Former Idaho Catholic Bishop dies of natural causes

The Most Reverend Michael P. Driscoll, former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise from 1999 to 2014, died Tuesday. Bishop Driscoll died of natural causes at the age of 78. Funeral and burial arrangements have yet to be announced.

Bishop Peter Christensen, the current Bishop of Boise, succeeded Bishop Driscoll in late 2014. “Upon my first visit to the diocese, I soon realized that Bishop Driscoll was a pastoral and compassionate shepherd to the people and His priests by the manner in which he passed the leadership of the diocese on to me,” Bishop Christensen said. “His love for this diocese was evident not only in His words, but also by his pastoral care for all. He was truly a gentle and kind man.”

Pope John Paul II appointed Monsignor Driscoll as an auxiliary bishop on Dec. 19, 1989, and he was ordained a bishop by Bishop McFarland on March 6, 1990, in Orange’s Holy Family Cathedral.

Nine years later, Bishop Driscoll was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the seventh bishop of Boise on Jan. 19, 1999, and installed on March 18, 1999, in St. John’s Cathedral.

Bishop Driscoll was born Aug. 8, 1939, in Long Beach, Calif. He attended Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary in San Fernando and St. John Seminary College in Camarillo. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 1965, by Cardinal James F. McIntyre in St. Vibiana Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He served in several pastoral assignments in Los Angeles, until 1975, when he was appointed associate director for Catholic Charities in Orange County. That same year he earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

A year after being installed as Bishop of Boise, he founded Catholic Charities of Idaho. Today, Catholic Charities serves more than 3,200 people annually. It operates offices in Boise and Idaho Falls that provide statewide immigration and information and referral services, as well as adult education and mental health services.

In 2014, upon turning 75, Bishop Driscoll submitted his retirement letter to Pope Francis, which the pope accepted. Bishop Driscoll spent his remaining years in Boise. He was succeeded by the Most Rev. Peter F. Christensen, who was appointed by Pope Francis as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Boise on Nov. 4, 2014, and installed on Dec. 17, 2014.