FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bishop Murphy Elected Chair of USCCB Domestic Justice and Human Development Committee

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NEW YORK, December 4, 2007 — Most Reverend William Murphy, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre has been elected chairman of the Domestic Justice and Human Development Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for a three-year term effective immediately.  The election occurred November 15 during the bishops’ general meeting November 12-15, 2007 in Baltimore.  Bishop Murphy will succeed Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn. 

The Domestic Justice and Human Development Committee is a standing committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  It coordinates the USCCB's policy development and advocacy on major national issues including: health care, welfare reform, violence and the death penalty, poverty, civil rights, housing, homelessness, hunger, rural life, economic justice, labor and employment.  It has oversight of the USCCB Department of Social Development and World Peace with regard to these issues.

The Committee and the Department assist the full body of bishops in educating the public in Catholic social teaching, applying it to the issues of concern to our society, and advocating for policies which promote the common good, especially on behalf of those in need and vulnerable, and defend human rights and dignity.

In addition, Bishop Murphy serves on the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and is a member of the Committee on International Policy.  Earlier in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Murphy to serve as a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. 

Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Murphy to succeed the late Bishop James T. McHugh to head the Diocese of Rockville Centre on June 26, 2001.  He was installed as the Fourth Bishop of Rockville Centre on September 5, 2001.

Bishop Murphy has served several times as a member of a Holy See Delegation for United Nations conferences, and as a member of the Third United Nations Special Session on Disarmament in 1988.  He has been a member of three Presidential  Delegations to Haiti (1987, 1990 and 1991), and was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2001. 

His service to the USCCB included a position on the Board of Directors, as well as a member of Committees on International Justice and Peace, Latin America, an Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Issues as well as an adjunct to the Committee on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Most recently, Bishop Murphy served on the USCCB Committee on Migration.

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About The Diocese of Rockville Centre
Celebrating its Golden Jubilee, the Diocese of Rockville Centre (www.drvc.org) was formed in 1957 and covers 1,198 square miles in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The diocese serves approximately 1.4 million Catholics (total population in both counties is approximately 2.8 million). There are 134 parishes in 115 towns. Last year over 18,000 baptisms, 18,000 confirmations, 19,000 first communions and 4,000 marriages took place in the diocese. There are approximately 22,000 students in Catholic elementary schools; 13,000 in secondary schools and 3,300 in higher institutions. There are 69 Catholic elementary and high schools and one Catholic college in the diocese. There are also 120,189 total students in religious education. Catholic Health Services of Long Island consists of five hospitals, three nursing homes, a community-based home for those with special needs and a hospice. Last year, Catholic Charities assisted more than 59,000 individuals who are poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged on Long Island.