| The Most Reverend Charles Joseph Chaput O.F.M. Cap., D.D. |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Philadelphia | |
| Enthroned | September 8, 2011 (0 years, 166 days) |
| Predecessor | Justin Francis Rigali |
| Successor | incumbent |
| Other posts | Archbishop of Denver (1997-2011) Bishop of Rapid City (1988–1997) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | August 29, 1970 |
| Consecration | July 26, 1988 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 26, 1944 Concordia, Kansas |
Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. (pronounced sha-pyoo;[1] born September 26, 1944) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He is the ninth and current Archbishop of Philadelphia, serving since his installation on September 8, 2011.[2] He previously served as Archbishop of Denver (1997–2011) and Bishop of Rapid City (1988–1997).[3]
Chaput is a professed Capuchin and has a reputation as an outspoken conservative.[4][5][6] A member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe, he is the second Native American to be ordained a bishop in the United States, and the first Native American archbishop.[7]
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Charles Chaput was born in Concordia, Kansas, one of three children of Joseph and Marian Helen (née DeMarais) Chaput.[7] His father was a French Canadian who was directly descended from the French saint King Louis IX.[8][9] His mother was a Native American of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe; his maternal grandmother was the last member of the family to live on a reservation. Chaput himself was enrolled in the tribe at a young age, taking the name Pietasa ("rustling wind").[8][10] He received his early education at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grade School in Concordia.[7] Deciding to become a priest at the age of 13,[8] he attended St. Francis Seminary High School in Victoria.
In 1965, Chaput entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, a branch of the Franciscans, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[7] He studied at St. Fidelis College in Herman, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1967. On July 14, 1968, he made his solemn profession as a Capuchin friar.[3] He finished his studies in psychology at the Catholic University of America in 1969, and earned a Master of Arts degree in Religious Education from Capuchin College in 1970.
Chaput was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Cyril Vogel on August 29, 1970. He received a Master's degree in Theology from the University of San Francisco in 1971. From 1971 to 1974, he was an instructor in theology and spiritual director at his alma mater, St. Fidelis College. He then served as executive secretary and director of communications for the Capuchin province in Pittsburgh until 1977, from which position he was appointed pastor of Holy Cross Church in Thornton, Colorado.
Chaput was elected vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America in 1977, later becoming secretary and treasurer for the province in 1980 and chief executive and provincial minister in 1983. He was among a group of Native Americans who greeted Pope John Paul II when the latter visited Phoenix, Arizona, during his 1987 trip to the United States.
| Styles of Charles J. Chaput |
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|---|---|
| Reference style | His Excellency |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
On April 11, 1988, Chaput was appointed Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Pope John Paul II. He was consecrated on the following July 26 by Archbishop Pio Laghi, with Archbishop John Roach and Archbishop James Stafford serving as co-consecrators. He thus became the second priest of Native American ancestry to be ordained a bishop in the United States, after Donald Pelotte. He was the first Native American to be ordained as an Ordinary, rather than an auxiliary (or titular) bishop. He chose as his episcopal motto: "As Christ Loved the Church" (Ephesians 5:25).
On February 18, 1997, Archbishop Chaput was appointed as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Denver, Colorado, after the then-Archbishop, James Francis Stafford, was transferred to the Vatican to be a member of the Roman Curia (first as the President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and then in the Church's appellate tribunal system as the Apostolic Penitentiary). In 2007, Archbishop Chaput gave the commencement address at Denver's Augustine Institute, a lay-run graduate school which he has actively supported.
On July 19, 2011, Archbishop Chaput was appointed as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chaput said that "I found out by a call from the Nuncio [Archbishop Pietro Sambi] on Tuesday, July 5, about 11:45 in the morning here in Denver. I was getting ready to go to a staff luncheon when he called and informed me that the Holy Father had asked that I serve the church as the Archbishop of Philadelphia. After talking with him for a while, and discussing what it meant, I said yes". He was installed as the archdiocese's ninth Archbishop on Thursday, September 8, 2011. Asked why he thought he had been appointed he said, "Perhaps it has to do with my record on those kinds of things, but I really don't know". On August 17-19, he gave catechesis at the World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain.[11] similar to the function he performed at the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia.[12] He succeeds Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali, who reached the canonical retirement age of 75 in April 2010.
