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Bishop Joseph P. McFadden of Harrisburg, Pa., died of a heart attack May 2 in Philadelphia where he was attending a meeting of Pennsylvania’s Catholic bishops. He was 65.
He had been the bishop of Harrisburg since 2010. He was chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education and served on the bishops’ Task Force on Faith Formation and Sacramental Practice.
In 1969 he earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. As a freshman, he played on the college basketball team and during his remaining years in college he coached boys basketball, first at St. Thomas More Catholic Boys High School in Philadelphia, his alma mater, and then at West Catholic High School for Boys, also in Philadelphia, where he joined the faculty after graduation. He also served as director of athletics for West Catholic.
In 1982, he was named administrative secretary to Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia, a post he held until 1993. From 1993 to 2001, he was president of Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield, Pa. In 2001, Bishop McFadden was named pastor of St. Joseph’s parish in Downingtown, where he served until he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia in 2004.
In January, he issued a one-page report on the implementation of the 1990 Vatican document “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” “Bishops reported that they believe our institutions of Catholic higher education have made definite progress in advancing Catholic identity,” the report said. “The relationship between bishops and presidents on the local level can be characterized as positive and engaged, demonstrating progress on courtesy and cooperation in the last 10 years.”
The Funeral Mass was offered May 8 at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Harrisburg. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia was principal celebrant. Burial was in the Bishops’ Circle of Holy Cross Cemetery in Harrisburg.
