Bishop Thomas Welsh, First Bishop of Arlington, Dies in Allentown

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Former Arlington Bishop Welsh dies

When I heard that Bishop Welsh was seriously ill ten days ago, I sent the following to my email list. I post it now as a memorial to a man I considered a true spiritual father. Please pray for the repose of his soul and ask for his intercession on our poor country.

Dear Friends,

I received word last night that Bishop Thomas Welsh, first shepherd of Arlington, is in critical condition in an Allentown hospital with a serious heart ailment. Please keep him in your prayers.

Bishop Welsh is one of the most gracious men I've ever known. I was at a function once where he greeted almost everyone who approached him by name. I was amazed. He was one of the first bishops to lead a major prayer demonstration at an abortion mill, the Northern Virginia Women's Medical Center.

After he left for Allentown and after his retirement I used to see him occasionally when he was in town because he generally would visit the Poor Clares and say Mass for them. It was always a pleasure to go back to the sacristy and say hello. He always asked about the children.

He once visited our home in Alexandria after Easter and brought a giant bag of black jelly beans for the little ones which endeared him to their hearts because they liked the black ones best (like their mom). I remember that he picked out all the black olives (or was it mushrooms?) in his salad and left them on his plate. It's just a little memory that makes me smile. Somehow it made him less "bishop" and more "father." In fact, when I think about him it makes me smile. He is so kind, a quality that we could all practice better; I think it covers a multitude of sins and who among us doesn't need that? I still treasure the rosary he gave me that he said Pope John Paul II blessed during one of his ad limina visits.

And so I will be offering my Mass, rosary, and all my joys and sufferings today for this dear and gracious spiritual father. Thank you, Bishop Welsh, for being a father and a friend.