William E. Lori
| The Most Reverend William Edward Lori | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Baltimore | |
| See | Baltimore |
| Appointed | March 20, 2012 |
| Installed | May 16, 2012 |
| Predecessor | Edwin Frederick O'Brien |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
14 May 1977 by William Wakefield Baum |
| Consecration |
20 April 1995 by James Aloysius Hickey |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 May 1951 Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Motto | CARITAS IN VERITATE (CHARITY IN TRUTH) |
| Coat of arms |
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| Styles of William E. Lori | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency[1] |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
| Posthumous style | n/a |
William Edward Lori (born May 6, 1951) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who is serving as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland since 2012.[2]
Archbishop Lori had previously served as the fourth Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut.[3] Before succeeding Edward Egan in 2001 he was an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.[4]
Biography
Education
He attended the Seminary of Saint Pius X in Erlanger, Kentucky where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1973.[5] He holds an M.A. from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary and a S.T.D. from The Catholic University of America, where he is now chairman of the Board of Trustees.[5] He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT and is the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.[6][7]
Ordination and ministry
Lori was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal William Baum on May 14, 1977. His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Landover, MD. Lori then held a number of positions in the archdiocese's chancery including vicar general, moderator of the Curia, and secretary to Cardinal James Hickey.[3] He was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Washington in 1995.
Lori is member of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities and the Committee on Doctrine of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.[8] In 2001 he invited Sister Mary Nirmala Joshi, M.C., superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, to Bridgeport for the opening of the Sisters' first convent in Connecticut.
Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut 2001-2012
In March 2001, he was appointed Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut. As Bishop of Bridgeport, Archbishop Lori launched new initiatives in support of Catholic Education, Vocations, Catholic Charities, Pastoral Services, and other ministries, while improving Financial Stewardship. He also worked collaboratively with the laity to increase participation and foster lay leadership throughout the Diocese of Bridgeport. In 2002, in recognition of his role as an emerging leader on the Church's response to the sexual misconduct crisis, Archbishop Lori was appointed to the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse. He was instrumental in drafting the landmark Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. As one of four U.S. bishops on a special Mixed Commission, Archbishop Lori journeyed to the Vatican to seek approval for the "Essential Norms" of the Charter, which is now particular law for the Catholic Church in the United States.[9]
In 2005, he was elected Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, where he has the responsibility of overseeing the spiritual welfare of the Order's 1.8 million members and their families. In his extensive writing and speaking on behalf of the Knights, Archbishop Lori has focused on the spiritual vision of the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, the Founder of the Knights of Columbus. Archbishop Lori is also writing a series of monthly articles in Columbia Magazine on the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Additionally, he has helped guide many spiritual initiatives of the Order, most notably the Order's third Eucharistic Congress held in Chicago in 2005, and the International Marian Congress and Guadalupe Festival held in Phoenix in 2009. He has also worked closely with the Supreme Knight in highlighting the role of Knights of Columbus chaplains at every level of the Order. As a result, Archbishop Lori was honored at the April 10, 2010 at the Supreme Board of Directors, meeting in Philadelphia in a resolution that expressing gratitude for Archbishop Lori's contributions to the Order and the Church.[9]
In April, 2011, Archbishop Lori was the keynote speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., where he paid tribute to John Paul II and urged Catholics to defend his legacy of religious liberty and human dignity. In a speech widely reported across the U.S., Archbishop Lori told the gathering that religious freedom is not "a carve-out" granted by the state, but an inalienable right. He also called for the protection of "conscience rights" for health care providers.[9]
On September 29, 2011, New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appointed Archbishop Lori the chair of a newly formed Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty to address growing concerns over the erosion of freedom of religion in America. On October 26, 2011, serving as new head of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Archbishop Lori called on Congress to defend the American legacy of religious liberty during a hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. He noted several recent actions by government entities that mark the erosion of the freedom of religion, often called the nation's "First Freedom." These actions include a health coverage mandate that would coerce employers to pay for services for which they have moral objections, such as abortion, sterilization and contraceptives, and government contracting decisions that exclude agencies unless they provide such services.[9]
In November 2011, Archbishop Lori addressed the assembled United States bishops at their annual fall meeting in Baltimore. "There is no religious liberty if we are not free to express our faith in the public square and if we are not free to act on that faith through works of education, health care and charity," Archbishop Lori said in his address to the bishops. In a speech widely reported across the nation, Archbishop Lori warned of the dangers of treating religion "merely as a private matter between an individual and his or her God." Citing an "aggressive secularism" as a competing system of belief, Archbishop Lori said that recent court decisions and proposed regulations treat religion "as a divisive and disruptive force better kept out of public life," which the government continues to encroach on individual lives. He called for interfaith collaboration to defend religious liberty and conscience rights in our culture.[9]
In March 2012, Archbishop Lori's Committee issued a comprehensive statement of the U.S. bishops on religious liberty. The statement opens with the following passage: "We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other." It includes examples of the current attacks on religious liberty in the United States, articulates Church teaching and issues a call to action to American Catholics. "In insisting that our liberties as Americans be respected, we know as bishops that what our Holy Father said is true. This work belongs to 'an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.'"[9]
Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland 2012-present
On March 20, 2012 Lori was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XVI and he assumed that role upon installation May 16, 2012.[2]
Views
- Lori is seen as an orthodox cleric who has enforced church mandates in controversial ways. While an auxiliary bishop in Washington D.C., he led an investigation at the behest of Cardinal James Aloysius Hickey into the activities of a heterodox parish in Georgetown. Investigators questioned priests, staff and volunteers in the parish, taping their interviews and asking them to pledge their honesty. The investigation revealed that two Protestant ministers had been allowed to deliver and receive communion. Two of the parish priests apologized publicly for violations of canon law.[10]
- Lori has been credited with establishing a new attitude and local policy toward sex abuse after being appointed Bishop of Bridgeport. The Diocese of Bridgeport had been trying to cope with the sudden onslaught of abuse cases that had occurred under the tenure of Bishop Edward Egan.[11] In 2002, Lori was one of seven members of the ad hoc, bishops' committee tasked with writing a new policy (known as the Dallas Policy) on how to deal with abusive priests.[12] Once approved by the USCCB, Lori was one of four bishops picked to travel to the Vatican and work out compromises that would make the proposed Dallas Policy (now known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People), which established a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual abuse, more palatable to the Pope. Lori emerged as the de facto spokesman. The group also included Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco. Lori also enacted many of the provisions in the charter before all the bishops accepted them as a whole. He was one of the first bishops to establish a local review board and acted swiftly against priests who have been accused of abuse under his watch.[10][13] One of the priests, the Rev. Alfred J. Bietighofer, committed suicide soon after he was suspended.[14]
- In 2004 Lori blessed and dedicated "Villa Maria Guadalupe" on the grounds of the former Villa Maria Retreat Center in Stamford, CT.[15] The property was purchased by the Knights of Columbus, who invited the Sisters of Life, a religious community dedicated to protecting and advancing a sense of the sacredness of all human life, to offer retreats for families and married couples, for women facing problem pregnancies, for pro-life leaders, and for knights and their families.
- In 2007, he announced a doctrinal investigation of American theologian Peter C. Phan, who has written about an Asian perspectives on interreligious dialogue. Nothing has since come of this investigation.[16]
- Lori has opposed legislation in Connecticut proposed by State Rep. Michael P. Lawlor and Sen. Andrew McDonald that would remove control of the diocese from the bishop and place it in the control of the laity. The legislation had been written with help from such Catholics as Connecticut attorney Thomas Gallagher, a contributor to the group Voice of the Faithful.[17]
- A Catholic News Service news story article by Nancy Frazier O'Brien, posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011, stated that:
Lori, appointed in late September to chair the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, testified before a House subcommittee on Oct. 26, 2011. He asked for Congressional action in response to regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services in August requiring coverage of contraception and sterilization in most private health insurance plans; rules that would deny government funding to the bishops' Migration and Refugee Services if it does not provide the "full range" of reproductive services, including abortion and contraception, to human trafficking victims and unaccompanied refugee minors; the U.S. Agency for International Development's requirement that Catholic Relief Services and other contractors include condom distribution in their HIV prevention activities and provide contraception in a range of international relief and development programs; the Department of Justice's refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act; the Justice Department's efforts to modify the "ministerial exception" that exempts religious institutions from some civil laws with respect to employment; certain state actions of a similar nature.[18]
While serving as head of the USCCB ad hoc committee on religious liberty, he led the bishops campaign for religious liberty known as the Fortnight for Freedom.[19]
See also
References
- ↑ His Excellency Archbishop William E. Lori. Retrieved November 30, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "NOMINA DELL'ARCIVESCOVO DI BALTIMORE (U.S.A.)" (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 2012-03-20.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Biography of Bishop William E. Lori, S.T.D. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ Bishop William Edward Lori Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bishop William Lori Elected Chairman of Catholic University's Board of Trustees Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ Bishop Lori Elected as New Supreme Chaplain Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ Q & A/Bishop William E. Lori; 'A Different Mix of Talents, A Different Personality' Retrieved 2010-03-04
- ↑ Pope Names Washington Auxiliary Bishop William Lori as Bishop of Bridgeport, CT Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 http://www.archbalt.org/about-us/the-archdiocese/our-history/people/lori.cfm
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hartford Courant: "Bishop 'Law And Order' Lori Takes The Point" November 13, 2002
- ↑ New York Times: "Portrayal of the Church Causes Unease" March 19, 2002
- ↑ New York Times: "Bridgeport Bishop Joins Group Developing Policy on Abuse" May 4, 2002
- ↑ American Catholic: "U.S. Bishops Approve Revised Sex-Abuse Policy" 2003
- ↑ New York Times: "After Accused Priest's Suicide, Shock and Second Thoughts" May 18, 2002
- ↑ Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ Why is Fr. Peter Phan under investigation?
- ↑ Religious Freedom Under Attack in Connecticut
- ↑ http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104218.htm
- ↑ Goodstein, Laurie (13 June 2012). "Bishops Defend Fight Against Obama's Policy on Birth Control Coverage". New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
External links
- Biography, Diocese of Baltimore
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport
- Catholic-Hierarchy.org
- Knights of Columbus Biography
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
Episcopal succession
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Federico Bonifacio Madersbacher Gasteiger OFM |
Titular Bishop of Bulla 28 February 1995–23 January 2001 |
Succeeded by Percival Joseph Fernandez |
| Preceded by Edward Egan |
Bishop of Bridgeport 23 January 2001–20 March 2012 |
Succeeded by Frank Joseph Caggiano |
| Preceded by Thomas Vose Daily |
Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus 2005–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Edwin Frederick O'Brien |
Archbishop of Baltimore 20 March 2012–present |
Incumbent |
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