Bishop Brennan expresses sadness over Youngstown bishop's death due to leukemia

Catholic News Agency and Catholic Times

Just days after submitting his resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown due to a recurrence of leukemia, Bishop George Murry, S.J., died Friday, June 5,  the diocese announced.

Murry died on Friday morning at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

On May 26, the diocese announced that Murry had submitted his resignation to Pope Francis. At age 71, he was four years younger than standard retirement age for bishops.

Bishop Robert Brennan had the opportunity to work with Bishop Murry for a little more than an year in Ohio after his installation as Bishop of Columbus in March 2019. Bishops Murry had been the longest-serving current bishop in the state, having taken over the Youngstown diocese in 2007.

"I was deeply saddened to learn earlier today of the passing of my friend and brother Bishop George Murry, Bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown," Bishop Brennan said in a statement. "I had the opportunity to work alongside Bishop Murry during his tenure as Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Education Committee, experiencing firsthand his clear voice and wise and steady leadership.

"Additionally, his strident advocacy within our church in addressing the sin of racism and how we can work as one to eradicate this evil within our society will be deeply missed, especially during today’s most trying times. I join with all the faithful in the Diocese of Columbus in prayer to the repose of the soul of Bishop Murry and express my condolences to his family and all our brothers and sisters in the Youngstown Diocese."

The Catholic Conference of Ohio said in a statement, "It is wth great sadness that we report the death of the Most Reverend George V. Murry, S.J., bishop of Youngstown.... Bishop Murry was charismatic, caring, pastoral, and had a great sense of humor."

Bishop Murry was initially diagnosed with leukemia in April 2018. He underwent a month of intensive chemotherapy treatment at Cleveland Clinic and was released in late May of that year. His doctors said he responded well to the treatment and the leukemia cells had been suppressed, but he continued to return to the clinic weekly for monitoring.

In July 2019, he returned to Cleveland Clinic for a reoccurrence of the leukemia.

He was confirmed to be in remission, but the leukemia returned this past April.

The diocese had said in its May 26 announcement that the bishop was no longer able to carry out his role as head of the diocese.

After his initial leukemia diagnosis, Murry had stepped down from his role as chair of the U.S. bishops’ new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, as well as his role as chair of the conference’s Committee on Catholic Education.

Bishop Murry was born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1948. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1972 and was ordained to the priesthood seven years later. Murry holds a M.Div. degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California, and a Ph.D. in American Cultural History from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He served in administrative roles in two Washington, D.C., high schools, as well as serving as a professor of American Studies at Georgetown University and as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. In 1998, the pope appointed him Coadjutor Bishop of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and on June 30, 1999, appointed him bishop of the diocese.

Bishop Murry had led the Youngstown diocese since 2007.