Obituaries : Cardinal John Dearden of Detroit Archdiocese

Cardinal John Dearden, who led the 1.5-million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit for 21 years, died of cancer Monday at Providence Hospital in suburban Southfield. He was 80.

Dearden, who had suffered from a heart ailment, last month was found to have inoperable cancer and had been at the hospital since July 22, Cardinal Edmund Szoka said.

Dearden retired as archbishop in 1980 after suffering a heart attack, but he continued to administer the diocese until May, 1981, when he was succeeded by Szoka. Szoka was elevated to cardinal in June.

“This good and holy priest, archbishop and cardinal of the church, will be mourned by Catholics of the Archdiocese of Detroit, this country and throughout the world,” Szoka said in a statement.

Born in Rhode Island and raised in Cleveland, Dearden joined the priesthood in 1932 and was a bishop in Pittsburgh before coming to Detroit.

He played a major role in the Second Vatican Council, which from 1962-65 launched extensive reforms in Roman Catholicism, including departure from the Latin Mass, greater emphasis on roles for lay people and fostering greater unity among Christians.

In his years as archbishop of the six-county Detroit archdiocese, Dearden was consistently in the forefront of liberal movements both within and outside the church. He helped inaugurate a program to ensure that blacks were not the victims of job discrimination.

Dearden founded the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and was its president from 1966-71. The conference worked to adopt Vatican II philosophies in the United States and currently addresses social, political and economic issues within the context of Christian principles.

Dearden, who was named cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1969, last was seen in public May 31 at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit for a Mass in honor of his 40th anniversary as a bishop. At the time he looked frail and delivered his sermon from a chair on the altar.

Dearden was a tireless worker, often putting in 14- and 16-hour days.

Of his hobbies, he once said: “I read, mainly philosophy and theology. Theology is my love. My work is my recreation, I suppose.”

A funeral Mass is scheduled for noon Friday at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit.