Obituary for Most Rev. Manuel D. Moreno, Bishop Emeritus of Tucson

Manuel Duran Moreno was born in Placentia, Calif., on Nov. 27, 1930, the first of five children of Antonio and Enedina Duran Moreno.

Antonio immigrated to California from Mexico as an undocumented farm worker in the 1920s. Enedina’s family came to the U.S. when she was 13 months old, living first in Yuma and then in Redlands, Calif., before settling in Placentia.

Antonio worked in the orange and walnut groves that surrounded Placentia and nearby Fullerton. Enedina’s father was a snow cone entrepreneur, selling the multi-flavored treats from a big front window in the family’s home. Her mother had a great talent for cooking.

Enedina and Antonio met and married in Placentia, and the couple started their family in the farming community whose name in Spanish means “pleasant place to live.”

As for many families during the Great Depression and the years of World War II, life was not easy for Antonio and Enedina and their growing family. Enedina, who had her mother’s cooking skills, sold her popular menudo from their home to augment the family’s income.

The Morenos were poor, but they had riches in their values, culture and faith. Working hard was important. Getting an education was important. Knowing, respecting and living their heritage and traditions were important.

God was important, and the especially close bond between Manuel and his mother was cemented with her strong Catholic faith and her devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Manuel attended Chapman Grammar School in Placentia and, with his brother and sister, St. Mary’s Parochial School in Fullerton. He ran cross country at Fullerton Union High School, where he graduated in 1949. (He is honored on the high school’s “Wall of Fame.”)

In his teen years, Manuel worked with his father in the packing warehouses. His job most often was to apply the labels on the orange crates. He also worked in the small store in the family’s neighborhood.

After high school, he entered Fullerton Junior College with an interest in a business career. He completed the two-year course at the junior college and then transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles.

He received his bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1953, but a career in business would not be the direction his life would take.

During his two years at UCLA, Manuel began a discernment about his vocation in life, a discernment that incorporated his deep spirituality and the values instilled by his parents.

He explained this discernment to parishioners in Los Angeles in 1978.

“There were 11 Mexican-Americans in the whole university (at the time he attended). There were many doubts about faith and religion. Some fell away from the faith, partly because there were no priests of our own.

“At that time only six Mexican-Americans had been ordained in Los Angeles. I wondered why. I investigated the need for priests and the idea of the priesthood. I entered the seminary with doubts and fears. Studies were difficult, but God’s help was great.”

In a 1982 newspaper interview, he divulged more about his call to the priesthood.

“It was their (priests whom he knew) words of encouragement, that I could have a vocation, and that being of Mexican-American background, I could serve the Church well.

“That started me thinking. You have to have faith and trust in the Lord that you’ll be a priest if He wants you to be.”

Manuel began his seminary studies in 1953 at Our Queen of Angels Seminary in San Fernando, Calif. After two years there, he transferred to the major seminary of St. John’s in Camarillo, Calif., where he completed his seminary studies.

His family would make the drive to St. John’s to visit Manuel on weekends, and his mother would bring a wonderful spread of Mexican dishes for a picnic to which some of his classmates, one of whom was Roger Mahony, would be invited.

In 1957, in his second year at St. John’s, Manuel’s father died. Some of his classmates joined the choir for the funeral Mass.

On April 25, 1961, Manuel was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre.

Father Moreno’s first assignment was as an associate pastor of St. Thomas Parish in Los Angeles.
He stayed there five years and then was assigned as an associate pastor St. Vibiana Cathedral.

While serving at the Cathedral, Father Moreno also served in the Chancery Office with responsibilities for the Cursillo Movement and the Archdiocesan Team Ministry Board. On May 4, 1974, he received the title of monsignor.

Pope Paul VI elevated Msgr. Moreno to the episcopacy on Dec. 20, 1976. He was the sixth Hispanic priest in the U.S. to be named a bishop.

On Feb. 19, 1977, Bishop Moreno was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Timothy Manning at St. Vibiana Cathedral.

As reported in The Tidings, the Los Angeles Archdiocesan newspaper, a traditional blessing from his mother was a highlight of the liturgy:

“At the end of Mass when organ and trumpets resounded in triumphant recessional, the 17 bishops of the west who attended the rite began filing from the sanctuary.

