Former Bishops
Former Bishops for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend are:
Bishop John Henry Luers
Consecrated January 10, 1858
Bishop Joseph Dwenger
Consecrated April 14, 1872
Bishop Joseph Rademacher
Arrived in Fort Wayne October 3, 1893
(transferred from Nashville)
Bishop Herman Joseph Alerding
Consecrated November 30, 1900
Bishop John Francis Noll
Consecrated June 30, 1925
Bishop Leo Pursley
February 26, 1957
Bishop McManus
October 19, 1976
Bishop John Michael D’Arcy
May 1, 1985
The son of Irish immigrants, Bishop Emeritus John M. D’Arcy was born on August 18, 1932. He began preparation for the priesthood in September, 1949 at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. He studied in Rome at the Angelicum from 1965 to 1968 and received his doctorate in spiritual theology in 1968. He served as spiritual director and professor of spiritual theology at Saint John’s Seminary from 1968 to 1985.
Bishop D’Arcy’s Crest
The praying hands in the center of Bishop D’Arcy’s shield symbolizes a central part of the Church’s mission — the offering of praise to God the Father in, with and through Christ and the work of spiritual formation and spiritual formation and spiritual direction in which the Bishop has been privileged to be engaged. It also refers to his work for ten years as Vicar for Spiritual Development in the Archdiocese of Boston. The eagle’s head with a halo denotes St. John the Evangelist, “the one Jesus loved” (Jn 20:2) and the baptismal patron of the bishop. It also recalls the years the bishop has spent at St. John’s Seminary as student, teacher and spiritual director. There are two crescents. One refers to Mary, the woman of faith in whom is found perfect openness to the word of God. It also betokens the eight years the bishop spent in St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Beverly, Mass. — the only parish to which he has been attached. The other crescent symbolizes the Church — the sacrament of Christ.
The shield itself with its semes of crosses, crosslet argent is the shield of the D’Arcy family, a tribe of native Irish stock from the Providence of Connacht. The six-pointed rayed star, known both in Jewish and Christian art, is from the arms of the Moran family of the Bishop’s mother — also from the Providence of Connacht.
The motto: “His steadfast love endures forever” Psalm 118 and 136) expresses briefly an ideal, a program of life, the spirit of the one who selects it. It is also a call to the church and to every person to be reminded of God’s steadfast love even in the midst of pain and sorrow.
- Ordained to priesthood in Boston, Mass – February 2, 1957
- Doctorate in Spiritual Theology from Angelicum, Rome, 1968
- Ordained as Auxiliary Bishop for Boston – February 14, 1975
- Appointed Regional Bishop for Lowell Region
Archdiocese of Boston – July 21, 1981 - Appointed Eighth Bishop of FW-SB – February 26, 1985
- Installed as Eighth Bishop of FW-SB – May 1, 1985
