[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE OF BISHOP THOMAS J. WELSH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Thomas J. 
Welsh, the founding bishop of the Catholic Dioceses of Arlington, 
Virginia. He passed away on February 19 at the age of 87, from 
pulmonary fibrosis.
  Bishop Welsh served as Arlington's bishop from 1974 to 1983. He 
established six additional area parishes: St. Stephen the Martyr in 
Middleburg; St. Catherine of Siena in Great Falls; St. John Neumann in 
Reston; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Lake Ridge; Our Lady of the Blue 
Ridge in Madison; and Holy Martyrs of Vietnam in Arlington County. 
Bishop Welsh dedicated 11 new churches during his years with the 
Catholic Dioceses of Arlington.
  Other notable achievements in his career as Arlington's bishop 
include helping to establish Christendom College in Front Royal and 
Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, both of which are in 
Virginia's 10th District. He also approved the purchase of the building 
for Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax. Bishop Welsh believed in 
the importance of Catholic education, both at school and at home. He 
founded the Arlington Catholic Herald newspaper in 1975 and established 
the Family Life Bureau in 1977. The Family Life Bureau worked to 
organize various pro-life activities within the Arlington diocese.
  After leaving Arlington in 1983, Bishop Welsh became the second 
bishop of the diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He retired from 
Allentown in 1997.
  His dedication and ministry will be missed by all who knew and worked 
with him. In the homily given at his funeral Mass, Msgr. Anthony D. 
Muntone, pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, 
quoted one of Bishop Welsh's favorite saints, St. Thomas More, who 
said: ``Pray for me and I will pray for thee that one day we will meet 
merrily in heaven.'' I believe Bishop Welsh, as a dedicated believer 
and servant to the Catholic Church, will indeed be met merrily in 
heaven. His memory will live on through all the lives he touched and 
the legacy he left in both Arlington and Allentown.

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