“Many stopped to embrace Mrs. Moreno. Her son, now wearing a mitre and carrying his new crosier, went to her. She embraced him, stepped back, looked into his face, raised her right hand and with eyes brimming with love blessed her son as is the custom of Mexican mothers.”

A new bishop selects an ecclesial coat of arms and a motto. For his coat of arms, Bishop Moreno selected a simple but distinctive cross. It is the cross on the brooch of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Cuento con Cristo” (“I count upon Christ”) was his motto.

As a new auxiliary, Bishop Moreno established an immediate direction for his episcopacy, telling a group of young people from parishes on the eastside of Los Angeles, “I am here to listen.”
He told the teens, “I intend to say very few words. I want instead to listen, to hear you, your anxieties, dreams and problems.”

During an interview shortly after becoming a bishop, he said, “I’ve been asked if the appointment of a Spanish-speaking bishop indicates a change in the Church, indicates that the Church is beginning to open up to the Spanish-speaking people.

“I don’t see it that way, as an opening up. I think that something was planted, grew, blossomed and will continue to grow.”

As a member of the Archdiocesan Youth Commission, Bishop Moreno developed a keen awareness of the role of youth in the Church. He also served as Archdiocesan Spiritual Director of the Cursillo Movement, directing more than 100 Cursillos in the Los Angeles area and guiding more than 5,000 men in this spiritual exercise.

In 1978, Fullerton College presented him with the Distinguished Alumni Award at Commencement in recognition of “outstanding achievement in the field of ecclesiastical administration; his work in civic, social and cultural welfare, and for personal, dedicated service to his fellow man.”

In January of 1981, Cardinal Manning appointed Bishop Moreno as Episcopal Vicar for Ventura County, an area with 17 parishes, 10 parochial schools, four Catholic high schools and a Catholic population of 100,000.

On Jan. 12, 1982, Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Tucson.

Seven days after his appointment, Bishop Moreno came to Tucson to be introduced by his predecessor, retired Bishop Francis J. Green.

At the news conference during that visit, Bishop Moreno told reporters, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be with you and through you to address the people of God in the Diocese of Tucson.

“This is my first opportunity to be with you personally since His Holiness appointed me to serve you. I welcome it and greet you.

“Saludos y bendiciones a todos Uds el Pueblo de Dios de esta diocesis: a los seglares, jovenes y majores, la Pas de Cristo este con Uds y que Nuestra Madre Santa Maria de Guadalupe los proteja.

“My first stop upon arriving here in Tucson was at the Cathedral, to present in the company of our beloved Bishop Green, myself to our Lord, and pray.

“I prayed that Our Lord will bless the People of the Diocese and that the bishop that has been sent to them might always serve them as Christ wants him to serve, faithfully and lovingly.

“I anticipate that my greatest challenge will be for me to learn what the Lord wants of me; how to serve his people. I hope to learn this by prayer and listening to the people.”

Bishop Moreno’s installation as fifth Bishop of Tucson took place on March 11, 1982, in the Tucson Convention Center main arena before nearly 9,000 people, including his mother, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews.

That liturgy included another blessing from his mother, who was first in line to receive the Eucharist from her son.

In his first year as Bishop of Tucson, Bishop Moreno embarked on a year long pilgrimage to introduce himself to the Diocese.

That pilgrimage included visits to every parish, school and community in the nine counties of the Diocese, which at nearly 43,000 square miles is the fifth largest diocese in geographic size in the continental U.S.

On that pilgrimage, he experienced the full spectrum of life as a new diocesan bishop as he saw for the first time the Diocese’s social, economic and spiritual landscape.

Here are just a few examples of his ministry in that first year:

He presided at an outdoor Mass in Clifton’s Copper Verde Park, where more than 300 families sought spiritual comfort after the closing the Phelps-Dodge Copper Mines in eastern Arizona. He told out-of-work miners and their families that their faith and their support for one another would lead them through the difficult days ahead.

He ordained six seminarians to the transitory diaconate, the last order before ordination to the priesthood. The location of the ordination was truly historic – San Xavier del Bac Mission. The ordination was the first in the history of the then 185-year-old mission.

