Bishop Murry of Youngstown diagnosed with leukemia

Bishop George Murry file photo

Bishop George V. Murry, S.J., of Youngstown, Ohio has been diagnosed with a form of acute leukemia, the diocese announced Monday.

"He was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic on Sunday, April 29, 2018. He will undergo intensive chemo therapy for the next four weeks," said a statement from the diocese.

The statement asked for prayers for the bishop, and said that periodic health updates will be released. At this time, doctors are not allowing visitors, the diocese said.

Bishop Murry currently serves as chair of the U.S. bishops' new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, which was established last year.

The ad hoc committee's work has included a press conference last fall at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the creation of resources for the Sept. 9 Feast Day of St. Peter Claver as an annual day of prayer for peace within communities.

The committee is also working to promote education, resources, communications strategies, and care for victims of racism. A pastoral letter from the committee is expected to be released later this year.

Murry also chairs the conference's Committee on Catholic Education. In his statement for National Catholic Schools Week this year, he emphasized the role of Catholic schools in forming both the minds and hearts of students nationwide.

Bishop Murry was born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1948. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1972, and was ordained to the priesthood seven years later. Murry holds a M.Div. degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California, and a Ph.D. in American Cultural History from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He served in administrative roles in two Washington, D.C., high schools, as well as serving as a professor of American Studies at Georgetown University and as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. In 1998, the pope appointed him Coadjutor Bishop of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and on June 30, 1999, appointed him bishop of the diocese.

Bishop Murry has led the Youngstown diocese since 2007.