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Ex-Archbishop of Miami, friend of immigrants, dies

MIAMI - Retired Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy, who hosted a summit meeting of Pope John Paul II and President Reagan, beefed up charities to deal with waves of immigrants and was accused of covering up clergy abuse, has died. He was 87.

Archbishop McCarthy, who led the archdiocese for 17 years, died in his sleep Tuesday night, the Archdiocese of Miami said.

Fellow priests remembered him as a visionary who combined a gentle manner with a desire to help people from all social groups in multicultural Miami.

"He had a tremendous sensitivity for animating and empowering the laity," the Rev. David Russell, 68, a retired priest who served under the archbishop, said Wednesday. "His manner was gentle, his vision grand and his energy untiring."

Archbishop McCarthy earned praise from Catholics by leading the summit bringing Reagan and John Paul to Miami in September 1987 while the pope was on a U.S. tour.

He expanded Catholic charities in response to waves of immigrants from Cuba during the Mariel boatlift of 1980 and the rafter exodus of 1994, as well as new arrivals from Haiti and Central America, as public agencies struggled to provide services.

In 1986, he created Catholic Health Services, which builds and manages low-cost apartments and health care facilities for the elderly. He also created a radio station in 1993 that provides Catholic programming in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole to South Floridians.

Most recently, the archbishop was accused of covering up clergy abuse that generated a handful of lawsuits against the archdiocese. In one suit, a former altar boy claimed the archbishop coerced him into staying silent about alleged sexual abuse by a priest at a group home for boys.

He was Miami's second archbishop, serving from 1977 to 1994. He was replaced by current Archbishop John C. Favalora.

Before being named archbishop, McCarthy was bishop of Phoenix and Cincinnati. He was born in Cincinnati in 1918 and was ordained there in 1943.

A wake was set for Sunday afternoon and a funeral was planned for Monday, the archdiocese said.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:15:21]