Former Roman Catholic Bishop of Cleveland Richard Lennon dies at 72

CLEVELAND (OH)
WKYC TV

Oct. 29, 2019

By Tyler Carey

The Most Rev. Richard Lennon, who led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for more than a decade, has died at the age of 72.

The diocese announced Lennon passed away Tuesday morning after receiving the last rites of the Catholic Church. An exact cause of death was not specified, but the bishop had been suffering from vascular dementia that led to his retirement just under three years ago.

“In his service to the diocese, Bishop Lennon showed a deep dedication to the faithful governance of the diocese and a tremendous love of the Church and the people he shepherded,” Bishop Nelson J. Perez, Lennon’s successor, said in a statement. “May the Lord grant him eternal rest.”

Born in 1947, Lennon grew up in the Boston area and was ordained a priest in the Boston Archdiocese at the age of 26. He rose through the ranks over the next three decades, and eventually became Auxiliary Bishop of Boston under Cardinal Bernard Francis Law in 2001.

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