Archbishop John Myers, former Peoria bishop, dead at 79

The former bishop of Peoria died Thursday at age 79.

Archbishop John Myers, who retired in 2016 as archbishop of Newark, NJ, had been head of the Diocese of Peoria from 1990 until his elevation as archbishop in 2001. The Catholic Post, Peoria’s diocesan newspaper, first reported Myers’ passing.

Myers was remembered locally for cultivating vocations to the priesthood and ordaining dozens of men at a time when vocations slowed across the United States. Among those were the Very Rev. Gary Blake, pastor of Holy Family Church in Oglesby. Blake enrolled in seminary in 2001, months before Myers accepted the chair in Newark, but Myers nonetheless made a strong impression on young Blake.

“He was always very supportive of the seminarians of the diocese,” Blake recalled. “He made it a point to visit them at the seminaries once or twice a year. He would take time to meet with each one of us, usually in 15-20-minute slots, and then we’d get to meet with him when we were home on breaks.”

“He was very prayerful, very dedicated to the faith,” Blake said. “He definitely will be missed.”

Myers was credited for ordaining some 80 priests – a strong number for a diocese of Peoria’s size – and for his encouraging approach with men in discernment. The Rev. William Gardner, whom Myers would ordain in 1992, was favorably impressed after assisting Myers at confirmations and then sharing dinner.

“Bishop Myers had always been very kind to me,” Gardner said, “and I’ll always be grateful for welcoming me to the Diocese of Peoria and for ordaining me a priest.”

The Rev. Peter Pilon, pastor at Holy Cross Church in Mendota, remembered how Myers liked to pop in on Emmaus Days, events to encourage youths to consider the priesthood, while also keeping things fun and loose, as he did when he brought in radio-controlled cars for a racing competition.

“I remember him being like a father to us,” Pilon recalled.

“One of the things that impressed me so much was how invested he was with us,” recalled the Rev. Robert Rayson, former pastor of the La Salle Catholic Parishes. “He spent time with us, and he knew us and that made an impression on everyone. He was always kind to me and very genuine with me.

"I had the greatest respect for him and I always will.”

Earlville-born Myers graduated in 1963 from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. He attended seminary at the North American College of the Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained in 1967. He later earned a doctorate in canon law from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

After serving parishes in Champaign and Peoria, he became vice chancellor of the diocese in 1977 and vicar general in 1982. He was named bishop of the Peoria diocese in 1990.

Days before his 60th birthday, Myers was informed that Pope John Paul II had tabbed him to replace Theodore McCarrick as archbishop of Newark. Myers said then he was "surprised, humbled and honored" by the announcement. In accepting the transfer, Myers went from overseeing 240,000 Catholics to serving more than 1.3 million.

"It is not easy to leave one's home of 60 years," Myers said in a statement issued then. "Only the call of the Church to a new service would motivate me to move further from my family and so many people whom I love in the Diocese of Peoria."

Myers was up to the challenge, however.

He had made headlines by advising Catholics who support abortion rights not to receive Communion. In 1994, he directed a Catholic hospital not to use the “morning-after” pill for rape victims. In 2001, the Peoria diocese was one of two out of 190 in the United States to prohibit its educational officials from attending a national conference at which one of the speakers was to be a nun who has questioned the church's ban on women priests.

From the time his appointment to Newark until his retirement in 2016, he was an influential voice in the Church. He served on the Board of Governors of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the Seminary Committee and Board of Trustees of Catholic University of America, among numerous others.

He counted among his friends New York’s Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan, whom he jokingly “looked down” upon from the Newark chancery facing New York City.

Funeral arrangements are pending, the Post reported, but Myers’ family requested a funeral be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. Burial will be in the Bishops’ Mausoleum at St. Mary’s Cemetery in West Peoria.