Justin Francis Rigali

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**Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali**


Church positions
See	Philadelphia
Title	Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia
Period in office	July 15, 2003—present
Raised to cardinalate	September 28, 2003
Predecessor	Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Successor	incumbent
Previous post	Archbishop of St. Louis
Personal
Date of birth	April 19, 1935
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California

Styles of Justin Cardinal Rigali

Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Philadelphia

His Eminence Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali (born 19 April 1935) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Philadelphia, and is one of the most influential members of the American hierarchy, having been very personally and theologically close to Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in particular.

Rigali is the youngest of seven children (three of whom entered religious life) born to Henry A. Rigali and Frances Irene White. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and studied philosophy and theology at several California universities and seminaries. Rigali also studied at the Gregorian University (1961-1964), where he earned a doctorate in Canon law (1964), and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1964-1965). He was ordained to the priesthood by James Cardinal McIntyre in the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana on 25 April 1961. Between his studies in Rome, Rigali did pastoral work in Los Angeles, Downey, amd Pomona.

In 1961 he received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from The Catholic University of America, where he is now a member of the Board of Trustees. He was an assistant during the first two sessions of the Second Vatican Council, and entered the English section of the Secretariat of State on 25 November 1964; he would later advance to Section Director in 1970, acting as English translator to Pope Paul VI. Rigali then served, from September 1966 to February 1970, at the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar. It was during this period that, on 11 July 1967, he was named a Papal Chamberlain (Monsignor) by Pope Paul VI.

During his service at the Secretariat of State, he was a chaplain at a Carmelite monastery and a professor at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican's training institute for priests who will be future papal ambassadors. Rigali also accompanied Pope John Paul II on a number of international pastoral visits, including the Holy Father's first two major journeys to the United States in 1979 (including a trip to Philadelphia) and 1987. After being made a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness (1980), he was named titular archbishop of Volsinium and President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy on 8 June 1985. John Paul II personally conferred episcopal consecration to Rigali in Albano on 14 September 1985, with Eduardo Cardinal Martínez Somalo and Achille Cardinal Silvestrini as co-consecrators.

From 1985 to 1990, in addition to being President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he held a number of positions at the Vatican, serving the Secretariat of State, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for the Laity. On December 21, 1989, he was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and on January 2, 1990 he became the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. He was a member of the Permanent Interdicasterial Commission and served as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the same time, he was also engaged in pastoral services to a number of parishes and seminaries in Rome.

On January 25, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him the seventh Archbishop of St. Louis (eighth Bishop), succeeding Archbishop John L. May. He was installed as archbishop by Bernardin Cardinal Gantin. While serving as Archbishop in St. Louis, Rigali showed a great interest in schools, visiting every high school in the archdiocese. He was widely credited as an able administrator and champion fund-raiser during his time.

In January 1999, Archbishop Rigali hosted the Pastoral Visit of Pope John Paul II to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the only such visit to a single diocese in the United States during the pontificate. The Holy Father supposedly chose to be hosted by the Archdiocese of St. Louis because of his close friendship with Archbishop Rigali.

He spoke in Peoria, Illinois, in 1999 for the Red Mass for attorneys.

On July 15, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Rigali as the twelfth Bishop and eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia. He was succeeded in St. Louis by Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, formerly of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Before he was installed in Philadelphia, it was announced on September 28, 2003 that he would become cardinal with the title of Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Priscae. The formal consistory in Rome took place after his installation in Philadelphia.

Cardinal Rigali was the only American cardinal to serve as a co-celebrant in the 2005 funeral mass for Pope John Paul II. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

In September 2005, Rigali became embroiled in the scandal surrounding accusations of pedophilia and sex with minors among clergymen. He staunchly defended the actions of his two immediate predecessors, John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua, who have been named in a Philadelphia grand jury report as sponsors of a coverup.

In June of 2006, he went to the White House to attend, with Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark and Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, a press conference by President George W. Bush to support a constitutional amendment initiative in the U.S. Senate banning gay unions or marriages, which has apparently failed. He had said the ban push movement was an "opportunity that should not be squandered." As Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pro-Life Committee, he remarked during the annual Washington, D.C. pro-life rally in January of 2007 that "there are reasons for rejooicing" in the pro-life cause- the growing participation by young people and a heightened awareness of the issue's intense and growing moral sensitivity among them, who will eventually have a contribution to make to societal issues. He has a series of weekly Lenten discourses on YouTube.

[edit] Episcopal Succession

Consecrator of
Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by:	Pope John Paul II
Date of consecration:	September 14, 1985
Bishop	Date of consecration
Edward Kenneth Braxton	May 17, 1995
John Raymond Gaydos	August 27, 1997
Michael John Sheridan	September 3, 1997
Joseph Fred Naumann	September 3, 1997
Timothy Michael Dolan	August 15, 2001
Robert Joseph Hermann	December 12, 2002
Lawrence Eugene Brandt	March 4, 2004
Joseph Robert Cistone	July 28, 2004
Joseph Patrick McFadden	July 28, 2004
Kevin Carl Rhoades	December 9, 2004
Daniel Thomas	July 26, 2006

[edit] External links

Preceded by John L. May	Archbishop of Saint Louis 1994—2003	Succeeded by Raymond Leo Burke
Preceded by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua	Archbishop of Philadelphia 2003 – present	Incumbent