Roman
Catholic Bishop John J. Ward of Los Angeles, who had been one of three
surviving American bishops who participated in the groundbreaking Second
Vatican Council in the early 1960s, died Sunday in Culver City.
He was
90.
Ward died of complications from old age, according to a statement from his family.
A
Los Angeles native, Ward served the local archdiocese for just over 50
years as a priest and bishop, establishing several benchmarks along the
way.
He was the last priest ordained by the first archbishop of Los
Angeles, John J. Cantwell, and the first graduate of St. John's Seminary
in Camarillo to become a bishop.
During
his career, he served under four archbishops and, at the time of his
retirement, had served longer — 33 years — than any other bishop in the
United States.
"No other bishop achieved such a record of service
for the church here in Los Angeles," Cardinal Roger Mahony said in a
statement from Rome, where he was attending meetings. Mahony called Ward
"the definitive churchman," adding, "His many years of ministry as a
priest and bishop gave vibrant witness to his abiding love for the
church and all who belonged to the body of Christ."
Over the
course of his career, Ward built a reputation as a cheerful, engaging
man with a love for a good steak and a cigar. He was especially known
for the care he took when presiding over the confirmations of young
people.
Born on Sept. 28, 1920, to Irish immigrant parents, Ward
grew up near USC and hawked newspapers as a child. He was ordained a
priest in 1946 and served in a variety of administrative and pastoral
positions before his ordination as bishop in 1963.
As a trained canon
lawyer, he was assistant presiding judge of the matrimonial tribunal,
which determined whether marriages were eligible for annulment.
Not
long after his ordination as an auxiliary bishop, he was called to Rome
to participate in the Second Vatican Council, which had begun in 1962
and significantly reshaped and modernized Catholic liturgy and ritual.
"The
Second Vatican Council has been a milestone for the church, and to know
that John Ward was part of having signed the council into history…there
was always that great connection," said Bishop Alexander Salazar, who
served as an altar boy under Ward and followed in his footsteps as an
auxiliary bishop.
With Ward's death, the only surviving American
bishops who participated in Vatican II are retired archbishops Philip
Hannan of New Orleans and Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle.
SIC: LAT/USA