I lived in Washington Heights for 4 years and worked there for many more. For 2 of those years I lived across the stree from St. Elizabeth's, where Bishop Walsh was then Pastor. Unbeknownst to me, John, who I hadn't yet met, worked there in a Catholic Charities Clinic. Several years later when I met John I learned that he knew Bishop Walsh. Whenever the two met they would chat. John always remarked that he seemed less happy since becoming a bishop. After he was named Rector of St. Joseph's Seminary I would meet him in the corridor when I arrived for choir practice. I still worked in Washington Heights and learned that he he had visited patients frequently enough to know them by name. So far he is the only bishop who was more to me than a mitered figure in the hierarchy or a name on high-quality letterhead. We need more shepherds like him.
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