Bishop Moreno's Letter to the People of the Diocese Announcing His Retirement

March 6, 2003

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

It is with a heart filled with gratitude and some sadness that I tell you that His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, has granted my request to retire as Bishop of Tucson effective March 7, 2003.

My decision to submit “my request to retire” was not an easy one, because I love you.

I am eternally grateful to God for allowing me the wonderful opportunity to be with you these past 21 years. My time as bishop has been filled with the splendor and joy of knowing and serving you.

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.

My dear and faithful people, as I have shared with you, I have been struggling with a persistent health condition these past few years. This condition and the natural consequences of growing older have made it increasingly difficult for me to fulfill all my responsibilities with energy and consistency. Additionally, my doctors told me late last year about two new conditions that while not life threatening, are life changing. Thus, several months ago, I consulted with my spiritual director, several of my brother bishops, a few of our pastors, and members of my family about submitting to the Holy Father a request to retire. All with whom I shared my thoughts were helpful and supportive, but ultimately the decision had to be mine.

There was a moment when I felt that it was the right thing to do. It was in Mexico, at the home of my cousins. As I drove up the driveway to their home, so lovely with its gardens bathed in sunshine, the thought of retiring felt so good -- down to my heart -- that I said, “Yes, Lord, thy will be done! Thank you!”

My dear friends, the health concerns that I had three years ago compelled me then to ask His Holiness to appoint a coadjutor bishop to help with the administration of the diocese. How grateful I am that he appointed Bishop Kicanas. We are so fortunate that a man of his caliber and integrity, faith and devotion, will become our bishop. With his support, we have accomplished much in this past year that will help us grow and that will help us heal, and because of that I was all the more confident, in submitting my request to retire, that leadership of the See of Tucson would be in the hands of a good shepherd.
It is fitting that His Holiness has made my retirement effective March 7, which is close to the twenty-first anniversary of my installation as the fifth Bishop of Tucson. I am grateful to you, individually and collectively, for welcoming me 21 years ago with such warmth and loving kindness. Being involved in your lives has been a real gift to me.

I am grateful to our priests. You, my brother priests, have always had and will continue to have my admiration and respect. Thank you for your friendship. You have been tested and challenged. Thank you for persevering in your love for God and for your people, for your faith in the Lord, and trust in Holy Mother Church. You are the best. I am so grateful for the solidarity you have demonstrated to me and now to Bishop Kicanas. May God continue to bless you, and through you our people.

I am grateful to the deacons and religious women in our diocese who share their spirituality and offer their pastoral care.

I am grateful to the laymen and laywomen who have worked tirelessly on our diocesan boards and councils and to all the dedicated men and women (past and present) who staff the pastoral center and our parishes We have been blessed with the very best.

I am grateful to the wonderful people of other denominations and of other faiths whom I have had the privilege of working with and praying with for the benefit of all the people of Southern Arizona.

My dear and faithful people, thank you. Thank you for the many glorious memories of my time with you that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

I remember the first day I arrived in Tucson, walking into the Cathedral with Bishop Francis Green and thinking of the Psalm: “How lovely is your dwelling place O Lord,” and then kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament and praying for God’s grace so that I would be a good shepherd. Only you and God know if I have.

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.

In the coming weeks, as we transition into a new administration of the Diocese, I hope to have the opportunity to bid farewell to you more personally. I know that you will join me in prayer and support for Bishop Kicanas as he embarks on a Spirit-filled episcopacy and a wonderful experience with a loving Diocesan Family.

For the immediate future, I will be learning what it means to be a “Bishop Emeritus.” I will have joy, as I have had these past 42 years, in being a priest. I will be living here in Tucson, and I will call all of Southern Arizona my home.

As I enter this new and different chapter of my life, I ask for your blessings and your prayers.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Manuel D. Moreno, D.D.
Bishop of Tucson