Archbishop Thomas Murphy; Sent to Seattle Amid Dispute

Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy, who came to the Seattle archdiocese in the wake of a stormy dispute over the policies of his predecessor, Raymond G. Hunthausen, has died. He was 64.

Murphy, who died Thursday, suffered a brain hemorrhage Wednesday night while hospitalized for treatment of leukemia.

The Archdiocese of Seattle, which serves all of Washington state west of the Cascades, has 353,000 Catholics.

In 1986 the Vatican, unhappy with Hunthausen’s liberal policies on annulments, homosexuality and other topics, ordered him to turn over his authority on such matters to a new assistant, Bishop Donald Wuerl.

The discipline was unprecedented in the U.S. church and upset many Catholics. Petitions bearing the names of thousands of U.S. priests, nuns and lay Catholics were sent to the Vatican, calling for full restoration of Hunthausen’s power. Hunthausen and others called the split-authority arrangement with Wuerl unworkable.

Eventually a compromise was worked out. Murphy replaced Wuerl as coadjutor, or assistant, archbishop in 1987, but without the power-sharing arrangement. Hunthausen’s full powers were restored.

Murphy became leader of the church when Hunthausen retired in 1991.

When President Clinton conducted a one-day timber “summit” in Portland in 1993, Murphy testified on behalf of loggers who had lost jobs. He said the loss was evident in increasing homelessness, soup lines and closure of small businesses.

Murphy was born in 1932 in Chicago, a son of Irish immigrants. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1958. Before coming to Seattle, he was bishop of the Great Falls-Billings, Mont., diocese.