[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S5609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO REVEREND MARK HURLEY

 Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise today to pay 
tribute to the Reverend Mark J. Hurley, the former bishop of the 
Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, California. Bishop Hurley passed away 
on Monday, February 5, 2001, after undergoing surgery for an aneurysm. 
Mark Hurley was one of two priests born to a proud Irish Catholic 
family. His brother, Francis Hurley, is the Archbishop of Anchorage, 
Alaska.
  I had the great fortune to make the acquaintance of Mark Hurley 
several years ago while traveling in California. He was a deeply 
religious man, as you would expect, and a very learned individual and 
the author of several books. He lectured about the tragedy of abortion 
and wrote extensively about medical and genetic research and individual 
privacy. But he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary 
work as the bishop of the six-county North Coast diocese from 1969-
1986.
  Pope Paul VI appointed Mark Hurley second bishop of the Santa Rosa 
diocese in 1969. Prior to his appointment, he was a teacher and 
administrator for Catholic high schools in San Francisco, Marin and 
Oakland and served as vicar general of the Archdiocese of San 
Francisco. He would become Santa Rosa's longest-serving bishop since 
the diocese was created. Most importantly, Bishop Hurley was credited 
with saving the diocese from financial ruin. When he took office the 
diocese was over $12 million in debt, including $7 million owed to 
parishes and other organizations within the diocese. By imposing strict 
spending limits, a building moratorium and other cutbacks he was able 
to orchestrate the financial recovery that was so desperately needed.
  After his tenure, Pope John Paul II rewarded Reverend Hurley's 
efforts by transferring him to the Vatican where he was consular to the 
Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education and a member of the 
Secretariat for Non-Believers. He returned to the United States and 
retired in San Francisco, the same city in which he was born on 
December 13, 1919.
  He was acknowledged by many as an intellectual and a world leader on 
religious matters, but it was his successful tenure as bishop of Santa 
Rosa for which he will be remembered most. Santa Rosa's current bishop, 
Daniel Walsh, said of Mark Hurley, ``I believe his most esteemed role 
and responsibility was that of Bishop of Santa Rosa. He labored here 
from November 1969 to April 1986. He made a great impact on the diocese 
and we are all beneficiaries of his ministry here.''
  With the death of bishop Hurley the Lord has lost a dutiful servant, 
the Catholic faith has lost a pillar of virtue and our nation has lost 
a loving soul that quietly touched and improved the lives of many. I 
know I speak for all my colleagues in extending our condolences to his 
brother, Bishop Francis Hurley, his sister Phyllis Porter of San 
Francisco and to the rest of his family and friends. May he rest in 
peace.

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