Bp. DiLorenzo of the Diocese of Richmond Dies at 75

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RICHMOND, Va. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of the diocese of Richmond, Virginia, died late Thursday evening at the age of 75.

In a statement released Friday morning, the diocese said:

With great sadness, I announce the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo, bishop of Richmond, died at St. Mary's Hospital, late last night. He was 75. He was a faithful servant of the Church for 49 years and a shepherd of the diocese of Richmond for 13 years. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Bp. DiLorenzo, for his family and friends and for the people of the diocese of Richmond.

Richmond is the home diocese of Democratic senator and former vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine. In September of 2016, Church Militant reported that Bp. DiLorenzo issued a statement in response to Kaine's support of so-called same-sex marriage, not mentioning Kaine at all and refusing to bar the pro-sodomy senator from Holy Communion.

A group of lay Catholics associated with Church Militant's Resistance gathered at the chancery in Richmond to pray and peacefully protest the non-action by DiLorenzo. They were met by diocesan staff and police, telling them to leave the property and not park their cars in the chancery parking lot. Resistance members attempted to deliver a petition to the bishop and were refused admittance by chancery staff, who also refused to deliver the petition themselves.

Part of a statement published by the Resistance group and addressed to DiLorenzo read as follows:

And we are here today to publicly ask Bp. Francis DiLorenzo to officially and publicly declare what every other faithful Catholic across the globe already knows, that despite Tim Kaine's protestations to the contrary, Tim Kaine is not a Catholic in good standing, and he should not be allowed to receive Holy Communion. And so we say: Dear Bp. DiLorenzo, for the sake of Tim Kaine's soul, we humbly ask you that Canon 915 be enforced. Dear Bp. DiLorenzo, for the sake of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist, we humbly ask you that Canon 915 be enforced. Dear Bp. Dilorenzo, for the sake of the faithful who are scandalized and led astray by the confusion caused when people like Tim Kaine present themselves as 'devout Catholics' while supporting some of the greatest evils of our day, we humbly ask you that Canon 915 be enforced.

Canon 915, which the Resistance statement references, reads, "Those who have been excommunicated ... and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."

Bishop DiLorenzo was bishop of the diocese of Honolulu for 10 years before going to Richmond. He suffered a heart attack in 2001 and was hospitalized to undergo a heart procedure in 2004.

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