Thomas Joseph Murphy (October 3, 1932 – June 26, 1997) was an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

prelate who served as

archbishop of Seattle The Archdiocese of Seattle () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in western Washington State in the United States. The diocese was known as the Diocese of Nesqually from 1850 to 1907. The mother ch ...

in Washington State from 1991 until 1997. He previously served as bishop of Great Falls-Billings in Montana from 1978 to 1987 and as coadjutor archbishop of Seattle from 1987 to 1991.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, on October 3, 1932, Murphy attended Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained to the priesthood for the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...

at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary by Cardinal

Samuel Stritch Samuel Alphonsius Stritch (August 17, 1887 – May 27, 1958) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1940 to 1958 and as pro-prefect of the Congregation for Propagation of the Faith from March 1958 until hi ...

in 1958. On September 15, 1973, Cardinal John Cody appointed Murphy as rector of Saint Mary Seminary, a post he held until 1978.

Bishop of Great Falls-Billings

On July 5, 1978, Murphy was appointed bishop of Great Falls-Billings by Pope

Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

; he was consecrated by Archbishop Cornelius Power on August 21, 1978. In 1979, Murphy addressed the

National Catholic Education Association The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is a private, professional educational membership association. It represents over 150,000 educators in Catholic schools, universities, and religious education programs in the United States. ...

on vocations to the priesthood and their on the importance for the local church.

Coadjutor Archbishop of Seattle

On May 26, 1987,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Murphy as

coadjutor archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of Seattle, with immediate right of succession to Archbishop

Raymond Hunthausen Raymond Gerhardt "Dutch" Hunthausen (August 21, 1921 – July 22, 2018) was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Helena in Montana from 1962 to 1975 and as archbishop of Seattle in Washington State from 1975 to 1991. Biograp ...

. Murphy's appointment came after a series of controversies surrounding Hunthausen, first prompted by an

apostolic visitation In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to car ...

to the archdiocese ordered by then Cardinal

Joseph Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

, prefect of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

. Ratzinger was concerned about Hunthausen violating church doctrine. On December 3, 1985, the pope appointed Reverend

Donald Wuerl Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018. He previously served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle (1986 to 1987) and Bishop of Pit ...

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Seattle, with authority to overrule Hunthausen in several important areas. After protests from Hunthausen and other American prelates, John Paul II removed Wuerl and appointed Murphy as a coadjutor archbishop with less immediate authority.

Archbishop of Seattle

Murphy automatically became archbishop of Seattle upon Hunthausen's retirement on August 21, 1991. As archbishop, Murphy traveled extensively to

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es around the archdiocese and was an advocate for the poor and disenfranchised. He oversaw an extensive renovation of St. James Cathedral, which was completed in 1994. Under Murphy's administration the archdiocese saw an increase in registered Catholics, and an increase in outreach and ministries for women, various ethnic groups, and

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

individuals. In 1992, Murphy opened Elizabeth House in Seattle, which provided medical and job training for pregnant teens. For small Washington towns that were suffering from cutbacks in the

timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, Murphy provided $500,000 to assisting starting small businesses. To help offset the declining numbers of priests, he provided financial support to a

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

program to train lay people in assist in some parish duties.

Death and legacy

Murphy was diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with haematopoiesis, normal blood cell production. Sympt ...

in December 1996. He was undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

when he suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

. Thomas Murphy died at Providence Medical Center in Seattle on June 26, 1997. He is interred in the episcopal

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

beneath the main altar of St. James Cathedral in Seattle. In 1999, Holy Cross High School, a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

, was renamed Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy High School in his honor."Archbishop Thoms J. Murphy", University of Saint Mary of the Lake
/ref> In 2000, a new organ built in the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

of St. James Cathedral, was named the Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Millennium Organ. The "Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Memorial Parish Stewardship Award" is named in his honor. In 2006, the archdiocese dedicated the Archbishop Murphy Courtyard on the south side of the cathedral. It contains a fountain and pool, a marker stone and a statue of

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

References

External links

- official site

interactive timeline of his life {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Thomas Joseph 1932 births 1997 deaths Clergy from Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Roman Catholic bishops of Great Falls–Billings Roman Catholic archbishops of Seattle 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Religious leaders from Illinois Catholics from Illinois Bishops appointed by Pope Paul VI