Gerald Thomas Walsh

Gerald Thomas Walsh (April 25, 1942 – May 4, 2025) was an American Catholic prelate who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York from 2004 to 2017.

While bishop, Walsh also served as rector of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, from 2007 to 2013.

Biography

Early life Gerald Walsh was born on April 25, 1942, in Manhattan, the eldest of the three children of Thomas Walsh, a police officer, and Anne (née Haggerty) Walsh, a homemaker. His siblings are Michael (b. 1944) and Monica (b. 1950). Gerald Walsh attended Good Shepherd School and Power Memorial Academy in New York City, then Iona College in New Rochelle, New York in 1959; there he earned the nickname of "St. Gerry" from his classmates. Walsh then attended St. Joseph's Seminary, where he obtained his bachelor's degree and his Master of Divinity degree.

Priesthood

Walsh was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal Francis Spellman on May 27, 1967, in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. Walsh then studied Spanish at the Institute for Intercultural Communication of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Walsh was then named pastor of St. Elizabeth's Parish in Washington Heights, and regional vicar of North Manhattan in September of that same year. In 2003, Walsh was named vicar of development of the archdiocese, serving as its chief fundraiser.