Former Archbishop Robert Sanchez Dies

KOAT
January 20, 2012

http://www.koat.com/r/30263806/detail.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who headed New Mexico's largest Catholic diocese for nearly two decades, has died. He was 77.

Officials with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe made the announcement, saying Sanchez died Friday. The archdiocese did not provide any details about the cause of death, but said he had been ill.

Sanchez was ordained as the archdiocese's 10th archbishop in 1974. He was the first Hispanic bishop in the United States.

He had resigned in 1993 after three women accused him of being sexually involved with them in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Archbishop Michael Sheehan says members of the church are aware of Sanchez's "human failings" and are mourning his death.

Sheehan says Sanchez was respected by his fellow bishops and looked up to by his priests.

"Archbishop Sanchez was much loved as a native son by the people of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. He was respected by his brother Bishops and looked up to by his priests. We continue to acknowledge the good he did during his Episcopacy, are well aware of his human failings, and mourn his death today," Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan said in a news release.