He was one of the 14 Hispanic bishops of the U.S. to sign a first-of-its-kind joint pastoral letter calling for Hispanic Americans to be “artisans of a new people” by rediscovering the Gospel and sharing the treasures of their cultural and religious values.

He toured the Arizona State Prison in Florence and grasped the hand of a death row inmate through a narrow slot in a cell door.

He was honorary chairman of the 50th anniversary celebration of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona.

He led the diocesan pilgrimage to Mexico City and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

He embraced a developmentally disabled child at a diocesan “Liturgy of Love” for children in special education and their families.

He wrote a pastoral letter asking, on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, for prayers and fasting “as a spiritual renewal of our commitment” to life.

He visited the Yoem Pueblo, a three block-long Yaqui village near Marana, to hear from tribal residents their hope to build a small chapel.

And, while visiting a remote village on the Tohono O’odham Reservation, he had an experience that turned into one of his favorite stories:

“I drove up to the village in my new car, actually not my car, but a beautiful new car that a generous friend in Tucson had loaned for the use of the bishop.

“As I parked the car, people surrounded it, and I got a warm welcome. As I was talking with the people, I noticed a young boy admiring the car, touching its gleaming surface. I went up to him and said, ‘I bet you’d like to have a car like this.’

“He just smiled and nodded. I wanted to hear him speak, so I asked him, ‘Do you know where I got this car?’ He just smiled and raised his eyebrows.

“Hoping to get him to talk, I said, ‘This isn’t my car. A very good friend gave it to me to use. I bet you would like to have a friend like that.’

“Then he spoke. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but I would like to be a friend like that.’”

Nearing the end of his first year as Bishop of Tucson, he reflected at the conclusion of a newspaper interview that the years ahead would have some troubled times, but that he was confident that he would be able to accept those times.

Recalling the past year as busy, enjoyable and profitable, he said, “I still need to listen, to observe, to learn.”

On the first anniversary of his appointment as Bishop of Tucson, he wrote his observations about the communities he had visited and the people he had met during the one-year pilgrimage across the Diocese.

“Perhaps these personal observations and reflections may seem somewhat minor and insignificant in view of the more complex picture of administrating a large diocese,” he wrote, “but they give to me a most significant inspiration and strength.

“It is simply what my heart has told me all along: that the bond, the ties, the trust and love have made me in fact part of your diocesan family.

“I am bishop for you.”

Over the next 18 years, Enedina would often visit her son in Tucson. She and the Sisters of St. Martha, whose Mexican religious order ministers in the households of bishops and priests, would fuss over Bishop Moreno.

So close was his relationship with his mother, her death in 2000 was a confrontation for Bishop Moreno with his faith. While he lovingly entrusted her to God, there still was a wound in his heart that would never heal.

Themes of the Episcopacy of Bishop Moreno

Empowerment

Bishop Moreno used this word two different ways in his episcopacy.

First, within the structure of the Diocese, he preferred to view people working with him, not for him, and he applied and supported the principle of subsidiarity by allowing and encouraging the people around him to use their talents and skills in the responsibilities he delegated to them.

Second, he saw empowerment in the context of the Church’s teachings on social justice. For example, he embraced the values of community organizing as a tool to bring about justice in communities where some felt marginalized or powerless because they did not have the skills to participate in the political process or to address through government problems and issues.

The first community organizing project in the Diocese began in the Safford-Solomon area in the early 1980s under the name of COBRE (Communities Organized by Rural Efforts).

His experience with COBRE encouraged Bishop Moreno to support funding for the initial organizing of what is now the Pima County Interfaith Council (PCIC).

The model of PCIC is now in place with its own unique identity and goals through the Yuma County Interfaith Sponsoring Committee. (YCISC).

Social Justice and Social Mission

Bishop Moreno was a strong supporter of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), even through at times in the 1990s the national organization, established by the U.S. Bishops, was under fire from conservative critics.

Efforts such as PCIC and YCISC were able to receive grants and other funding from CCHD because of Bishop Moreno’s support.

In addition, CCHD funding supported projects initiated by Native American groups within the Diocese, two of which were cooperatives which assisted Native Americans in the marketing of basket weavings and flour ground from mesquite beans.

In 1996, Bishop Moreno established the Catholic Social Mission Office, the first diocesan office to focus specifically on social justice issues and the promotion of the social teachings of the Church.

Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations

Bishop Moreno enjoyed the collegiality and collaboration of many of the religious leaders of the denominations and faiths throughout Southern Arizona.

He had a deeply personal relationship with the Jewish Community. At the beginning of the New Millennium, he wrote the Jewish People of Southern Arizona a letter in which he told them, “Please know your presence is a great blessing for me and for the people of the Diocese of Tucson. You are a model for us in your steadfastness and perseverance in your faith. You lead our community by example in your service to God, to each other, and to the world. You are gift to us beyond measure.”

In June of 2000, he became the first Bishop of Tucson to participate in a Friday Sabbath service at a Jewish synagogue. Invited by his friend Rabbi Samuel Cohon of Tucson’s Temple Emanu-El, Bishop Moreno prayed with the congregation. He shared with them the experience of visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem with his mother and how his mother had cried.

In April of 2001, he arranged a meeting between Jewish community leadership in Tucson and Cardinal Francis Arinze, then head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, when the Cardinal visited Tucson.

He served an honorary co-chair of the American-Israel Friendship League and was honored by the committee at its annual dinner in 2002.

With pastors of several African-American churches of different denominations, Bishop Moreno established in the mid-1990s the African-American Hispanic Dialogue, an ecumenical collaboration to address violence among young people, especially violence that involved guns.

The Dialogue resulted in Tucson’s first-ever gun “buy-back” program, in which people could turn in firearms, with no questions asked, and receive a small remuneration in return.

In September of 2001, Bishop Moreno encouraged Catholics in the Diocese of Tucson to turn away from hatred in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and to treat with compassion and respect the Arab people living in Southern Arizona. He urged religious tolerance for those who practice the Muslim Faith.

Participation of the Laity

Bishop Moreno’s pastoral style emphasized prayer and listening to people. He often said and wrote that it was prayer and listening that helped him learn what God wanted.

Significant examples of how he modeled listening in his pastoral style include: the survey of parishioners in the mid-1980s that resulted in the first pastoral plan of his episcopacy, “Our Pilgrimage Together;” the establishment of two Diocesan Pastoral Councils, which included representation from all geographic areas of the Diocese; “listening sessions” which led to the second pastoral plan of his episcopacy, “Building a Living Church;” and the convening of three primary diocesan councils (Presbyteral, Finance, Diocesan Pastoral) in regular special retreats.

Within the administrative structure of the Diocese, Bishop Moreno expanded the presence of laity, naming over the course of his episcopacy a layman and two laywomen as Chief Finance Officers and a laywoman as Chancellor. These canonically required positions previously had been filled by priests.

In addition, in the 1990s, a laywoman became the Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona Inc. and two laywomen and a religious woman served as directors of three of the six member agencies of Catholic Community Services for which Bishop Moreno served as chairman of the board.

He supported the establishment of a diocesan lay leadership formation program in the 1990s under the title of “Living Stones.”

Promoting a Culture of Life

Bishop Moreno supported lay pro-life movements and established the Respect Life Program in the diocesan Department of Parish Life and Ministry. This program coordinated the support of the Diocese for pro-life efforts that included promotion of adoption, pregnancy counseling and legislative and spiritual opposition to abortion and capitol punishment.

Immigration and Border Issues

Bishop Moreno played a critical role in drawing the attention of the Catholic Church nationally to the moral and social dimensions of the migration of Mexican citizens into the U.S. through Arizona.

Through the initiation of the diocesan Catholic Social Mission Office, national and international conferences, the first of which was hosted by the Diocese in Tucson, began to address the migration and its effects in the context of Catholic teaching.

This attention resulted in two major initiatives, the Catholic Relief Services Mexico Project and the historic joint pastoral letter from the Bishops of the U.S. and Mexico, “Strangers No Longer.”

Ministry to Hispanics

As one of 25 active Hispanic bishops in the U.S. during the time of his episcopacy, Bishop Moreno focused diocesan programs for ministry to Hispanic Catholics on evangelization and lay leadership development.

Challenges

During the 21 years of Bishop Moreno’s episcopacy, there were two significant challenges to the mission of the Diocese that originated from within the diocesan church itself: debt from the ownership of a television station and the scandals of sexual abuse of children by priests.

