2019 -- S 0012

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF THE MOST REVEREND, BISHOP

ROBERT E. MULVEE

     Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Ruggerio, Goodwin, Algiere, and Felag

     Date Introduced: January 09, 2019

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, The Most Reverend Robert E. Mulvee, the beloved Bishop of the Diocese of

Providence, from 1997 to 2005, passed away on December 28, 2018 at the St. Antoine Residence;

and

     WHEREAS, Bishop Mulvee was originally from Boston. He studied for the priesthood at

seminaries in Connecticut, Canada and Belgium. Upon ordination, he was assigned to serve the

Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1957. He served at a number of parishes in New

Hampshire before returning to Europe for graduate studies. While in Europe, he earned a

Doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and a Master's degree in

religious education from the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1964. Shortly thereafter, he

returned to New Hampshire and was named Assistant Chancellor of the New Hampshire Diocese;

and

     WHEREAS, In 1966, Bishop Mulvee was named a Papal Chamberlain with the title of

Monsignor by Pope Paul VI. He was later named the First Auxiliary Bishop of Manchester in

1977 and the seventh Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1985; and

     WHEREAS, Bishop Mulvee came to Providence in 1995, when he was named coadjutor

Bishop of the Diocese of Providence. He became the seventh Bishop of Providence in June of

1997, and served on numerous important national and regional boards and committees; and

     WHEREAS, In his heart, Bishop Mulvee was a parish Priest who believed in the

importance of listening to people, especially those who were hurting, including some who were

hurt by the Church. Former Governor Carcieri remembered Bishop Mulvee as being someone he

"had great respect and admiration for", and for being "very down to earth, someone you could

talk to." Bishop Mulvee's gentle demeanor and abundance of compassion touched the hearts and

lives of countless Rhode Islanders. In the words of Bishop Tobin, the current Bishop of

Providence, Bishop Mulvee was "a good and gentle shepherd of God's people," and "was a

faithful follower of Christ who served the Church with dignity and compassion"; now, therefore

be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of the Most Reverend Bishop Robert E.

Mulvee; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Bishop Thomas Tobin and the Diocese of

Providence.

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