In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross
Rev. Richard V. Warner, C.S.C. — a Hesburgh Trustee of the University of Notre Dame, former superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross and longtime University administrator — died Wednesday (Sept. 21) at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Indiana. He was 83.
“Father Dick Warner was a consummate priest, a servant-leader in Holy Cross, fiercely loyal to Notre Dame, and he had an abiding love for our students — a love that was richly reciprocated,” Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president, said. “He was to me and many a model, mentor and friend who generously gave his life to the mission of Notre Dame and the Congregation of Holy Cross.”
A native of Cleveland, Father Warner attended the Holy Cross brothers’ St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, before joining the Congregation of Holy Cross and professing his final vows in 1962, the same year he graduated from Notre Dame.
He studied theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, earning a bachelor’s degree and a licentiate in sacred theology before being ordained a priest on Dec. 17, 1966. After his ordination he remained in Chile, teaching English and theology and serving in the administration of St. George’s College in Santiago until 1973, when he was appointed steward of the congregation’s Indiana (now United States) Province.
Father Warner was elected provincial superior of the Indiana Province in 1979, serving in that capacity as an ex officio member of the University’s Board of Fellows and Board of Trustees. During this time, he was invited by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to participate on the committee that drafted “The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response,” an influential articulation of the U.S. bishops’ teachings on war and peace in the midst of the Cold War.
Father Warner served for nine years as provincial superior before being appointed counselor to Notre Dame’s then-president, Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C. His responsibilities as counselor principally concerned the role of the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame and the University’s relationship with the Catholic Church. He served in that position until 2003.
In 1987, Notre Dame bestowed an honorary degree on Father Warner, stating, “It is fitting that he receive his alma mater’s accolade in this 150th anniversary year of the religious family which he has led with such insight and wisdom.”
From 1989 to 2010, Father Warner served as director of Notre Dame’s Office of Campus Ministry, which promotes, encourages and engages all aspects of faith life on campus. He also served as chair of the board of directors of South Bend’s Center for the Homeless as well as for Memorial Health Systems, and served on the board of regents of the University of Portland.
Father Warner was elected the 12th superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 2010. In that role for six years, he devoted his administration to structural and spiritual renewal of a religious order of some 1,500 priests and brothers living and working in 16 countries on five continents. Among the most conspicuous projects during his term was the establishment of the International Shrine of Blessed Basil Moreau at the Church of Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix in Le Mans, France, and the rebuilding of churches, schools and other institutions after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. He also broadened the involvement and participation of all sectors in the congregation’s governance, organized three Holy Cross Forums in Rome for the order’s young brothers and priests, and presided over the renovation of the Holy Cross Generalate, the congregation’s international headquarters in Rome.
Father Warner is survived by his sister Joanne M. Warner.
A funeral Mass for Father Warner will be celebrated at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 27), preceded by a wake at 2 p.m., both in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame.
Latest ND NewsWire
- Alumni Association set to hold second annual Notre Dame Global Day of ServiceThis Saturday (April 27) the Notre Dame Alumni Association will host the second annual Notre Dame Global Day of Service — a day to mobilize the Notre Dame spirit of service and serve those most in need in communities around the world.
- Alumni Association presents annual spring awardsThe University of Notre Dame Alumni Association recognized a number of distinguished alumni and staff during its annual spring board meeting. The association presents awards throughout the year that fall into six broad categories, each representing an area in which the University encourages excellence: the arts, athletics, service to the Alumni Association, service to country, service to humanity and service to the University.
- Sea-going expedition unearths clues to ancient climateMelissa Berke, a geochemist and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, was selected to sail as a part of an expedition aboard the JOIDES research vessel. Her goal is to use ocean core samples to detect changes in global climate.
- Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz addresses inequality with a people-centered economyInequality is a policy choice — not an inevitable outcome — and can be addressed through economic approaches that prioritize human dignity, economist and Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz said during a recent visit to the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs.
- Literacy scholar Ernest Morrell elected to American Academy of Arts and SciencesErnest Morrell, the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers. Morrell was one of the 250 members of the newest AAAS class announced today. Other notable names among the group include filmmaker George Clooney, Apple CEO Tim Cook, novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and 1993 Notre Dame alumnus Carlos Lozada.
- "Words Fly Through Air"Every day, people use mobile devices to communicate, stream video, check the weather, navigate, play games, and use thousands of other apps. Only in the most recent decades have these technologies become more accessible. Wireless technology also underlies radio astronomy, satellites, television and…