Rapid City Diocese bishop dies after battle with cancer

Bishop Peter Muhich served in the Rapid City Diocese since 2020

Bishop Peter M. Muhich (Facebook)

The head of the West River Catholic diocese has passed away after a battle with cancer.

The Diocese of Rapid City, a division of the Catholic Church charged with overseeing operations in the western part of the state, confirmed Saturday that Bishop Peter M. Muhich died in hospice care that morning, after a roughly year-long battle with esophageal cancer.

Muhich, who had been in charge of the Diocese since 2020, posted to Facebook Wednesday that he would be entering hospice because all other treatment options had been exhausted.

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“Thanks to all of you for your many prayers, which have sustained me and strengthened me through the many trials along the way,” Muhich wrote. “I am grateful.”

Originally from Minnesota, Muhich was ordained as a priest in 1989. He attended college in both his home state, and in Belgium. His first assignments after ordination would be back home — he served as a priest in the Duluth Diocese to begin his career.

He took over the Rapid City Diocese after having served as pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea and Our Lady of Mercy parishes in Duluth.

The Rapid City Diocese is the smallest by population in the continental United States, serving roughly 24,000 Catholics over about 43,000 square miles.

“Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him,” the Diocese posted in a public statement announcing Muhich’s passing.

Bishops are replaced at the behest of the pope, but go through a lengthy approval and vetting process to be selected for the position. Bishop Donald DeGrood, currently the Bishop of the Sioux Falls Diocese, was named to his position in December 2019 — over a year after his predecessor resigned in 2018. Muhich took over the Rapid City Bishop position after it had remained vacant for about a year.

He was 62.

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