Our brother bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap., who retired as the second Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea, in October 2019, died late Tuesday night, January 19, 2021, at Shadyside Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, from a Covid-related illness. Since July 2020, he had been in residence at St. Augustine Friary in Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville), PA.
“Bishop Bill” was born William Regis Fey in Pittsburgh, PA, on November 6, 1942, the son of Regis and Dorothy (Clair) Fey. Initially, he attended Middlesex Elementary School in Valencia, PA, before attending St. Paul Grade School in Butler. On graduation, he enrolled at our Capuchin seminary, St. Fidelis High School and College in Herman, PA.
Upon completing his second year of college studies, Bill was invested with the Capuchin habit in Annapolis, MD on July 13, 1962, receiving the religious name Br. Elroy (we assume Elroy Face was famous on the Pittsburgh Pirates team at the time?). He made his profession of vows one year later on July 14, 1963, and in 1968, he returned to his baptismal name, William, when that option became available. That same year, he was ordained to the priesthood in a class of Capuchins that numbered seventeen (17) friars, the highest number ever ordained for the community.
Bill completed his theological studies at Capuchin College in Washington, DC, in 1969 and received a Master of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 before enrolling for doctoral studies at Oxford University in England, where he was awarded the degree of D.Phil.Oxon (doctorate in Philosophy) in 1974. His doctoral thesis was entitled John Henry Newman, Empiricist Philosophy and the Certainty of Faith. His interest in the work of that future saint would continue throughout his life; his doctoral thesis was published in book form entitled Faith and Doubt: the Unfolding of Newman’s Thought on Certainty (Patmos Press: 1976). He went on to contribute scholarly articles and to deliver numerous papers and lectures on Cardinal Newman’s thought and writings over the years.
Our brother Bill was a passionate educator of friars and seminarians for more than thirty years. He held teaching positions at St. Fidelis College in Herman, PA (1974-1979) and Borromeo College of Ohio in Wickliffe, OH (1979-1986), before beginning a sabbatical in 1986-1987 to accept an opportunity to serve as Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at St. Bonaventure College in Lusaka, Zambia. It was during that year that he began to seriously consider a previously latent idea of missionary service.
Bill sought and was granted an assignment to the Capuchin mission in Papua New Guinea on the completion of his sabbatical, arriving in the country in the Spring of 1987. After a year of orientation in the Southern Highlands of the country with our Capuchin confreres, the new missionary took up residence at St. Fidelis College in Madang, Papua New Guinea (1988) and at Holy Spirit Seminary/Catholic Theological Institute, Bomana, Papua New Guinea (1988-2010); he was Dean of Studies there from 2000-2010. He once was quoted as saying that “I try to help [students] find truth in their own thinking – the truth when things go well and the truth when things are out of their control.”
Throughout his studies and his teaching career, Bill maintained an active involvement with the pastoral work of the Church, giving retreats and days of recollection, regularly assisting with sacramental work at local parishes and serving as a spiritual director and mentor for generations of friars, seminarians, Sisters and laity. Coupled with his academic and intellectual fervor was a passion for ensuring the best possible formation of his Capuchin students and other seminarians. He served variously as Secretary for Formation in the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh, Director of the Capuchin Formation Program at Borromeo College in Ohio, Secretary for Formation for the Capuchin Vice-Province of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Rector of the Capuchin Friars College in Bomana and Chairperson for the Association of Melanesian Formators of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Without a doubt, Bill was a brilliant and very active man, yet he had a gentle spirit–strong but never harsh or unduly stern. He was known for his wry sense of humor, seemingly able to find a bit of comedy even in very difficult situations. He delighted in describing embarrassing moments for himself and enjoyed relating occasions when he acted foolishly: like the time in England when he was granted access to Cardinal Newman’s private study. Once handed a priceless volume from one of the shelves (Perrone’s Praelectiones Theologicae), he accidentally fumbled it – into the dirt and ashes of a waste basket! Or the time when he announced to parishioners in Barberton, OH, that the “Robert Boeff Dinner” would be held that week, though the pastor’s handwriting had intended that it read “roast beef dinner.”
