Bishop Emeritus William L. Higi of the Diocese of Lafayette dies at 91

By Sean Gallagher

Bishop Emeritus William L. Higi, the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind., died on Jan. 3 at the St. Anthony Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Lafayette. He was 91.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated beginning at 11 a.m. on Jan. 10 at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, 1207 Columbia St., in Lafayette. Burial will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Lafayette.

Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lafayette in 1959, Bishop Higi served as the shepherd of the Church in north central Indiana from 1984 until his retirement in 2010.

He came to serve as the bishop of the diocese in a time of crisis. Its previous shepherd, Bishop George A. Fulcher, had died in an automobile accident on Jan. 25, 1984, just 11 months after he had been appointed to lead the diocese. Bishop Higi was then selected to serve as its administrator.

On April 7 of that year, he learned that St. John Paul II had selected him as the Lafayette Diocese’s next shepherd. He was ordained and installed as bishop on June 6, 1984, with Indianapolis Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara serving as the principal consecrator in the liturgy.

In a 2010 interview for Catholic Radio Indy that was published as an article in The Criterion, Bishop Higi spoke of the blessings and challenges of serving as the bishop of the diocese in which he grew up and served as a priest.

“I didn’t think that I had what it took,” Bishop Higi reflected. “But I was reminded that when I was ordained a priest, I had made a promise of obedience.

“I had, in effect, pledged that I would accept whatever I was asked to do for the good of the Church as discerned by my superiors. I never really dreamed that the pope would be the one making those kinds of decisions for me.”

He also reflected on his 51 years of ordained ministry, expressing gratitude for the blessing of ordaining dozens of priests. Among them were five priests for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis ordained in 1992 after Archbishop O’Meara had died, but before his successor, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, had been appointed.

“There have been so many moving experiences,” Bishop Higi said. “But I tend to focus on the privilege of ordaining men to the priesthood. It’s really at the top of my list. It’s a tremendous privilege.”

At the time of Bishop Higi’s death, Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette reflected in a column in The Catholic Moment, the newspaper of the Lafayette Diocese, on the man he succeeded.

“He was humble about his own opinions, and affectionately respected because of that,” Bishop Doherty wrote. “He was who he was not because he loved being a bishop [he did, even in difficult times], but because he loved Christ and the Church. And now, we commend him to God’s eternal love and kindness, and to the company of the saints.”

Bishop Doherty also recalled how, in recent years, he would sit next to Bishop Higi at the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Lafayette.

“We reverenced the wood of the cross as pilgrims,” Bishop Doherty reflected. “No matter our years in ministry, we are pilgrims who desire to know the unreachable depth of Christ’s love radiating from his self-surrender. That liturgy is a gateway to Easter assuring us that the object of our desire is indeed attainable. Why? Because the resurrection is God’s telling us that God has desired it first.”

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson expressed his appreciation for Bishop Higi at the time of his death.

“Bishop Higi was a good and faithful servant to the people of God, evidencing great care for the clergy, religious and laity throughout the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana,” he said. “He served his 65 years as a priest with a pastoral heart.

“Through constant prayer and a deep understanding of the opportunities in an ever-changing local and universal Church, he brought people and resources together to advance the mission of Jesus Christ on Earth. Bishop Higi led with great humility and gentleness, and he will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace.”

William Leo Higi was born on Aug. 29, 1933, in Anderson, Ind., to William and Helen (Vickery) Higi. Becoming a seminarian for the Diocese of Lafayette in his last year of high school, he was ordained a priest in 1959 by Bishop John J. Carberry.

In addition to serving in parishes across the diocese, Bishop Higi served as Bishop Carberry’s secretary starting in 1962, as the diocese’s vice chancellor starting in 1965 and as chancellor two years later.

St. Paul VI named Bishop Higi a prelate of honor in 1976. Bishop Raymond J. Gallagher of Lafayette appointed Bishop Higi vicar general of the diocese in 1979.

In leading the Diocese of Lafayette for 26 years, Bishop Higi dedicated several new parish churches and approved of the founding of St. Theodore Guérin Catholic High School in Noblesville, Ind.

Pope Benedict XVI granted him permission to retire in 2010, at which time Bishop Doherty was appointed to succeed him.

Bishop Higi is survived by a sister, Linda Rochelli.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Diocese of Lafayette’s Foundation Fund for the Future at cutt.ly/LafDiocFFF. †