U.S.-born Mexican bishop dies of pancreatic cancer

MEXICO CITY -- Bishop Ricardo Watty Urquidi of Tepic, an American-born prelate who participated in a Vatican investigation of the Legionaries of Christ, died of pancreatic cancer Nov. 1, the Mexican bishops' conference said in a brief statement. He was 73.

A funeral Mass for Bishop Watty will be celebrated Nov. 3 at the cathedral in Tepic.

The bishop most recently participated in the five-member apostolic visitation of the Legionaries of Christ; the visitors recommended in 2010 that the order be renewed and its charism redefined.

His work with the apostolic visitation drew praise from some victims of the Legionaries' founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado. Among those who praised the bishop were Jose Antonio Olvera, a lawyer, who told the newspaper Milenio, "We found a sincere man that was concerned by the testimony he had heard."

Ricardo Watty Urquidi was born in San Diego in 1938 and was ordained as a priest in Mexico City at the age of 29. He served as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Mexico City before being appointed bishop of Nuevo Laredo and, in 2008, bishop of Tepic.