Donald Wuerl
Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is the 6th Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington (the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties in the USA). From 1988 to 2006, he served as the 11th Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Theodore McCarrick as Archbishop of Washington on account of age on May 16, 2006. Wuerl was installed on June 22, 2006.
Background
| Styles of Donald William Wuerl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Donald William Wuerl was born on November 12, 1940 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[1] where he attended St. Mary of the Mount Parish and School. He studied at The Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati, Ohio, then received graduate degrees from The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. and The Gregorian University in Rome, Italy; his 1974 doctorate in theology was from The Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, Italy.
He was ordained a priest on December 17, 1966.[1] His first assignment was as assistant pastor at St. Rosalia Parish in Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood, and as secretary to then-Pittsburgh Bishop John Wright. Wright was elevated to Cardinal in 1969; Wuerl served as his full-time secretary from 1969 to 1979.
Because Cardinal Wright was confined to a wheelchair with severe arthritis in 1978, Wuerl, as Wright's secretary, was the only non-Cardinal permitted into the conclave which selected Karol Cardinal Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II.
Wuerl was rector at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1985.
Wuerl was appointed titular Bishop of Rosemarkie and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle on December 3, 1985,[1] which was controversial in that he was to rein in Archbishop Hunthausen's authority by being given "complete and final decision-making power" in several areas.[2]
Wuerl was consecrated bishop on January 6, 1986[1] at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II.
Wuerl was appointed as the 11th Bishop of The Diocese of Pittsburgh on February 12, 1988[1] and installed on March 25, 1988.[1]
In 1989, he established the Oakland Catholic High School, an all-girls school in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.[3]
Wuerl launched and hosted a television program, The Teaching of Christ, in 1990 and wrote an adult catechism with the same name. He taught at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh as a Distinguished Service Professor.
Wuerl closed 48 churches and merged dozens of parishes while Bishop of Pittsburgh and was managing the remaining 214 parishes when he left in 2006. Wuerl's plan of reorganization and revitalization is now used as a model for other dioceses seeking parish suppression.
Wuerl was installed as Archbishop of Washington on June 22, 2006[1] at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on June 29, 2006.
Wuerl is chancellor at The Catholic University of America and board chair at the National Catholic Educational Association,[4] which is noted in environmentalism for going green to protect students, staff, and the Earth from toxicity in schools.[5] [6]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh - History of Bishops Webpage - Retrieved on October 18, 2008
- ^ "Narrative and Analysis of the Rome-Hunthausen Case: The Middle Stage (Semptember-November 1986)", Schilling, Timothy Peter. "Conflict in the Catholic Hierarchy"
- ^ "History", Oakland Catholic High School
- ^ http://www.ncea.org/about/boardofdirectors.asp National Catholic Educational Association Board of Directors Webpage Retrieved on October 17, 2008
- ^ http://www.ncea.org/departments/nabccce/GreenCleaning.asp National Catholic Educational Association Go Green Webpage Retrieved on October 17, 2008
- ^ http://www.ncea.org/departments/nabccce/EnvironmentalConcerns.asp National Catholic Educational Association Environmental Concerns Webpage Retrieved on October 17, 2008
Books
- The Forty Martyrs: New Saints of England and Wales, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1971)
- Fathers of the Church, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1975)
- The Catholic Priesthood Today, (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1976)
- The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1976)
- St. Christopher: A Military Martyr (Unpublished, 1979)
- A Visit to the Vatican: For Young People, (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1981)
- The Gift of Faith: A Question and Answer Version of The Teaching of Christ, (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001)
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.