Bishop Clark to talk about retirement

Posted at: 06/19/2012 11:16 AM
By: Ray Levato | WHEC.com

Bishop Matthew Clark of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester is looking forward to retirement and will sit down to talk with us next Monday.

By Cannon Law, Bishops must submit a letter of resignation when they reach their 75th birthday. In Bishop Clark's case, that is July 15th.

Last September, Bishop Clark wrote about his impending retirement in the Catholic Courier. And in a later interview with News 10 NBC, said this: "I've enjoyed this immensely. But at the same time I honestly tell you I'm very peaceful about the prospect about a new phase of my own life. I hope it will be good for me. I think it will be wonderful to have a change of leadership here after so many years. I'd just like to make the time of transition a time when we appreciate the good things we celebrate."

Bishop Clark was installed the 8th Bishop of Rochester in 1979. At the time, at age 42, he was one of the youngest Roman Catholic Bishops in America.

When he retires Bishop Clark will have served 33 years, second only to Rochester's first Roman Catholic Bishop, Bernard McQuaid, who served more than 40 years.

Matthew Clark will still be called Bishop after he retires. He will likely stay on temporarily because it can take 8-12 months for the Vatican to name a successor.  Bishop Clark said he does not know who his successor will be, or when he will be named.

The Diocese says Bishop Clark wishes to remain in Rochester. At the appropriate time. he will move from his home at Sacred Heart Cathedral to a rectory at a local parish.

The Diocese furnished the following historical information:
Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid: 1868 - 1909 (death)
Bishop Thomas Francis Hickey: 1909 - 1928
Bishop John Francis O'Hern: 1928 - 1933 (death)
Archbishop (later Cardinal) Edward Mooney: 1933 -1937 (transfer to Archdiocese of Detroit)
Bishop James E. Kearney: 1937 - 1966
Bishop (later Archbishop) Fulton J. Sheen: 1966 - 1969 (retired)
Bishop Joseph Lloyd Hogan: 1969 -1978
Bishop Matthew Harvey Clark: 1979 - present

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