Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, the second bishop to guide the Diocese of San Jose, died Sunday, only a day after getting into hospice care.
In a social-media put up, a diocese account stated “[w]ith nice unhappiness, we notify you that Emeritus Bishop P.J. McGrath handed away this afternoon, Could 7, 2023.”
“Allow us to supply our prayers for the repose of his soul and for the comfort of his household and his mates,” the put up learn partially. “We are going to inform you as quickly as we will coordinate funeral preparations.”
McGrath, 77, had reportedly been unable to beat pneumonia contracted after present process surgical procedure to restore a spinal disk damage. Based on an earlier put up, McGrath’s successor, Bishop Oscar Cantú, visited with him this weekend.
“He asks in your prayers for a peaceable transition to the Lord’s home,” Bishop Cantú wrote. ““He's very a lot at peace, and awaits the arrival of his household from Eire.”
McGrath, who was born in Eire, served because the bishop of the Diocese of San Jose for 20 years, starting in 1999. He retired in 2019 at age 74, and briefly discovered himself on the heart of an issue involving his buy of a $2.3 million retirement house utilizing diocesan funds. After public outcry, he offered the home at a $50,000 revenue, which he donated to charity.
Within the early 2000s, McGrath served on a priest abuse activity drive committee with former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery. McEnery remembered McGrath as a proponent of a zero-tolerance coverage for abusive clergymen. Some dioceses had really helpful a one-strike coverage.
“I do know he tried, and that’s much more than you possibly can say for a lot of bishops at that interval,” McEnery stated in an interview Sunday.
The San Jose Diocese, initially a part of the San Francisco Diocese, was established in 1981. McGrath was the second bishop to serve the diocese, following Bishop Pierre DuMaine.
Employees author George Kelly contributed to this report.