Bishop Michael Sheridan, who led the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado, from 2003 to 2021, died Tuesday. He was 77.
The diocese announced his death at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs Sept. 27.
Bishop James Golka, Bishop Sheridan’s successor, wrote on Twitter: “Please join me in praying for the repose of his soul. He was a faithful servant until the end.”
Bishop Sheridan was born in St. Louis in 1945. He attended Rockhurst College for a year and then Cardinal Glennon College Seminary and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1971.
He continued his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, earning a licentiate, and returned to teach at Kenrick. He was active in the theater group there.
In 1997, he was consecrated a bishop and appointed an auxiliary of the St. Louis Archdiocese.
In 2001, he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Colorado Springs, and he succeeded as ordinary on Jan. 30, 2003. He retired in 2021, at age 76.
“Among his many achievements during his tenure as Bishop of Colorado Springs were the development of a robust vocations program that resulted in the ordination of many new priests for the diocese and the construction of the St. John Henry Newman Chapel and Catholic Student Center at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs,” the diocese said.
Bishop Sheridan also hosted a weekly radio show from 2008 to 2020.
A vigil for Bishop Sheridan will be held Oct. 6 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Colorado Springs, and his funeral Mass will be said the following day at the city’s Holy Apostles Church.