Bishop George V. Murry, S.J., of Youngstown, Ohio was released from the Cleveland Clinic Tuesday evening, following a month of intensive chemotherapy treatment, the diocese said.
“Diagnosed with acute Leukemia earlier in the month, Bishop Murry’s physicians are pleased with his response to chemotherapy and the leukemia cells have been suppressed. He will return to the clinic weekly to monitor his recovery,”the diocese said in a statement May 30.
The statement said that the bishop is grateful for the prayers of the community, but cannot currently receive visitors or calls.
Bishop Murry was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic on April 29 for four weeks of intensive chemotherapy.
Following his leukemia diagnosis, the bishop stepped down from his role as chair of the U.S. bishops’ new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, which was established last year, as well as his role as chair of the conference’s Committee on Catholic Education.
Bishop Murry was born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1948. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1972, and was ordained to the priesthood seven years later. Murry holds a M.Div. degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California, and a Ph.D. in American Cultural History from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
He served in administrative roles in two Washington, D.C., high schools, as well as serving as a professor of American Studies at Georgetown University and as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Detroit-Mercy.
In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. In 1998, the pope appointed him Coadjutor Bishop of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and on June 30, 1999, appointed him bishop of the diocese.
Bishop Murry has led the Youngstown diocese since 2007.