Bill was wickedly competitive as well, whether at the card table or on a tennis, handball or squash court. He often competed against himself, sometimes seeing how much he could cram into any given time period: he was known to cut the grass while running so that he could get a good workout and finish a chore at the same time. He would leave a meeting and feverishly run to his typewriter to type the minutes (he was ALWAYS asked to be the secretary); of course, the advantage of the secretary is to “record” what will be remembered – and what will be forgotten. Bill worked hard and found little reason for rest or recuperation. He was driven.
It was his compassionate heart, though, that most likely led to his being named the second Bishop of Kimbe, a city in the West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea in 2010. He was a true missionary, and his love for the people was evident from the start. Pope Benedict XVI assigned him to a diocese that had not had a bishop for over two years, and Bill spent himself as a true shepherd there–one who took on what Pope Francis would call “the smell of the sheep.” Here is a selection of a video compiled from clips from Bishop Bill's Ordination as bishop in 2010:
“Bishop Bill,” as he was affectionately called, had few priests, no funds and poor prospects. but he threw himself into his work. He would travel to remote corners of the diocese by boat, by foot or by untreated roadways. His labors, lovingly spent, wore away at his health over time. He suffered two strokes, the first in 2016 and the second in 2018. Each time, he would recover, and despite the pleas of 
his brother Capuchins or his brothers and sisters, he insisted on returning to work for the people of Kimbe. He was past the mandated age of 75 for a bishop’s retirement when Pope Francis finally accepted his resignation at 78 in 2019. After a period of initiation for the new bishop of Kimbe, he returned to Pittsburgh in July 2020 and to the world of Covid-19.
Bishop Bill Fey was heavily involved in the work of ecumenism while in Papua New Guinea, a place where some Christian missionaries would compete for the people’s affiliation. , Bill served as Secretary for Ecumenism for the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG, working with Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist and Catholic leaders to work to help the people in their Christian faith and not to divide them with divisions which had no meaning (nor practical import) in their history.
Bill developed troubling symptoms after testing positive for the Covid-19 virus, symptoms which ultimately lead to hospitalization and the need for a ventilator. Sadly, his condition worsened on each passing day until his body could no longer fight its damage. He died late Tuesday night, January 19, 2021, at the age of 78, a Capuchin friar for 57 years, a priest for 52 and a bishop for 10 years.
Our brother Bill Fey’s parents and his younger brother Robert preceded him in death. He is survived by his brother Joseph (Carol) of Valencia PA; two sisters, Carol (Daniel) Mioduszewski of Rio Communities, NM, and Patricia (Terry) Rings of Lake Charles, LA; and his sister-in-law Paula Fey of Mars, PA.
It’s no coincidence to many of us that Bill passed to the Lord’s eternal life during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. That prayer, “That all may be one,” began on January 18 and ends with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25: the theme for 2021 is “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9). There can be no better way to sum up Bill’s work than through remembering the fruits of Bishop Bill’s love and labors. His burial in Herman, PA (see below) takes place as this years Christian Unity Octave ends.
________________________________________________________________
Bishop Bill's Coat of Arms
"The Lord is my Light"
Visitation & Viewing
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Saint Augustine Church (Our Lady of Angels Parish)
225 37th Street
Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville), PA
6:00 p.m.
Reception of the Body
6:30 p.m.
Visitation and Viewing
8:00 p.m.
Vigil Service
________________________________________________________________
Livestream Video of the Prayer Vigil
of our brother Bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap.,
Sunday, January 24th, at 8:00 p.m. (EST):
________________________________________________________________
Funeral Mass and Burial
Monday, January 25, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Saint Augustine Church (Our Lady of Angels Parish)
225 37th Street
Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville), PA
of Saint Mary Cemetery, Herman (Butler), PA
Livestream Video of the Funeral Mass
of our brother Bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap.,
Monday, January 25th, at 10:00 a.m. (EST)
on our Capuchin Café YouTube Channel.
or to the address
in the footer below.
A previous version of this article incorrectly named the province of Papua New Guinea
in which Kimbe is located. It is the West New Britain Province,
not the "Eastern New Britain Province." We apologize for the error.