Retired Bishop Gaydos of Jefferson City dies at 82; he served 'with a shepherd's care'

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (OSV News) -- Retired Bishop John R. Gaydos, 82, who served as the third bishop of Jefferson City from 1997 to 2017, died peacefully the morning of Sept. 6 at St. Agnes Retirement Home in Kirkwood, Missouri.

He was a priest for 56 years and a bishop for 20.

The St. Louis native led the church in central and northeastern Missouri through some of its most vexing challenges in the course of his 20-year tenure.

"Bishop Gaydos served our diocese with a shepherd's care and an unwavering trust in the Holy Spirit," said Msgr. Robert A. Kurwicki, diocesan administrator. "He led us through seasons of challenge and change, always pointing us toward hope and reminding us of God's boundless mercy."

A funeral Mass for the bishop will be celebrated Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, with Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis presiding and retired Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, preaching the homily.

Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, who succeeded Bishop Gaydos as shepherd of the diocese from 2018 until this past May, when he was appointed to Kansas City, will concelebrate along with priests of the Jefferson City Diocese and the St. Louis Archdiocese and other guest priests.

Burial will be in the priests' section of Resurrection Cemetery in Jefferson City.

Among the highlights of Bishop Gaydos's tenure were the establishment of a diocesan affiliate of Catholic Charities USA, the building of the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City, the opening of Fr. Tolton Regional Catholic High School in Columbia, the intensification of formation for permanent deacons, and the inviting of a new wave of missionary priests from around the world to minister in the diocese.

Bishop Gaydos served for 28 years as a priest of the St. Louis Archdiocese -- sometimes referred to as the "Rome of the West" -- before becoming bishop of Jefferson City in 1997.

He was born Aug. 14, 1943, in St. Louis, the oldest of four sons of the late George and Carrie (Lee) Gaydos. He attended St. Louis Preparatory Seminary high school, followed by four years at Cardinal Glennon College, both on the grounds of Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis.

He studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome while continuing his priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College. He was in Rome during the final session and conclusion of the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

On Dec. 20, 1968, in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Bishop Francis F. Reh, seminary rector, ordained Bishop Gaydos and 64 other seminarians to the priesthood.

In the St. Louis Archdiocese, besides service as a pastor and associate pastor, then-Father Gaydos served as priest secretary to the archbishop and was vice chancellor, then chancellor.

He also taught at his alma mater, St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South (1972-1977) and helped establish the archdiocese's discernment and formation process for permanent deacons.

As priest secretary to the archbishop, he assisted the late Cardinal John J. Carberry in answering correspondence, scheduling parish visits and other events in the archdiocese, and researching liturgical protocol.

Cardinal Carberry retired in 1980. His successor, the late Archbishop John L. May appointed Father Gaydos to serve as chancellor for the archdiocese and to continue as his priest secretary and his master of ceremonies, which he did for 10 years, including Archbishop May's three-year term as president of what is now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In 1995, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Justin Rigali, now retired, appointed him vicar for priests for the archdiocese in 1995. In that role, he helped the archbishop with the administration of three deaneries and served as archdiocesan vicar for priests.

In June 1997, he was named bishop of Jefferson City and was installed Aug. 27, 1997, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.

Bishop Gaydos worked with deacons and laypeople to establish parish conferences of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, providing a prayerful and distinctly Catholic way to help local people in need.

Those efforts, coupled with the diocese's already robust refugee resettlement, prison ministry, social concerns, rural life and family life efforts, led to the creation of Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri in 2011.

He worked with Catholics in and near Columbia and throughout the diocese to establish Fr. Tolton Regional Catholic High School, which opened in 2011.

He and his advisers worked to develop and implement a diocesan pastoral plan, with emphasis on building up family life; promoting deeper knowledge and understanding of the faith; and creating a more welcoming environment in all parishes for newcomers, immigrants, the marginalized and the inactive.

One of the concrete effects of that plan was enhanced outreach and ministry to the growing populations of Hispanic Catholics throughout the diocese.

The most difficult challenge of his episcopacy involved coming to terms with and addressing the fact that members of the clergy in the diocese had sexually abused children entrusted to their care.

Priests of the diocese who were deemed to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors in the past were removed from ministry, and new, robust safeguards in keeping with the U.S. Catholic Bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" were implemented and refined.

Bishop Gaydos served on many national church committees, including the U.S. Catholic Bishops' committees on world missions, communications, priestly life, administration, marriage and family life, and interreligious affairs, and the subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

Bishop Gaydos was deeply convicted of the healing power of God's mercy and reconciliation.

Once, when someone wondered aloud at the disposition of the soul of a man who had recently died, the Bishop thundered: "Never ... EVER ... underestimate the power of God's mercy! ... Ever!"

After Archbishop McKnight's ordination and installation on Feb. 6, 2018, Bishop Gaydos took up residence in the Cathedral of St. Joseph Rectory in Jefferson City, where he continued offering daily Mass, traveling and keeping up with voluminous correspondence.

Bishop Gaydos moved to St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood in July 2024 of that year.

Upon his 25th anniversary as a bishop in August 2022, Bishop Gaydos asked for prayers "that the Lord will keep me faithful until he calls me home."

He said he was grateful to have Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as teachers in grade school, "because with St. Joseph, you always pray for a happy death."

"I'm ready," Bishop Gaydos stated. "I've had a great life. I'm in no rush, but I'm ready."