Chaput speaks out regularly on controversial issues, and occasionally differs publicly from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
He criticized the Office for Film and Broadcasting of the USCCB's positive review of the film The Golden Compass. Review has been removed from the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, because was not based on a viewing of the film by bishops and was not endorsed by the bishops.[13]
Chaput has taken a middle-of-the road stance on the issue of whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, contrary to Church teaching, should be denied communion. Chaput has written that while denying anyone the Eucharist is a "very grave matter" that should be used only in "extraordinary cases of public scandal", those who are "living in serious sin or who deny the teachings of the church" should voluntarily refrain from receiving communion.[14]
The New York Times in 2004 reported that Chaput took the position that it was sinful for Catholics to vote for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. His remarks noted Kerry's pro-choice views, amongst others. According to the Times, he said that those who intended to vote for him were "cooperating in evil" and needed "to go to confession."
Chaput criticized the New York Times' construal of his remarks and the Archdiocese of Denver criticized the article as being "heavily truncated and framed" and publicly posted a transcript of the interview in its entirety.[15] He stopped responding to New York Times inquiries for six years in part because of his belief the paper had misrepresented him.[16]
He was seen by some as "part of a group of bishops intent on throwing the weight of the Church into the elections."[17] In public comments, his linkage of the Eucharist to the policy stances of political candidates and those who support them were seen by some as a politicization of moral theology.[18]
As reported by EWTN, Chaput has criticized what he views as a "spirit of adulation bordering on servility" that exists towards Barack Obama, remarking, "in democracies, we elect public servants, not messiahs." The archbishop states that Obama tries to mask his record on abortion and other issues with "rosy marketing about unity, hope, and change." Chaput also dismissed the notion that Obama was given a broad mandate, reasoning he was elected to "fix an economic crisis" and not to "retool American culture on the issues of marriage and the family, sexuality, bioethics, religion in public life, and abortion."[19]
Chaput has repeatedly taken positions against same-sex marriage and questioned the status of children of same-sex couples. Asked about same-sex marriage by the National Catholic Reporter after his appointment in Philadelphia was announced, he indicated that he believes that same-sex couples cannot show children that their parents love each other in the same way that opposite-sex couples can: "This is the issue of our time. The church understands marriage as a unique relationship, with a unique definition, which is the faithful love of a man and a woman for each other, permanent, and for the sake of children. As children, if we don't know that our parents love one another, our lives are very unstable. That's why I think every child deserves a family where the father loves the mother, and the mother loves the father. For us to redefine marriage as anything else undermines that notion. I think it's very important that the church keep insisting on this. It's also important to say that we're not against gay people. What we're doing here is promoting marriage and the meaning of marriage, not condemning others."[20]
He also vocally supported the decision of a Boulder Catholic school to deny the re-enrollment of two children of a lesbian couple, while at the same time stating that the Church allows the enrollment of children of parents of other faiths or no faith at all and children of single and divorced parents.[21]
As a seminarian, Chaput was an active volunteer in the presidential campaign Robert Kennedy. As a young priest, he supported the election of Jimmy Carter.[22]
In his book Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, Chaput exhorts Catholics to take a "more active, vocal, and morally consistent role" in the political process, arguing that private convictions cannot be separated from public actions without diminishing both. Rather than asking citizens to put aside their religious and moral beliefs for the sake of public policy, Chaput believes American democracy depends upon a fully engaged citizenry, including religious believers, to function properly.[23]
| Episcopal lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Pío Laghi |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| José Horacio Gómez | January 23, 2001 |
| James Conley | May 30, 2008 |
| Paul Dennis Etienne | December 9, 2009 |
| Fernando Isern | December 10, 2009 |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Harold Joseph Dimmerling |
Bishop of Rapid City 1988 – 1997 |
Succeeded by Blase Cupich |
| Preceded by James Francis Stafford |
Archbishop of Denver 1997 – 2011 |
Vacant |
| Preceded by Justin Francis Rigali |
Archbishop of Philadelphia 2011 – present |
Incumbent |
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