The Most Rev. Bishop Emeritus Dale Melczek, the third bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary, suffered a health setback this weekend, according to the Diocese.
In a statement Tuesday from the Most Rev. Bishop Robert J. McClory, the bishop called for the faithful to lift Melczek up in prayers.
“Our beloved shepherd Bishop Dale Melczek has entered hospice care. The bishop is currently unresponsive due to a recent stroke that is not medically repairable,” McClory said.
News of the Melczek’s health troubles had spread on social media since Sunday.
“Please join us in praying for Bishop Emeritus Dale J. Melczek, whose health declined over the weekend,” the Diocese wrote Sunday in a 7:40 p.m. Facebook post.
Melzcek, 84, served as bishop from 1992 to 2015 when he retired. He was assigned as pastor at St. Mary of the Lake Parish in Gary. He suffered a stroke in 2018, but recovered.
St. Mary of the Lake earlier Sunday posted to its Facebook page regarding Melczek as well.
“Please keep Bishop Dale in your prayers,” the post said.
More than 400 people had responded to the Sunday post on the Diocese Facebook page offering prayers to the bishop and responses continued to flow in following the health update.
Melzcek was installed bishop of the 50-year-old Diocese of Gary in June 1996, with Cardinal Edmund Szoka, archbishop emeritus of Detroit, presiding over Melczek’s installation. Pope John Paul II had appointed Melczek auxiliary bishop of Detroit in 1982 and Cardinal Szoka ordained him bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1983. Melczek was born in Detroit, the oldest of three children to Aloysius and Geraldine Melczek. He was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1964.
In 1992, after his predecessor Bishop Norbert F. Gaughan suffered a stroke, Pope John Paul II assigned Melczek as “apostolic administrator” for the Diocese of Gary, before he eventual took over full-time duties from Gaughan, who retired to St. Anthony Home in Crown Point before his death at age 78 in October 1999.
Melzcek was succeeded by Bishop Donald Hying, who was appointed by Pope Francis to become the new bishop for the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, where he now serves. Hying was installed bishop of the Gary Diocese in January 2015.
Hying was succeeded by Bishop McClory, who was installed in February 2020. Prior to entering the seminary, McClory studied economics and communications and ultimately earned a law degree, where he worked in private practice for three years. He also has served in myriad positions with the Archdiocese of Detroit since his ordination in 1999
Phil Potempa contributed.
