Wilmington’s retired Bishop Michael Saltarelli died yesterday after a battle with cancer, and the local paper has an affectionate appreciation of his life and legacy.  It helps to remind us what being a bishop is all about: 

With a strong Roman profile and a throaty accent, Saltarelli was hailed during his life as a “priest’s priest,” modest and self-effacing.

“He was a powerful ray of light for the church,” said Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Allentown.

Sure in his calling to be a priest since he was 19, Saltarelli was remembered as a pragmatic bishop with a grounding in faith who particularly enjoyed meeting parishioners during frequent visits to parishes up and down the Delmarva Peninsula.

“People joked that he traveled like he owned a helicopter,” said the Rev. Tom Flowers, of St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Smyrna. “During his busiest years, just reading his weekly schedule could make you tired.”

His tenure as bishop from 1996 until he retired in 2008 was rocked by the priest sexual-abuse scandal. He also dealt with financial and demographic shifts, including an influx of Spanish-speaking Catholic immigrants, and abortion opponents who targeted vice presidential candidate Joe Biden for his pro-choice votes.

Saltarelli always said that his primary concern, in becoming both a priest and a bishop, was to ask: “Is the Gospel being practiced? Are we tending to the needs of the poor, the lonely, the outcast, the needy?”

He had struggled with bone cancer for more than a year and his death was expected by the diocese, though his decline in the last two weeks was rapid.

“The way he carried his cross at the end was an example of his great faith and spirit,” said Barres, who visited Saltarelli three times in recent days.

On Monday, Bishop Francis Malooly, Saltarelli’s successor, sent an e-mail to parishes saying Saltarelli was resting comfortably in hospice care at Christiana Care, and asking for prayers for the church leader.

“Everyone who knows him says he loved being a priest and never wanted to be a bishop,” said Ellen Barrosse of Hockessin. “This was something thrust upon him and he took it reluctantly.”

Check out the link for more.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

[Photo: A woman prays during a Mass on Thursday at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, where Saltarelli’s portrait was on display. Photo by Fred Comegys/News Journal.]