From a tiny townhouse in Homestead, a Catholic metallurgist began a prayer group that, in a span of nearly 40 years, would split from the Catholic Church, become a community with its own priests and nuns, and send missionaries around the world.

Bishop Edward Victor Donovan, a robust religious figure in Pittsburgh who founded the Community of the Crucified One, died Saturday of lung cancer. He was 76.

He leaves behind a religious group that has missionaries in Kenya, Jamaica, India, Brazil and Hawaii. The community is not recognized by the Catholic Church and at times has drawn criticism from the Pittsburgh Diocese for not being clear that it isn't Catholic. Its religious garb and rituals resemble those of the Catholic Church, but it broke away in 1979, in part because Bishop Donovan believed communion should be offered to non-Catholics.

The Community of the Crucified One held so-called miracle services where, friends and family said, terminally ill people were cured. Bishop Donovan did not take the credit, instead attributing it to the Holy Spirit.

Colleagues and family remembered him as a man of faith and honesty who had a love for children.

"He was a tremendous person," said the Rev. Donald Turner, pastor of Second Baptist Church, a few blocks from Bishop Donovan's church, the Temple of the Crucified One in Homestead. "He loved to help people. I can't begin to describe the impact he had on this community."

Bishop Donovan was a force for good in Homestead, which suffered after the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s. Under his leadership, the Community of the Crucified One bought and rehabilitated many buildings, including a vacant school that later became Ascension School, an elementary run by the community.

Other properties of the community have been used as apartments for church officials and students attending local colleges.

Bishop Donovan was known to welcome the sick and lonely into the community residences as well.

"One of his mottoes was, 'Whomsoever will, let them come,'" said the Rev. Paul Stewart, a church leader and longtime friend of Bishop Donovan. Under Bishop Donovan's leadership, the community won awards from the Steel Valley Chamber of Commerce and the gratitude of local officials.

"My conception of a holy man had been this man with flowing robes and a beard and nothing but wisdom coming out," Mr. Stewart recalled. "When I met [Bishop Donovan], he was just an ordinary person. He liked to joke and laugh but he was very serious about the Lord. He could bring the word down to a level where I was."

Bishop Donovan was born and raised in the Hill District. He graduated from Pittsburgh's St. Francis de Sales High School in 1949 and Duquesne University in 1953. He married Audrey Leemine in 1966.

After a "spiritual awakening" in 1970, he formed the prayer group in Homestead, said his brother, John, of South Park. The group broke away from the church and officially became The Brothers and Sisters of the Community of the Crucified One in 1979. After working at U.S. Steel for more than 20 years as a metallurgist, Bishop Donovan left in the mid-1970s and devoted his time to leading his religious community, which he did until his death.

In addition to his wife and brother, he is survived by a son, Edward Jr. of Conneautville, Crawford County; a granddaughter and two great-grandsons.

A funeral Mass was yesterday.