Justin Francis Rigali

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Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali
Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia
See Philadelphia
Enthroned July 15, 2003
Ended Incumbent
Predecessor Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Created Cardinal September 28, 2003
Other Archbishop of St. Louis
Born April 19, 1935 (1935-04-19) (age 73)
Los Angeles, California
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Styles of
Justin Cardinal Rigali
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Philadelphia


Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali (born 19 April 1935) is an United States bishop of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Philadelphia, and is one of the most influential members among the Catholic bishops in the United States, having been personally and theologically close to both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

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, and also at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1964-1965). He was ordained to the priesthood by James Cardinal McIntyre in the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, Los Angeles, on 25 April 1961. Between his studies in Rome, Rigali did pastoral work in Los Angeles, Downey, and 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 be 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 first two journeys to the United States in 1979 (including a trip to Philadelphia) and 1987. After being made a Prelate of Honour 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 conferred episcopal ordination on 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 service to a number of parishes 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 of 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.

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 reportedly decided to be hosted by the Archdiocese of St. Louis because of his friendship with Archbishop Rigali.

On July 15, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Rigali as the eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia. He was succeeded in St. Louis by Raymond Leo Burke, who until then had been Bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Before Rigali 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.

Cardinal Rigali was the only U.S. cardinal to serve as a co-celebrant at the 2005 funeral mass for Pope John Paul II and participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Rigali remains eligible to vote in any future conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday on April 19, 2015.

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

In June 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. 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 rejoicing" 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.

In September 2007, he was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a member of the Congregation for Bishops, the curia department that puts forward to the Pope the names of those considered to be appropriate choices to be appointed as bishops.

[edit] Episcopal Succession

Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by: Pope John Paul II
Date of consecration: September 14, 1985
Consecrator of
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 Edward Thomas July 26, 2006

[edit] References

[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
v • d • e
Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia