Anthony Bevilacqua

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Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua

Church positions
See	Philadelphia (Emeritus)
Title	Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia
Period in office	December 8, 1987 – July 15, 2003
Successor	Justin Cardinal Rigali
Previous post	Bishop of Pittsburgh
Created cardinal	June 28, 1991
Personal
Date of birth	June 17, 1923 (1923-06-17) (age 84)
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York

Styles of Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Philadelphia (Emeritus)

Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua (born June 17, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Bishop of Pittsburgh from 1983 to 1987 and Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1987 to 2003, and was raised to the cardinalate in 1991.

[edit] Biography

He was one of eleven children born to Luigi and Maria (née Codella) Bevilacqua, Italian immigrants who came to the United States around 1913, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Public School 60, St. Thomas the Apostle School, Richmond Hill High School, and Cathedral High School. In 1943, he graduated from the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York, and was ordained a priest at Brooklyn's St. James Cathedral on June 11, 1949.

As a priest, Bevilacqua served the Diocese of Brooklyn for 34 years. During this time he also took several degrees, a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, his master's degree in political science from Columbia University, and a law degree from St. John's University, which he received at age 52. Father Bevilacqua also served as a faculty member on the Cathedral College and at the diocesan seminary and St. John's University, a chaplain, vice-chancellor and chancellor, and even established the Catholic Office for Migrants and Refugees in 1971. He was raised to the rank of a monsignor on January 23, 1976.

On October 7, 1980, Bevilacqua was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn, and titular bishop of Aquae Albae in Byzaena. He was consecrated to the episcopate on the following November 24 by Bishop Francis Mugavero, with Bishops John Snyder and Charles Mulrooney serving as co-consecrators, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He was named the tenth Bishop of Pittsburgh on October 7, 1983, serving for five years, when he replaced John Cardinal Krol as Archbishop of Philadelphia on December 8, 1987. Bevilacqua was created Cardinal Priest of Ss. Redentore e S. Alfonso in Via Merluana by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of June 28, 1991.

During a fifteen year stewardship of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Bevilacqua is remembered for his frequent visits to churches in the diocese, his knowledge of fiscal matters, his conservatism, and his closing of schools (such as Saint James in Chester). Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life Committee, he spoke at a Vigil Mass before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January 2002:

He especially loved visiting schools and meeting the children of the diocese. Upon his 80th birthday, on June 17, 2003, Bevilacqua became ineligible to vote in a papal conclave, and retired as Archbishop of Philadelphia effective July 15, 2003. He was succeeded by Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis.

In retirement, Cardinal Bevilacqua has lived at his home on the grounds of the archdiocesan seminary, St. Charles Borromeo, in suburban Philadelphia.

[edit] External links

• Curriculum vitae in The Daily Catholic February 1, 1999

[edit] References

• 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.