In the early 1980s, during the episcopacy of Bishop Francis J. Green, the Diocese applied for and received a license to operate a full-power (UHF) commercial television station.

Shortly after Bishop Moreno became Bishop of Tucson, he approved construction of a communications center to house the television station’s operations and the editorial offices of the diocesan newspaper.

When the station signed on in 1985, the Tucson television market was significantly more competitive than the market that existed when the Diocese sought and received the license. The Diocese soon found it could not afford to be competitive with programming that was consistent with Catholic values. The Diocese sought to sell the station, but before a buyer could be found, the financial losses from operating the station had taken a severe toll.

After selling the station in 1988, the Diocese was nearly $30-million dollars in debt from loans it had taken to construct the communications center and to start and operate the station.

Bishop Moreno accepted full responsibility for the decisions that were made after the license had been received to proceed with the television station.

A financial recovery plan was implemented, and in 2000 the Diocese had returned to financial stability.

From 1997 through 2001, 11 lawsuits were filed against the Diocese, Bishop Moreno, priests of the Diocese and parishes by 16 plaintiffs, including 10 men who alleged sexual abuse by priests when they were children. The suits also included allegations that Bishop Moreno and his predecessor, Bishop Green, had failed to report abuse about which they were aware and had failed to protect children from abuse.

In early October of 2001, as the trial for one of the suits was set to begin, Bishop Moreno reported to the Diocese on the suits.

“The number of acts and the awful behaviors that are alleged are overwhelming. I was shocked and dismayed to learn of the allegations, and there is just no way that I can prepare you for what is alleged in the suits and what may be alleged during any trials,” the Bishop wrote.

When the lawsuits were settled in January of 2002 without going to trial, Bishop Moreno and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, who had been appointed coadjutor Bishop of Tucson in late October of 2001, apologized publicly to victims of abuse and to their families. Bishop Moreno also communicated to the Diocese that the consequences of the abuse had brought about painful financial and pastoral consequences for the Diocese that would require tight diocesan budgets and a concentrated effort to restore trust and to heal the pain of victims.

In a homily at Our Mother of Sorrows Parish in Tucson on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2002, Bishop Moreno again publicly apologized to victims of abuse and to their families. He asked forgiveness for his failings and mistakes. He committed the Diocese to the safety of children, to restoring trust and to helping victims of abuse heal.

“We are putting together broken pieces. We are making new what has been damaged by sin and neglect and ignorance and betrayal of trust," he told the parishioners. “We will fix in the Diocese what allowed the damage to take place.”

Steps that were taken by Bishop Moreno with the support of coadjutor Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas to protect children within the Church, to restore trust and to help victims heal included: the establishment of the Sexual Misconduct Policy Review Committee; listening sessions with parishioners in Yuma and Tucson prior to the June, 2002, meeting of U.S. Bishops in Dallas; support for the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People developed by the U.S. Bishop in Dallas; public identification of priests against whom there were credible allegations of sexual misconduct with children; establishment, with Catholic Social Service, of the Victim Assistance Program;

Promulgation of the Guidelines for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Misconduct developed by the Review Committee, guidelines that contain the clear statement that the Diocese will not tolerate sexual misconduct; establishment of a Sexual Misconduct Review Board and appointment of its members; creation of the diocesan Office of Child, Adolescent and Adult Protection and the hiring of the office’s director; and approval of a Code of Conduct for all who minister in the Diocese.

As a result of these steps, policies and procedures were established that include requirements for: development and implementation of a Safe Environment Program at each parish and school; fingerprinting and background screening of prospective employees and volunteers; annual education on child abuse awareness and prevention for employees and volunteers; annual personal safety education for children in parishes and schools and their parents; and annual audits of parishes for compliance with policies and procedures.

Bishop Moreno met privately with several victims of abuse to communicate his sorrow and to ask forgiveness. He said those meetings were “profound” experiences.

At the Chrism Mass of Holy Week in 2003, Bishop Moreno, Bishop Kicanas and Bishop Francis Quinn, Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento, prostrated themselves before the altar at St. Augustine Cathedral as a public sign of contrition for the failings of the Diocese that had led to abuse of children by priests.

Transitions

On Oct. 30, 2001, Bishop Moreno informed the Diocese that Pope John Paul II had appointed Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, an auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Tucson.

