Benedict Groeschel, Popular Priest and Controversial Media Figure, Dies at 81

By David Gibson
Religion News Service
October 6, 2014

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/10/06/benedict-groeschel-popular-priest-controversial-media-figure-dies-81/


NEW YORK (RNS) The Rev. Benedict Groeschel, a Franciscan priest whose long beard, gray robes, prolific writings and often controversial views made him a distinctive and popular presence in Catholic media, died Friday (Oct. 3) at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa, N.J.

Groeschel was 81 and had been in declining health.

Grosechel had been out of the spotlight since 2012 when he made controversial comments that blamed some victims of sexual abuse by priests for inviting the molestation.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Fr. Benedict but also relieved that God has set him free from the physical and mental suffering he has experienced over the past decade,” the New York-based community he helped found, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said in a statement.

Robert Peter Groeschel was born in Jersey City, N.J., in 1933 and took the name Benedict when he entered the Capuchin Franciscan order in 1951.

In 1987, Groeschel and seven other Capuchin priests broke away to form the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in New York City, to follow a more traditional religious life that highlighted communal living and traditional garb while serving the poor and needy.

They would also use any means they could to promote their message; a rock band organized by some of the sandal-clad, bearded brothers inspired a 2007 New York Times story called “Monks Who Play Punk.”

Groeschel’s community touched a chord, and at his death there were 115 brothers and priests and 31 sisters in nine friaries in the U.S., four in Europe and two convents in Central America.

Groeschel, who was a trained psychologist, made the media his special mission field. He became a popular author, speaker, and spiritual director and he was a fixture on Mother Angelica’s Eternal Word Television Network, better known as EWTN.

In 2004, at the age of 70, Groeschel was struck by a car while on a trip to Florida and suffered numerous broken bones and intracranial bleeding that contributed to a heart attack. His survival was in serious doubt, but he recovered and went on to write a book called, “There Are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God.”