Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11)- Retired Louisville Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., died Wednesday morning in his sleep at his Holy Trinity Parish home in St. Matthews.
Kelly, the leader of the Archdiocese of Louisville from 1982 to 2007, was 80 years old.
'The local church of Louisville has lost a friend, humble servant and dedicated man of God,' said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz.
Known for his wit, intellect and planning skills, Kelly had served as a parish priest for the last three years in residence at Holy Trinity, a position which introduced the skilled homilist to a new audience and a new experience in a family oriented parish community.
Though Kelly had served in diplomatic and administrative roles when Pope John Paul II assigned him to Louisville, the Dominican priest embraced the pastoral role as shepherd of the flock of 200,000 Central Kentucky Roman Catholics.
'Those are moments of grace when you're in contact with people you serve,' Kelly said in a 2002 interview, 'That's all pure gold. There's nothing you can trade off against that.'
It is expected that Kelly's body will lie in state at the Cathedral of the Assumption, with a Tuesday funeral. Kelly had expressed a desire that his body be interred alongside other Louisville bishops in the crypt beneath the Cathedral.
Kelly implemented strategic planning, sparked interfaith efforts and promoted lay leadership within the church.
'For me to become the servant of the faith here means to come home,' Kelly said at his 1982 installation.
'He would be more concerned that we don't focus on church administration and leadership as a 'maintaining,' mode' recalled Archdiocese Chancellor Brian Reynolds, 'but as a 'deciding where we're going, how we're going to get there.' And so very much a direction setter as a planner.'
Reynolds knew Kelly for more than three decades.
'I'm missing a friend today,' Reynolds said.
reynolds echoed Kelly's sentiments that pointed to the Restoration of the Cathedral of the Assumption as his proudest acheivement.
'I watched that whole restoration take place,' Kelly said in 2006, 'not just the bricks which I think is very beautiful indeed, we have a beautiful building, a place that is very attractive to worship, but also the spirit of parish has been very, very important to me.'
Kelly is also credited with reversing declining enrollments in Catholic schools, in part because of the creation of the Campaign for Excellence.
'We're able to fund a lot of young people to assist them in their tuition costs,' Kelly said, 'at the same time we've maintained the quality of education and I guess I am proudest of that.'
Kelly said he was proud of his controversial decision to close or merge struggling parishes.
'People move. It all comes down to that. People move,' Kelly explained, 'The people who don't move don't like that because it means change for them. And we've had to realign our parishes considerably.'
'Somebody said I'm a teflon bishop and I don't like getting scratched, and that's true,' Kelly said in 2002, 'I also think that I've made the tough decisions when I should.'
Kelly was praised for his candor about his treatment for addiction after doctors confronted him concerned with his use of prescription painkillers and alcohol after lung surgery.
'It was probably the most humiliating moment of my life,' Kelly said, adding that he went public because he thought it would be helpful to other people.
'It did make things easier to name this problem and put it out there,' Kelly recalled, 'Now, it was costly for me, personally to have fallen into this addiction but then to have to be so very public about it. Still, I didn't think there was any other way to go about it.'
Yet, the the clergy abuse scandal which exploded with a succession of lawsuits in 2002 and 2003, cut even deeper.
'The far greater and more painful thing was the discovery of the scope of the problem in our presbyterate,' Kelly said, 'I've always honored and respected our priests so much and loved them, each one no matter what the difficulties are. Then it was very hard for me to accept that this problem was as widespread as it was.
The number one thing is the damage done to victims,' Kelly continued, 'But the shock of it all and the discovery of it was just something that blew me away.
Scrutiny of the crisis revealed that Kelly had reassigned priests suspected of abuse.
'We had over time sought professional counsel for the very few cases we knew about. But they didn't know very much about what else to do,' Kelly said.
'Even law enforcement felt that it was a church question and needed to be dealt with by people like me,' Kelly continued.
Kelly rejected the suggestion that the church was being unfairly singled out.
'If there was one child among us that had been harmed, the emphasis was not exagerrated,' Kelly responded, 'The fact is, there were many victims. they often use the word 'cover-up' about us. I never felt that I was guilty although certainly I was charged with that.'
'For me, it was stupidity. Insensitivity,' Kelly said, 'The general ignorance that prevailed over this question was very prevalent in the church.'
Of Catholics disgusted by the crisis who decided to leave the church, Kelly had a simple message.
'Come home. Come home. We are a very serious church and we have had a very serious blow but we are overcoming the difficulties and we're surviving. Come back home and help us.'
NEWSRELEASEFROMTHE ARCHDIOCESE OF LOUISVILLE:
(Louisville, KY) Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., leader of the Archdiocese of Louisville from 1982 to his retirement in 2007, died Wednesday morning at home. He was 80 years old.
