Oklahoma Catholic Bishop Emeritus Edward Slattery has died at the age of 84

EDMOND, Oklahoma – Edward J. Slattery, a Catholic bishop emeritus who apologized for reinstating a priest who later admitted to sexually abusing an Oklahoma boy, has died, the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma said Saturday. He was 84.

Slattery died late Friday at his home near Tulsa from the effects of a “series of severe strokes,” Vicar General Father Gary Kastl said in a statement from the diocese.

In 2002, amid a sex scandal within the Catholic Church involving clergy, Slattery apologized for reinstating the Reverend Kenneth Lewis in 1995 following allegations against him. Slattery said at the time that when the allegations arose in 1994, Lewis was initially removed from office but was reinstated after receiving psychiatric treatment.

“I've made mistakes along the way and I feel terrible about it, but I don't feel guilty about it,” Slattery told the Tulsa World. “The mistakes are probably part of a culture that's trying to protect the church.”

Lewis was later accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy from Oklahoma during a trip to Illinois in 2001. Lewis was fired from the department and resigned in 2007. He eventually pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse.

In 2009, the Diocese of Tulsa was found to be failing to meet standards set by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops following the clergy sex abuse scandal, but by 2010 it had implemented training and other abuse prevention programs.

Slattery was also among the bishops who objected to the University of Notre Dame's invitation to then-President Barack Obama to speak at the 2009 graduation and to award him an honorary doctorate.

Slattery was born in Chicago and ordained a priest in 1966. He was consecrated a bishop in 1994 and shortly thereafter appointed bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa.

He oversaw the expansion of Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma and the creation of a new campus for the charity in north Tulsa, as well as the establishment of a tuition assistance fund for Catholic families.

In 2016, after reaching his 75th birthday, he resigned from his office as required by canon law.

Slattery leaves behind four sisters and a brother.