Chicagoland

Meet the previous leaders of the church in Chicago

By Chicago Catholic
Sunday, November 27, 2016

On Nov. 28, 1843, the Diocese of Chicago was created from the Diocese of St. Louis and the Diocese of Vincennes. Since that day, the now-archdiocese has had 14 ordinaries, including Cardinal Cupich. According to the Catholic Dictionary, an ordinary is “a person placed in authority over a particular church (diocese) or its equivalent.”

When Chicago became an archdiocese in 1880, its leaders from that point on were made archbishops. All but the first two of the nine archbishops have been named cardinals.

Six of Chicago’s ordinaries were born in Europe or Canada and seven were born in the United States. Cardinal George is the only Chicago native to serve as archbishop of Chicago, and the first archbishop to retire. Cardinal Cupich is ninth archbishop of Chicago. These are his predecessors:
 

BISHOP WILLIAM QUARTER
Bishop of Chicago. Born in Killurine, Kings County, Ireland, Jan. 24, 1806. Ordained priest of Diocese of New York, Sept. 19, 1829. Appointed first bishop of Chicago, February 1844; consecrated March 10, 1844. Died April 10, 1848.

BISHOP JAMES O. VAN DE VELDE
Bishop of Chicago. Born in Lebbeke, Belgium, April 3, 1795. Ordained Jesuit priest, 1827. Appointed bishop of Chicago, Dec. 1, 1848; consecrated Feb. 11, 1849. Appointed bishop of Natchez, Mississippi, July 29, 1853. Died Nov. 13, 1855.

BISHOP ANTHONY O’REGAN 
Bishop of Chicago. Born in County Mayo, Ireland, 1809. Ordained priest in Ireland, 1834. Emigrated to St. Louis, 1849. Appointed bishop of Chicago; consecrated July 25, 1854; installed Sept. 3, 1854. Resigned in 1858. Died Nov. 13, 1866.

BISHOP JAMES DUGGAN
Bishop of Chicago. Born in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland, May 22, 1825. Ordained priest for Archdiocese of St. Louis, May 29, 1847. Appointed titular bishop of Antigone and coadjutor to the archbishop of St. Louis, 1857; consecrated May 3, 1857. Appointed bishop of Chicago, Jan. 21, 1859. Hospitalized in 1869. Died March 27, 1899.

BISHOP THOMAS FOLEY
Coadjutor bishop and administrator of Chicago. Born in Baltimore, March 6, 1822. Ordained priest of Archdiocese of Baltimore, Aug. 16, 1846. Appointed titular bishop of Pergamus and coadjutor bishop and administrator of Chicago, Sept. 27, 1869; installed March l0, 1870. Died Feb. 18, 1879.

ARCHBISHOP PATRICK FEEHAN
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, 1829. Ordained priest of Archdiocese of St. Louis, Nov. 1, 1852. Appointed bishop of Nashville, Tennessee; consecrated Nov. 1, 1865. Appointed first archbishop of Chicago, Sept. 10, 1880; installed Nov. 28, 1880. Died July 12, 1902.

ARCHBISHOP JAMES QUIGLEY
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 15, 1854. Ordained priest of Diocese of Buffalo, New York, April 12, 1879. Appointed bishop of Buffalo; consecrated Feb. 24, 1897. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, Jan. 8, 1903; installed March 10, 1903. Died July 10, 1915.

CARDINAL GEORGE MUNDELEIN
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in New York, July 2, 1872. Ordained priest of Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, June 8, 1895. Appointed titular bishop of Loryma and auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn; consecrated Sept. 21, 1909. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, Dec. 9, 1915; installed Feb. 9, 1916. Created cardinal priest, March 24, 1924. Died Oct. 2, 1939.

CARDINAL SAMUEL STRITCH
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 17, 1887. Ordained priest of Diocese of Nashville, May 21, 1910. Appointed bishop of Toledo, Ohio, Aug. 10, 1921; consecrated Nov. 30, 1921. Appointed archbishop ofMilwaukee, Aug. 25, 1930; installed Nov. 19, 1930. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, Dec. 27, 1939; installed March 7, 1940. Created cardinal priest, Feb. 18, 1946. Appointed prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, March 1, 1958. Died May 27, 1958.

CARDINAL ALBERT MEYER
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 9, 1903. Ordained priest of Archdiocese of Milwaukee, July 11, 1926. Appointed bishop of Superior, Wisconsin, Feb. 22, 1946; consecrated May 8, 1946. Appointed archbishop of Milwaukee, July 21, 1953; installed Sept. 24, 1953. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, Sept. 19, 1958; installed Nov. 16, 1958. Created cardinal priest, Dec. 14, 1959. Died April 9, 1965.

CARDINAL JOHN CODY
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in St. Louis, Dec. 24, 1907. Ordained priest of Archdiocese of St. Louis, Dec. 8, 1931. Appointed auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, May 14, 1947; consecrated July 2, 1947. Appointed coadjutor to the bishop of St. Joseph, Missouri, Jan. 27, 1954. Appointed bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Aug. 29, 1956; installed Oct. 11, 1956. Appointed coadjutor to the archbishop of New Orleans, Aug. 14, 1961. Acceded to the See of New Orleans, Nov. 8, 1964. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, June 16, 1965; installed Aug. 24, 1965. Created cardinal priest, June 26, 1967. Died April 25, 1982.

CARDINAL JOSEPH BERNARDIN
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, April 2, 1928. Ordained priest for the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, April 26, 1952. Appointed titular bishop of Luguria and auxiliary bishop of Atlanta, March 9, 1966; consecrated April 26, 1966. Served as general secretary, National Council of Catholic Bishops-U.S. Catholic Conference 1968-1972. Appointed archbishop of Cincinnati Nov. 21, 1972; installed Dec. 19, 1972. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, July 10, 1982; installed Aug. 25, 1982. Created cardinal priest, Feb. 2, 1983. Died Nov. 14, 1996.

CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE
Archbishop of Chicago. Born in Chicago Jan. 16, 1937. Professed perpetual vows as Oblate of Mary Immaculate Sept. 8, 1961. Ordained priest Dec. 21, 1963. Appointed bishop of Yakima, Washington, July 10, 1990; ordained and installed Sept. 21, 1990. Appointed archbishop of Portland, Oregon, April 30, 1996; installed May 27, 1996. Appointed archbishop of Chicago, April 8, 1997; installed May 7, 1997. Created cardinal priest, Feb. 21, 1998. President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007-2010. Became archbishop emeritus on Nov. 18, 2014. Died April 17, 2015

Topics:

  • cardinal cupich
  • cardinals

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