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz praised his brother bishop for his witness and service to the Archdiocese of Louisville: 'With the death of Archbishop Thomas Cajetan Kelly, O.P., the local church of Louisville has lost a friend, humble servant and dedicated man of God. Archbishop Kelly served for more than a quarter century as the Archbishop of Louisville and remained active as Archbishop Emeritus for almost five years. Throughout his ministry, he has consistently shown his wit and intellect to all who knew him, but most especially and most deeply, his humility and compassion for all. I am personally grateful for his friendship and welcome of me as his successor. In his 80 years of life, he has been thoroughly a priest of Jesus Christ, as a faithful Dominican, as a diplomat and administrator at the Nunciature and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, as Metropolitan of the Province of Louisville, as a true Archbishop, and in these last days as a faithful parish priest.'
Funeral arrangements will be announced.
Born in 1931 in Rochester, New York, Archbishop Kelly entered the Dominican order in 1951 after studying for two years at Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island. He pursued philosophical studies at St. Rose Priory, Springfield, Kentucky, and St. Joseph's Priory, Somerset, Ohio. Ordained a priest in 1958, Kelly received a Licentiate in Theology degree from the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C., in 1959 and a doctorate in canon law from the University of St. Thomas in Rome in 1962. He also studied at the University of Vienna and at Cambridge University.
Archbishop Kelly began his ministry in New York City in 1962 as secretary in the Dominican provincial office of St. Joseph Province. He also worked with the Legion of Decency and the Archdiocese of New York tribunal. Archbishop Kelly moved to Washington in 1965 as a secretary and archivist for the Apostolic Delegation.
In 1971 Archbishop Kelly joined the NCCB and USCC as associate general secretary. He was elected in March 1977 to a five-year term as chief administrative officer and general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) in Washington, D.C. In July 1977, Pope Paul VI named Kelly auxiliary to the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and titular bishop of Tusuro, Africa. In August 1977, he was ordained a bishop at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Kelly to the Archdiocese of Louisville in December 1981, and he was installed as Archbishop in February of 1982. During his years as Archbishop, he initiated a systematic approach to planning, resulting in the first long-range strategic plan in 1989. This plan was updated several times. He launched a major project to restore the Cathedral of the Assumption. As a result of this innovative, interfaith project the Cathedral has become nationally known as a public sanctuary and as a center of the arts and of compassionate service to those in need. In November 1994 Kelly held both archdiocesan and community interfaith services to dedicate the renovated Cathedral, and in 2002 he was present as the 150th anniversary of the Cathedral was celebrated. In 1996 the Archbishop spearheaded the Endowment for Excellence, a campaign for Catholic education.
Archbishop Kelly accompanied Mayor Jerry Abramson and advisers to Biloxi, Mississippi, in June 1987, in a successful effort to persuade the Presbyterian Church (USA) to move its headquarters to Louisville. He also was involved in the planning for the first two papal visits to the United States.
Archbishop Kelly was active in national, local, and regional organizations and has served as chancellor and trustee, Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky; chairman, Catholic Conference of Kentucky; member, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; and member, International Dominican Foundation Executive Committee. In addition, he was one of the founding members of the Cathedral Heritage Foundation and was vice-chairman of the Catholic Education Foundation, both in Louisville. He also served as chair of the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Educational Association and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association.
Archbishop Kelly was a member of the Statutes and Bylaws Committee, the National Advisory Council, and the Canonical Affairs Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and has served as national episcopal liaison (1995-2000) for the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. He served as the chair of the bishops' advisory committee of the Catholic Committee of the South. Past memberships also include: board of directors, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kentucky; Pontifical Commission for Religious in the United States; Seminary Board, Archdiocese of Chicago; Providence College Corporation; and board of trustees, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Archbishop Kelly was a recipient of the following honorary doctoral degrees: Sacred Theology Providence College; Laws Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts; Human Sciences Caldwell College, Caldwell, New Jersey; Human Letters Spalding University, Louisville, Kentucky; Humane Letters Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, Connecticut; Sacred Theology Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, California; Theology Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis, Missouri.
In 2007, Archbishop Kelly celebrated 25 years as Archbishop of Louisville, 30 years as a bishop, and 55 years as a Dominican. In his retirement, he lived at Holy Trinity Parish in Louisville, Kentucky.
Archbishop Kelly was the third Archbishop and first member of the Dominican order to head the Archdiocese of Louisville. He succeeded Archbishops Thomas J. McDonough, 1967-1981, and John A. Floersh, 1937-1967.
Mayor Greg Fischer's statement on the death of Archbishop Kelly
'Archbishop Kelly was a compassionate leader whose influence extended beyond the pews and into Louisville and the broader society. His value for all people, his belief in the goodness of humanity and his deep commitment to inclusion inspired many people,' Fischer said. 'His dedication to interfaith practices contributed to the founding of the globally-recognized Festival of Faiths, and the renovation of the Cathedral of the Assumption under his watch has left a lasting legacy for our city.'
Statement from Lt. Governor regarding the passing of Archbishop Kelly
'I had the honor to know Archbishop Kelly both as a friend and as a community leader. He was a dynamic individual who not only played a pivotal role in the Catholic community but also was an engaged, dedicated advocate and voice for so many in the Greater Louisville area. He was a true inspiration to us all. His vision and compassion will be greatly missed.' Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson.
