ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Hundreds of parishioners filled St. Thomas More Church on Saturday to bid a final farewell to their former leader.
Monsignor John P. Murphy died Dec. 23 at his home in Macungie at the age of 86.
Murphy was a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Allentown for 60 years, serving as assistant pastor and pastor at Immaculate Conception BVM Church in Allentown before joining St. Thomas More Church in 1980.
Thousands paid their respects to the late pastor emeritus at two viewings before a mass service Saturday morning.
“He loved to breathe the air of his parish."Allentown Bishop Alfred Schlert
The Rev. Christopher Butera, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Bath, delivered a homily in which he paid tribute to Murphy’s dedication to the church and his flock.
“He lived his priesthood every day,” Butera said. “It was his life.”
Murphy was “a towering priest who touched the lives of so many,” he said.
The former reverend “never took a day off,” Butera said.
Murphy served under all five bishops who have led the Allentown Diocese since its founding in 1961, Allentown Bishop Rev. Alfred Schlert said Saturday.
Schlert said he spoke to Murphy several times about retiring before Murphy agreed two years ago.
Since then, Murphy “always missed the day-to-day” of being an active pastor, which was “the fiber of his life,” Schlert said.
“He loved to breathe the air of his parish,” Schlert said.
