| The Most Reverend Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop Emeritus of Seattle | |
| See | Seattle |
| Enthroned | February 25, 1975 |
| Reign ended | August 21, 1991 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Arthur Connolly |
| Successor | Thomas Joseph Murphy |
| Other posts | Bishop of Helena (1962–1975) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 1, 1946 |
| Consecration | August 30, 1962 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 21, 1921 Anaconda, Montana |
| Styles of Raymond Hunthausen |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | His Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen (born August 21, 1921) is a retired American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Helena from 1962 to 1975 and as Archbishop of Seattle from 1975 to 1991.
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The oldest of seven children, Raymond Hunthausen was born in Anaconda, Montana, to Anthony Gerhardt and Edna Marie (née Tuchscherer) Hunthausen.[1] His parents owned and operated a local grocery store.[2] He received his early education from the Ursuline nuns at the parochial school of St. Paul Church, and excelled academically and athletically during high school.[2]
He attended Carroll College in Helena, majoring in chemistry and graduating cum laude in 1943.[1] He considered pursuing a career as a chemical engineer or as a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force.[3] However, he was persuaded by Father Bernard Topel, his spiritual director and mathematics professor at Carroll who later became Bishop of Spokane, to enter the priesthood.[3][2] He began his studies at St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington, in the fall of 1943.[4]
Hunthausen was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Gilmore on June 1, 1946.[5] He returned to Carroll College, where he served as a professor of chemistry (1946-57) and a football and basketball coach (1953-57).[1] In 1953, he earned a Master's degree in science from the University of Notre Dame.[2] He served as president of Carroll College from 1957 to 1962. He was named a domestic prelate in 1958.[1]
On July 8, 1962, Hunthausen was appointed the sixth Bishop of Helena by Pope John XXIII.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 30 from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Bernard Topel and William Condon serving as co-consecrators.[5] As bishop of Helena, he was a council father at all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. He was the newest and youngest American bishop at the start of the Council.
His tenure as bishop of Helena was marked by increased lay involvement in church matters, the establishment of a mission in Guatemala, the closure of several Catholic elementary and high schools, and the strengthening of religious education programs which function in every diocesan parish.
He was appointed Archbishop of Seattle, Washington by Pope Paul VI and retired effective August 21, 1991 (his 70th birthday), after years of controversies that included an investigation coordinated by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. In a letter to Archbishop Hunthausen, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that "The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity. This teaching has been set forth in this Congregation's Declaration on Sexual Ethics and more recently in the document, Educational Guidance in Human Love, issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education in 1983." [1]
In 1982, Hunthausen withheld half of his income tax to protest the stockpiling of nuclear weapons and the Trident missile program which had a base nearby, in Puget Sound. In a speech, he said, “Trident is the Auschwitz of Puget Sound.”[6] This tax resistance prompted the Internal Revenue Service to garnish his wages. This angered members of the U.S. military and the Reagan administration, as well as politically conservative Catholics.
As a result of the complaints surrounding the issues discussed above, in 1983 the Vatican authorized Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to launch an investigation. Archbishop (later Cardinal) James Hickey of Washington, DC was named apostolic visitor to the archdiocese of Seattle. Hickey's delegation met with Hunthausen and others to investigate his administrative and pastoral practices. The result of the visitation was a 1985 letter from Cardinal Ratzinger to Archbishop Hunthausen which summarized recommended changes to be made in the Seattle Archdiocese, but which first affirmed his ministry, his orthodoxy, and his loyalty to the Council and to the pope:
“...you have striven with heart and mind to be a good bishop of the Church, eager to implement the renewal called for in the decrees of the Vatican Council II. ...It is also true that you and those who assist you have suffered from exaggerated criticism and routine misunderstanding. Our observations are based neither on the complaints of your more strident critics, nor on publications that are obviously biased. Nor do we wish to encourage extremist groups who are wholly lacking in a spirit of cooperation and seek to destroy or suppress whatever is not to their liking.” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 30 September 1985)[7]
In January 1986, Pope John Paul II appointed Donald Wuerl as auxiliary bishop of Seattle. Bishop Wuerl was told he was being given faculties in five liturgical and administrative areas over and above Archbishop Hunthausen; the Archbishop was informed differently. By May 1987, the irregular situation had become untenable and Bishop Wuerl was removed from his position.
Shortly after, in a more traditional model, the Vatican appointed Bishop Thomas J. Murphy of Great Falls, Montana as coadjutor archbishop of Seattle. Upon Hunthausen's retirement four years later, Murphy succeeded him as archbishop.
According to Thomas Bokenkotter, "A resolution of the affair was finally announced by the Vatican in April 1989 after it accepted the report of a commission that recommended that Hunthausen’s authority be restored and a Coadjutor Archbishop be appointed. Hunthausen stoutly maintains that his archdiocese has remained fundamentally the same and was never in violation of Vatican doctrine; nor has he had to alter the general direction of his ministry or compromise his liberal beliefs."[8]
Despite the attention surrounding the visitation, Archbishop Hunthausen is remembered most for his support of the poor and disenfranchised. He was also a great advocate for the youth and encouraged better catechesis in Catholic parishes and Catholic parochial schools despite waning enrollment. In 1985, he helped establish the Institute for Theological Studies at Seattle University, which in 1996 evolved into the School of Theology and Ministry.
Archbishop Hunthausen retired in 1991 and currently resides near Helena, Montana, with his brother, Father Jack Hunthausen.[3] He still hears confessions once a week in East Helena. As of October 2011, Hunthausen is the last living American bishop to have attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council.
1982 Thomas Merton Award by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice
1992 Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice - by the Paulist Center
You held the position of archbishop of the Seattle diocese for 16 years. In that time, you had a huge impact on area Catholics as well as on the church as a whole. What do you think is the greatest legacy of your tenure?
"You'd almost have to ask that question to somebody else. If I have to respond, I have to say that I brought to the church, as I understood it, what the Second Vatican Council was inviting us to become."[9]
| Episcopal lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Egidio Vagnozzi |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| William S. Skylstad | May 12, 1977 |
| Lawrence Harold Welsh | December 14, 1978 |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joseph Michael Gilmore |
Bishop of Helena 1962–1975 |
Succeeded by Elden Francis Curtiss |
| Preceded by Thomas Arthur Connolly |
Archbishop of Seattle 1975–1991 |
Succeeded by Thomas Joseph Murphy |
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