Seattle’s Archbishop Murphy, At The Helm Since 1991, Dies At 64

Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy of the Seattle Archdiocese died Thursday morning. He was 64.

Murphy suffered a brain hemorrhage Wednesday night while hospitalized for treatment of leukemia. He had been diagnosed late last year.

Bells began tolling at St. James Cathedral with the announcement of his death.

“His was a peaceful, prayerful death, and the archbishop was sent out of this life surrounded by prayer and song,” archdiocesan spokesman Jim Britt said.

The Archdiocese of Seattle, which serves all of Washington state west of the Cascades, has about 353,000 Catholics.

In 1986 the Vatican, unhappy with Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen’s liberal policies on annulments, homosexuality and other topics, ordered him to turn over his authority on such matters to a new assistant, Bishop Donald Wuerl.

The discipline was unprecedented in the U.S. church and upset many Catholics. Petitions bearing the names of thousands of U.S. priests, nuns and lay Catholics were sent to the Vatican, calling for full restoration of Hunthausen’s power.

Eventually a compromise was worked out. Murphy replaced Wuerl as coadjutor, or assistant, archbishop in 1987, and became sole leader when Hunthausen retired in 1991.