Famed Catholic priest Benedict Groeschel, 81, dies

LARCHMONT, N.Y. -- The Rev. Benedict Groeschel, a writer and preacher who became one of the country's best-known Catholic priests, long operating out of a tiny bedroom in Larchmont, died Friday at the age of 81 after a long illness.

Groeschel spent decades leading retreats, writing books and offering his conservative perspectives on EWTN, the Catholic television network. He founded a religious order, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, ran a retreat house for priests in Larchmont and taught pastoral psychology at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.

He was a hero to conservative Catholics – a wise-cracking friar in a gray robe who shuffled among the elite of the Catholic Church, always speaking of the need to serve the poor.

The Rev. Thomas Collins, president of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, recalled Groeschel as a leader who was "not only spiritual but entertaining as well."

Collins had a lifelong affiliation with Groeschel, who not only baptized him at Sacred Heart Church in Yonkers but also taught several classes when Collins was a student at St. Joseph's Seminary.

"He had a way of always taking the spiritual concepts and putting them into practical applications in the day to day," Collins said. "When we hear the invitation to feed the poor, clothe the naked, he took it so literally. How can we do that within our own circle of intimacy, how can we do that within our own community?"

Groeschel was a visible figure in New York's Catholic community, as he long lived in a small room at Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont. He slept on a thin mattress surrounded by books, rising by 5 a.m. to take phone calls from around the world and write.

For about 20 years, Groeschel preached on Good Friday afternoon at Most Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck.

"People used to come from the city, from New Jersey, all over, to hear him," said Ileana Dunn, a longtime parishioner. "It was standing room only. He always had that touch of humor and was so knowledgeable. You left spiritually filled."

The Rev. Colleen Holby, director of pastoral care at Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry, had known Groeschel since she became a Protestant chaplain there in 1978. Groeschel had started his ministry there and often returned, particularly on Christmas Eve and Easter.

"I went to see him two weeks ago and he said his time at Children's Village were the happiest days of his life," Holby said. "He was funny but very firm and very devoted to the Catholic Church and to Christ."

Groeschel came under criticism at several points. In 2002, when the Catholic Church's sex-abuse crisis was coming to light, he blamed "media persecution" while speaking at a Yonkers church.

He often said that church authorities did the best they could to deal with abusive priests at a time when sexual abuse was less understood.

Two years ago, Groeschel suggested in an interview that minors may have seduced priests in abuse cases. After an outcry, he ended his weekly show on EWTN and largely ended his public ministry. Supporters said that his health and mental clarity had been on a sharp decline.

Groeschel had never fully recovered from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car in 2004.

Born in 1933 in Jersey City, N.J., Groeschel was ordained in 1959 in Detroit. In 1987, Groeschel and seven other Capuchin friars founded the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a reform group that focused on serving poor in New York City and Yonkers.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Fr. Benedict," the Rev. Paul Ouellette said in a statement released by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. "He was an example to us all. His fidelity and service to the Church and commitment to our Franciscan way of life will have a tremendous impact for generations to come."

Groeschel also had a long affiliation with EWTN, the Alabama-based Global Catholic Network television station. For more than two decades Groeschel both hosted and appeared as a guest on numerous shows at the station. Michael Warsaw, EWTN chairman and CEO, said in a statement that Groeschel "was an iconic presence on EWTN."

"His gray beard and Franciscan habit were known to network viewers around the world and he had a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals," the statement said.