Milwaukee's first Polish Archbishop takes over dioces

Catholic Church leaders from around the country, including New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, were in Milwaukee on Monday as the Most Rev. Jerome E. Listecki assumed his role as the spiritual leader of southeastern Wisconsin's nearly 650,000 Catholics.

Listecki, 60, was installed as the 11th Archbishop of Milwaukee in a solemn Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N. Jackson St.

Pope Benedict XVI named Listecki in November to succeed Dolan, who left in April to lead the New York see.

Listecki's installation began Sunday night with a solemn prayer service known as Vespers. He returned to the Cathedral on Monday for a liturgy that reflected Listecki's heritage - he is Milwaukee's first Polish archbishop - and the multicultural character of the Catholic Church in the 21st Century.

Dolan, who has called Listecki a friend, was among his concelebrants, along with Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishops William P. Callahan, Richard J. Sklba and Archbishop Emeritus Rembert G. Weakland.

In his closing remarks, the new archbishop acknowledged Dolan's place in the history and hearts of the people of Milwaukee. Listecki said that when he sat in the cathedra, or bishop's seat, he shifted to one side to leave some room.

"I wasn't making room for my guardian angel, but for Archbishop Timothy Dolan," he said.

"And if the chair will hold both of us, I know he will always have a place in the hearts of the people of Milwaukee.

Dear afraidfortherepublic,

It's unlikely that Archbishop Dolan will be created a cardinal until after April 2, 2012. Cardinal Egan will turn 80 on April 2, 2012, and will no longer be a papal elector in future conclaves.

The Church doesn't generally have two voting cardinals simultaneously from the same diocese.

Of course, if Cardinal Egan were to die before then, or if he were to be appointed to a different (likely curial) post, and thus if his primary title were no longer Archbishop Emeritus of New York, then Archbishop Dolan might be created a cardinal earlier than that.

sitetest

The last consistory was November, 2007. It would seem like we’re due for one soon. We’re down to 112 voting cardinals. If there is an announcement of a consistory soon, it may well skip Dolan, since he’ll be in office less than a year. On the other hand, since he was archbishop previously, it may not.

Boston has Cardinal Law and Cardinal O’Malley; That’s the only other city I can think of that has a “red hat lock” and an archbishop that’s been around since before 2007. Most of the other red hat lock cities (Baltimore, New York, Washington, Detroit) have new archbishops, except for Los Angeles, which has had the same archbishop for an eternity, and Philadelphia, where Bevilaqua reached 80 before retiring. In that case, Rigali was made Cardinal very quickly, but Rigali had been archbishop of St Louis. So history is no guide here. But if Dolan is skipped when Rigali wasn’t, you may have some evidence, since Dolan was archbishop of Milwaukee (a lesser see than St. Louis, however.)

Dear dangus,

I'm not aware that it is a universal or absolute rule.

Nonetheless, you would be hard-pressed to find exceptions.

“They only elevate Cardinals every couple of years, and the recent popes have been hesitant to name someone a Cardinal immediately after taking office,...”

Pope John Paul II created Cardinal Egan a cardinal a few months after appointing him Archbishop of New York (May 2000 - Feb 2001). Cardinal Egan succeeded Cardinal O'Connor who had died in office, so there wasn't any concern about having two cardinals from the same see.

Cardinal McCarrick was created a cardinal a few months after being appointed Archbishop of Washington (Nov 2000 - Feb 2001). Cardinal Hickey was already past 80 when Cardinal McCarrick was appointed.

But Archbishop Wuerl has been the ordinary in Washington for several years now and is not yet a cardinal and Cardinal McCarrick is not yet 80, and up I-95, Archbishop O'Brien is not yet a cardinal and Cardinal Keeler is still a couple of years off from 80.

“But when cardinals didn’t retire at 80, they certainly did not wait for a previous cardinal to die.”

Not sure what you're saying here. Cardinals sometimes retire at 80, sometimes earlier, sometimes later. But in all cases, they may no longer vote in conclaves after they turn 80.

Now, of course, the rule regarding voting after 80 is of relatively new vintage. Pope Paul VI put it in place.

From what I can see, before the pontificate of Pope Paul VI, it was much more common to have cardinals (and nearly all archbishops, and many bishops, too) continue in office until their death. Looking at the Archdiocese of New York, I can see that Edward Cardinal Egan is the first ordinary of this diocese/archdiocese to have retired, rather than to have died in office.

In Baltimore, the first bishop not to die in office was Cardinal Shehan, who retired in 1974, for the reign of Pope Paul VI.

In the Archdiocese of Cincinatti, the first archbishop not to die in office was Archbishop Alter, who retired in 1969 during the reign of Pope Paul VI.

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with the exception of one bishop who was made Archbishop of Baltimore, all died in office until Cardinal Krol retired in 1988.

In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, only one archbishop retired before the reign of Pope Paul VI.

In the Diocese/Archdiocese of San Antonio, one bishop was appointed to become the Archbishop of New Orleans, but otherwise, the first not to die in office was during the reign of Pope Paul VI.

You'll see similar patterns of nearly all archbishops dying in office in the Archdioceses of New Orleans, Newark, Milwaukee and others.

So, before Pope Paul VI introduced the loss of voting ability at the age of 80, the folks who might be created cardinals - archbishops - nearly always died in office or received another appointment. Very few resigned or retired before his papacy.

Thus the issue of having two cardinals from the same see likely wasn't much of an issue at all.

sitetest

Dear dangus,

Cardinal Law has an appointment in Rome. He is the Archpriest of St. Mary Major. Thus, he is no longer the cardinal from the see of Boston. He is not the Archbishop Emeritus of Boston, he has no official association anymore with Boston.

Receiving a new assignment that ends one’s formal association with one’s previous archdiocese is one of the two circumstances that I pointed out as mooting the issue - the other being death.

In Washington, if there were a consistory before July, I would not expect Archbishop Wuerl to be created cardinal, as Cardinal McCarrick turns 80 on July 7. Yet, Archbishop Wuerl has been there since June 2006, and nonetheless was passed over in the November 2007 consistory, nearly a year and a half later, even though his predecessor, Cardinal McCarrick, was appointed in November 2000 and created a cardinal in February 2001 (but then again, Cardinal Hickey of Washington had already turned 80 when Cardinal McCarrick was appointed archbishop).

Archbishop O'Brien will have been Archbishop of Baltimore three years if there is a consistory in the second half of this year, as many think there will be. Yet, I'd bet you a buck that he won't be created a cardinal this year, as Cardinal Keeler doesn't turn 80 until 2011.

sitetest

Abp. Dolan was well loved in Milwaukee, and everybody expects him to be named Cardinal one day. In fact, from the day he arrived the people in this diocese thought that we would not be allowed to keep him because he was obviously destined for greater things than being Abp. of Milwaukee.

But, I think it would be presumptuous to say that in a news broadcast if no announcement had been made. I suspect that the reporter in the video was just getting over enthusiastic. Abp. Dolan has that effect on you when you are in his presence.

Also, Abp. Dolan is relatively young, so it is not a matter of keeping him beyond retirement age.

(Shhhhh. A lot of people around here expect to see him be named Pope one day, but it is a secret.)

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