kindergarten programs were excluded from the Bishop’s financial analysis.[13]
| Preceded by James T. McHugh |
Bishop of Rockville Centre 2001–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |