Bishop William Francis Murphy, the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre who led Long Island’s Catholic community for 15 years before retiring in 2016, died Thursday. He was 85.
The diocese announced his death on Facebook Thursday afternoon, asking for “prayers for the repose of the soul of Most Reverend William F. Murphy, Bishop Emeritus of Rockville Centre, who entered into eternal life on Thursday, March 26, 2026.”
Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced. Meanwhile, tributes poured in following news of Murphy’s death, with diocesan officials and Catholic faithful across Long Island mourning the bishop’s passing.
“Bishop Murphy led the diocese with an evangelizing and reforming spirit, offering a joyful witness of prayer, preaching, and pastoral leadership,” current Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres said in a statement.
Catholic High Schools of Long Island offered, “May the Lord welcome him into his place in the heavenly kingdom this day.”
Murphy was born May 14, 1940, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and educated at Boston Latin School before pursuing seminary studies at St. John’s Major Seminary in Boston and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology.
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston at St. Peter’s Basilica in 1964.
Murphy spent the following decade serving as an assistant pastor at parishes in Groveland, Winchester and East Boston, while also teaching at Emmanuel College and Pope John XXIII Seminary.
In 1974, he returned to Rome to join the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace, rising to Under Secretary in 1980 — a post he held for seven years.
Murphy returned to Boston in 1987 under Cardinal Bernard Law, eventually rising to Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia — the archdiocese’s second-highest position — in 1993. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston in 1995.
Pope John Paul II appointed Murphy to lead the Diocese of Rockville Centre in June 2001, and he was installed as its fourth bishop in September of the same year.
Shadow of child abuse scandal
His tenure in both Boston and on Long Island was shadowed by the clergy sexual abuse crisis. A Massachusetts attorney general’s report found that Murphy did not report to law enforcement numerous abuse allegations he reviewed as vicar general, nor did he advise Cardinal Law to do so.
The report concluded that Murphy “continued to place a higher priority on preventing scandal and providing support to alleged abusers than on protecting children from sexual abuse.”
Murphy denied playing any role in sex-abuse issues during his time as vicar general, saying another church official had been assigned to handle such cases.
Murphy was among five Boston bishops named in civil suits accusing them of negligence in the case of serial abuser John Geoghan, with plaintiffs alleging they knew of Geoghan’s abuse and failed to stop it.
The scrutiny followed him to Long Island. A 2003 Suffolk County grand jury report was damning in its assessment of Murphy’s leadership and the criminal activity of priests within the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
Murphy was an active voice in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, chairing its Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development, and served on multiple presidential delegations to Haiti and on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2007.
He retired upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in December 2016, naming Bishop John Barres of Allentown as his successor.
Murphy remained as Apostolic Administrator until Barres was installed in January 2017.
Top: Former Diocese of Rockville Centre Bishop William Francis Murphy (Facebook)
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