INDIANA
The Journal Gazette
The Rev. John Michael D’Arcy, 80, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, died late Sunday morning at his Fort Wayne residence, succumbing to cancer discovered shortly after Christmas.
D’Arcy served the diocese as its eighth bishop from 1985 to 2010, coming to the position from the Boston Archdiocese, in which he had grown up and where he served as an auxiliary bishop. …
In Boston D’Arcy served as an auxiliary bishop and was in charge of the diocesan spiritual development office, which included recommending priests for placement as pastors. While in Boston, D’Arcy raised red flags over sexual abuse by priests, a scandal that would become public decades later.
Some have said it was the letters D’Arcy wrote to his boss, Cardinal Bernard Law, that led to his transfer to Indiana. D’Arcy always declined to comment on the exact reason for his transfer, but acknowledged that Law wanted to move him.
The letters D’Arcy wrote to Law and other superiors warned of the conduct, such as violence, alcoholism, drug use and sexual abuse, of at least four priests, including John Geoghan. Geoghan was eventually convicted of groping a young boy and slain while in prison. D’Arcy’s letters began in July 1978 and continued until his transfer. The letters were uncovered as part of an investigation by the Boston Globe in 2002.
In 2004, D’Arcy was cited by the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People as “a voice in the wilderness” for his role in bringing sexual abuse to light in Boston
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