In his letter announcing the appointment, Bishop Moreno explained why he had asked the Holy Father to appoint a coadjutor:

“As I have shared with you, I am living the reality of some of the aches and pains of getting older, and I also have been dealing with the frustrations of a health condition that makes long drives, long meetings and long ceremonies difficult.

“Seeing all of this, and seeing especially our pastoral needs and your hopes and dreams for your Church at the beginning of the New Millennium, I prayed for the Holy Spirit’s direction on how I could best serve you in the next four years leading up to my mandatory retirement at age 75.

“It was after discernment and with great trust in God that I wrote to the Holy Father several months ago to ask him for a coadjutor bishop.”

On March 7, 2003, Bishop Moreno announced that the Pope John Paul II had accepted his request to retire for reasons of health and that Bishop Kicanas was now the Bishop of Tucson.

His letter to the people of the Diocese announcing his retirement reflected “the bond, the ties, the trust and love have made me in fact part of your diocesan family” about which he had written 20 years earlier at the conclusion of his first year as Bishop of Tucson.

“Thank you Lord, for allowing me to serve you and your people as Bishop of the Diocese of Tucson. It has been a blessing that only you could grant. I am so grateful that you selected me to be your instrument of grace. You have been so generous with your grace in so many moments of my life. I trust and pray that I have served your beloved people with the love you and they have shown me constantly since the first moment of my arrival.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say that my time as bishop also has included periods of turmoil and difficulty, pain and anguish. Yet, even during the dark days, you have been generous with your prayers and with your support and gracious in your encouragement.

“For the mistakes I have made I am sincerely sorry. To those whom my actions or inactions have injured, I reiterate my contrition and offer my unending prayers for healing.

“In these past two decades as your bishop, I have learned so much from all of you. I have learned about living and loving, about mercy and compassion, about pain, sorrow, and forgiveness.

“You have given me so much and taught me more than I could have ever imagined. May each of us continue to learn from one another, as we grow closer in faith, trust, and love, to form a spiritual community that is closer to God.”

Bishop Moreno also made public on the day of his retirement that he was being treated for prostate cancer and Parkinson disease.

In his three years of retirement, he lived the life he loved: the life of a priest.

Accepting an invitation from Msgr. Tom Cahalane, pastor of Our Mother of Sorrows Parish, to live in a house across the street from the church, Bishop Moreno often celebrated Mass and heard confessions at the parish.

When his health allowed, he would help Bishop Kicanas with the heavy schedule of Confirmations.

In March of 2006, Bishop Moreno announced to the annual diocesan Convocation of Priests that he would be receiving chemotherapy treatments for the prostate cancer.

“Firsts” during the Episcopacy of Bishop Moreno

During his 21 year episcopacy, he established Blessed Kateri Tekawitha Parish, the first parish to serve Native American Catholics in the Diocese outside a reservation. The parish serves Native Americans of several tribes who live in Tucson, South Tucson and Marana.

He established Our Lady of La Vang Parish, the first parish to serve Tucson’s Vietnamese Catholic population.

He was the first Bishop of Tucson to take part in a Jewish Sabbath service at a synagogue.

He was the first Bishop of Tucson to support the cause of beatification for Padre Eusebio Kino.

He was the first Bishop of Tucson to appoint women to the canonical positions of chancellor and chief financial officer.

He was the first Bishop of Tucson to use a PC and to send e-mail.

Bishop Moreno’s Episcopacy by the Numbers

(Some of the numbers are conservative approximations.)

7,719 -- days as Bishop of Tucson

10,000 -- celebrations of the Eucharist (Masses he said)

30,000 -- adults and teens Confirmed

200,000 -- blessings given

70 -- priests ordained*

70 -- deacons ordained

10,000 -- new Catholics personally welcomed**

11 -- parishes started

6 -- schools started

4 -- ad limina visits to Rome***

630,000 -- miles driven

75,000 -- meetings and appointments

150,000 -- hands shaken

1,000 -- pot luck parish meals

1 -- pair of cowboy boots
(Presented as a gift on his birthday in 1983)

* 50 for Diocese of Tucson; 20 for religious orders
** Catechumens and Candidates at Annual Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion
*** Visits to report on diocese and to meet with the Pope required every five years of diocesan bishops