Yeah, the D&D styled cleric was a staple of the early MMOs yet it seems completely absent lately. I even played that Neverwinter mmo or whatever its called, and you end up throwing spears or something. I forget, but I remember thinking the whole time "I just....wanted a hammer Shield would be nice too." I think the best heavily armored healer skillset was probably EQ1 cleric or any of the 3 Dark Age of Camelot's primary healers. I only played WoW a few months after release, so I am not sure how paladin evolved as a healer in that game. But I've always figured paladins should be light healing tanks, not tanky healers. So I don't really count them.

As you say though, its a western RPG thing. And considering how absent it is lately in that category, I suspect you definitely won't see it in FFXIV.