Donald Wuerl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Senior posting | |
| See | Washington, DC |
| Title | Archbishop of Washington |
| Period in office | May 16, 2006 — present |
| Predecessor | Theodore Cardinal McCarrick |
| Successor | incumbent |
| Personal | |
| Date of birth | November 12, 1940 |
| Place of birth | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is the sixth Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, DC. From 1988 to 2006, he served as the 11th Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On May 16, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Theodore Cardinal McCarrick as Archbishop of Washington on account of age. Wuerl was installed on June 22, 2006.
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[edit] Background
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Donald William Wuerl |
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Donald William Wuerl was born on November 12, 1940 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended St. Mary of the Mount Parish & School, then studied at The Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received graduate degrees from The Catholic University of America, the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, and his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy in 1974.
He was ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1966. He began his career as an assistant pastor at St. Rosalia parish in Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood, and perhaps more importantly, as a secretary to Pittsburgh Bishop John Wright. In 1969 Wright was elevated to Cardinal, and Wuerl served as his full time secretary for the next ten years.
When John Cardinal Wright was confined to a wheelchair with severe arthritis in 1978, Wuerl, as Wright's secretary, was the only non-Cardinal permitted into the conclave, which selected Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II.
Wuerl was Rector of St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1985.
Wuerl was appointed Titular Bishop of Rosemarkie and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washington state on December 3, 1985 (it was controversial in that he was to rein in Archbishop Hunthausen's powers).
Wuerl was consecrated Bishop on January 6, 1986 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II.
Wuerl returned to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1987 and was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania on February 12, 1988, then installed as its 11th Bishop on March 25, 1988. In 1989 he established the Oakland Catholic High School, an all-girls school in the Oakland district of Pittsburgh.[1]
Wuerl closed several Parishes and merged many others during his time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; he was managing the remaining 214 Parishes when he left in 2006.
Wuerl hosted "The Teaching of Christ", a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania television program he launched in 1990. It is now widely distributed through the Christian Associates Cable Channel, and through its national syndication. As a writer his best-selling adult catechism of the same name, now in its 30th year of publication, has been translated into more than 10 languages and is used throughout the world. He also has taught at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh as a Distinguished Service Professor.
Wuerl was installed as Archbishop of Washington at 2:30 p.m. on June 22, 2006 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located on the campus of The Catholic University of America. As Archbishop, Wuerl is Chancellor of the University. On 29 June, the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Archbishop Wuerl received the pallium from Pope Benedict.
[edit] Notes
[edit] Books
- The Forty Martyrs: New Saints of England and Wales, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1971)
- Fathers of the Church, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1975)
- The Catholic Priesthood Today, (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1976)
- The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1976)
- St. Christopher: A Military Martyr (Unpublished, 1979)
- A Visit to the Vatican: For Young People, (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1981)
- The Gift of Faith: A Question and Answer Version of The Teaching of Christ, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001)
[edit] Reference
- Glenn, Francis A. (1993). Shepherds of the Faith 1843-1993: A Brief History of the Bishops of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh: Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. ISBN none.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua |
Bishop of Pittsburgh 1988–2006 |
Succeeded by Bishop Paul Bradley (interim) |
| Preceded by Theodore Cardinal McCarrick |
Archbishop of Washington 2006– |
Succeeded by incumbent |
