A TRIBUTE TO ARCHBISHOP MYERS

From the Last Will and Testament of Archbishop Myers:

“When the Father calls me home, I will go with gratitude for all of His gifts during this life. The blessings which have thus far been mine I know to be a sign of His love.  Greatest among them are my parents whom I have dearly loved for being themselves and for trusting and sacrificing that I might be myself.  I am grateful also to my brothers and sisters and to their wonderful families for their love and support, as well as to friends, relatives, teachers, priests, colleagues, parishioners and members of the Diocese of Peoria and the Archdiocese of Newark who have added much to my life.  To be their son, brother and friend have made my life full and happy.  To serve them well as a priest, bishop and archbishop has been my sincerest wish.  For my failure to any one of these people I ask forgiveness.  May our Father grant them a rich life until we are together again.  May the Lord Jesus bring them in peace to our eternal home.  Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.”  † John J Myers

Funeral: September 30, 2020

Diocese of Peoria, September 29, 2020.  –  The public is invited to the visitation for Archbishop John J. Myers from 3 to 8 p.m. today at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. Those attending should wear face masks. The rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. and livestreamed at www.cdop.org. The funeral Mass for Archbishop Myers will be tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 a.m. at the cathedral. Because of pandemic restrictions, it is by invitation only, but the Mass will be livestreamed at www.cdop.org. The next issue of The Catholic Post will be an expanded edition featuring funeral coverage and reviewing Archbishop Myers’ life, teachings, and impact on the Diocese of Peoria.

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HAVING BEEN LED IN PRAYER BY ARCHBISHOP MYERS

My association with the Archdiocese of Newark began in the 1990’s when Sister Pat and I moved to Cranford.  Most of my earlier years were spent in the New Jersey Dioceses of Camden, Trenton and Metuchen.  My fond memories of Archbishop Myers are mostly from celebraions I attended at our Cathedral Basilica, Masses at which he was the celebrant.  These occasions were few and far inbetween but memorable because I found great inspiration in how the Archbishop could make me feel and the others in that enormously large congregation sense that we were a praying community.  It was that quality of his being able to draw us all into a unified people, the people of God, that made me respond supportingly whenever I read uncomplementary remarks about him in secular newspapers or heard such comments from parishioners who, obviously, never “met” the Archbishop.

It was those combined experiences (and, perhaps, a nudge by God) that inspired me to write a note to the Archbishop and take it to an event I attended at the Archdiocesan Center in December of 2015.  In that letter I wrote:

Dear Archbishop Myers,

You have been much in my thoughts and prayers.  Many times have I wanted to write to you to let you know that I find nothing in you of the person the press and, sadly, some of our Catholics make you to be.  Over the past few years, I have attended several Masses at the Cathedral and I am always impressed and inspired by your warm, personal style of celebrating Mass.  Few people can make the members of such a large community feel a part of the Mass as you do.  I was fortunate to be there last Sunday at the Opening the Doors Mass.

I am a parishioner of St. Michael’s in Cranford where I volunteer in the parish.  I do as much as I can to speak of you in a positive light.  And I also tell parishioners of my positive experiences of you and that I have never read anything you have written that is not the truth, well written, very respectful and spoken in words that are also very caring.  It saddens me that you have to endure the cruel things that are said about you.  I hope it helps to know that there are people, like myself, unknown to you personally, who support you and cherish having you as our Archbishop.

My thoughts and prayers continue.  May you have a Blessed Christmas.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

What I did not expect was that the person whom I asked to deliver the letter (another bishop) shared with me his own deep sadness because he, too, was convinced that the secular newspaper reports were a misrepresentation of the Archbishop.  I also had no idea that the next day, when my note was given to the Archbishop, was the anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood or that he would respond to my letter and in it say among other things, that Jesus never led us to think that following Him would be easy.

I am grateful that I have had an opportunity to know Archbishop Myers, to be a parishioner in an archdiocese in which he served as our shepherd and to celebrate the Eucharist with him.  As the homilist at his funeral Mass mentioned, “He was a good bishop.”

Sister Loretta

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Click here to go to the Newark Archdiocesan website to read Letters of Condolences or go directly to:

• Pope Francis’ message – “To all who mourn Archbishop Myers’ passing in the sure hope of the resurrection, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing.”
• Diocese of  Camden Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan’s message – “Archbishop Myers installed me as the Bishop of Camden and I was blessed to work with him until his retirement.  He will be remembered for his faithful service to the Church here in New Jersey and in Peoria, Illinois.”
• Diocese of  Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.’s message – “A fellow alumnus of the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America, Archbishop Myers was an active member of its Board of Trustees and Finance Committee for many years. It was there that we first became acquainted. Over the years, we became good friends and collaborators.”
• Our Cardinal Tobin’s message – “On behalf of my brother Bishops and the entire family of God here in our local Church of Newark, I extend my heartfelt prayers and condolences to his family. Let us thank God for Archbishop Myers’ service and his love of our Church. I entrust him to the loving arms of our Blessed Mother Mary, and I pray that Our Lord grant him peace.”

REPORTS AVAILABLE ON THE DIOCESE OF PEORIA NEWS WEBSITE

Below is one of several past Diocese of Peoria Catholic Post articles on Archbishop Myers who was born in Peoria and Bishop of the Peoria Diocese before coming to Newark. Some of the information in these articles is also contained in articles on our Archdiocese of Newark website.  The diocesan newspapers of both dioceses will be publishing a commemorative issue in October.

Archbishop Myers hospitalized after hip surgery; marks golden jubilee Dec. 17
By: Tom Dermody – December 14, 2016

NEWARK, N.J. — Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, former bishop of Peoria who will observe the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on Dec. 17, was hospitalized last week for surgery to repair an injury to his hip.

The Diocese of Peoria had planned to celebrate Archbishop Myers’ jubilee and approaching retirement with an open house during an anticipated visit to central Illinois over Christmas week. That visit has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Archbishop Myers, a native of Earlville, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Dec. 17, 1966. After parish work and holding several diocesan offices — including vocations director and chancellor — he was ordained a bishop on Sept. 3, 1987, and served as the seventh bishop of Peoria from 1990 until his appointment to Newark in 2001.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation last month and named Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis to succeed him. The Mass of Installation for Cardinal Tobin is scheduled in Newark on Jan. 6, 2017. While that date remains in place, Archbishop Myers will not be able to lead Masses or make appearances at events while undergoing rehabilitation in the coming weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Archbishop Myers celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving on Oct. 12 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark to mark several milestones in 2016, including his 75th birthday (July 26), the 15th anniversary of his installation as Archbishop of Newark (Oct. 9), and the approaching golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood.

“My heart is filled with gratitude for all of the blessings God has granted me,” he said at that Mass, “from a wonderful family to the opportunity to serve the church in which all of us together are the body of Christ. For the times I failed, I apologize. For the times we were successful, I thank the Lord.”