William H. Keeler

Early life and education

Keeler was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Thomas and Margaret (née Conway) Keeler. Both of his parents were of Irish descent. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where Keeler attended St. Mary School and Lebanon Catholic High School. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Keeler received a BA from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, in 1952.

Ordination, education and ministry

While studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood on July 17, 1955 by Archbishop Luigi Traglia.

He received both a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1956) and Doctorate of Canon Law (1961) from the Gregorian, and after doing pastoral and curial work in the Diocese of Harrisburg, he served as a peritus, or expert, and secretary to Bishop George Leech at the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Keeler worked for the Council Digest, a communications service used to bring people in the United States day-to day news of the Council.

Auxiliary Bishop of Harrisburg

On July 24, 1979, Keeler was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Harrisburg and Titular Bishop of Ulcinium He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Bishop Joseph Thomas Daley, with Bishops Francis Gossman and Martin Lohmuller serving as co-consecrators. Keeler took as his episcopal motto: Opus Fac Evangelistae ("Do the Work of an Evangelist").

Bishop of Harrisburg

Keeler was named the seventh Bishop of Harrisburg on November 10, 1983, succeeding Bishop Daley, who had died. He was installed on January 4, 1984, in the Cathedral of St. Patrick.

Archbishop of Baltimore

Keeler was appointed as the fourteenth Metropolitan Archbishop of Baltimore on April 11, 1989, following the retirement of William Donald Borders, and was installed on May 23. As Archbishop of Baltimore, Keeler was head of America's oldest apostolic see.

He was elected President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 1992. He had been elected as the organization's Vice President in November 1989, when hosting Baltimore's bicentennial celebration of the founding of the diocese. He also served as Chairman of the Maryland Catholic Conference, Chair of the Board and Chancellor of St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, as well as of Mount Saint Mary's University.

While president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Keeler helped to organize the 1993 World Youth Day held in Denver, Colorado.

Keeler developed a reputation for effectively building interfaith bonds, particularly for furthering Catholic-Jewish dialogue while serving as moderator of Catholic-Jewish Relations for the USCCB. As Chair of the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs from 1984 to 1987, he helped arrange the Pope's meetings with Jewish leaders in Miami and with Protestant leaders in Columbia, South Carolina.

When the Boston Globe "Spotlight" in-depth reporting in 2002 began breaking the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston, Keeler's first response was to resist the media "feeding frenzy". However, within months, he became the first bishop to identify publicly "priests who had been credibly accused of child abuse", listing 57 on the diocese website and detailing $5.6 million spent on settlements, legal fees and counseling, the New York Times said in his obituary. While victims and their advocates praised him and other bishops followed his lead, "defenders of the church criticized him and the other bishops as having betrayed the priests in their dioceses". '"I think Cardinal Keeler has taken a very bold and courageous and pastorally sensitive approach," said Bishop Wilton Daniel Gregory, president of the bishops’ conference, at the time. In The Catholic Review at the time, editor/associate publisher Daniel Medinger published the 57 priests' names. Keeler "recognized that people had a right to know what happened, what was known and what was done,” said Medinger, who also called the decision to publish the names "incredibly brave" and "incredibly wise". Keeler added "fingerprinting and a criminal background check of all employees who come into contact with children" in the archdiocese. The Review also recounted the 2002 trial of an alleged abuse victim who had shot and wounded the priest he'd accused of abusing him in a case where Keeler had long been involved. The bishop had first suspended the priest over the victim's 1993 abuse accusation but then later reinstated the priest as pastor of St. Edward in Baltimore. After the non-fatal shooting Keeler testified for the defendant, who was acquitted of the felony. Though Keeler had overruled a lay panel that had recommended against reinstating the priest, Keeler expressed regret about the reinstatement on the witness stand in the trial. In 2004, "the cardinal led a 'day of atonement,' asking forgiveness for sins the church had committed against victims of clerical sex abuse."

Keeler was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri by Pope John Paul II in a consistory on November 26, 1994. He was appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 1994 and to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in November 1994. From 1998 to 2001 and again from late 2003 to 2006, he served as Chair for the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

The cardinal was also responsible for the restoration of Baltimore's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, America's first cathedral. The project cost about $32 million, which were raised entirely from private donations and not from the Archdiocese's treasury, and lasted from 2004 until 2006.

Keeler was the President of the American Division Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Chair of the Black and Native American Missions Board. He was Chairman of the Board of Catholic Charities. He was also president of the Cathedral Foundation and publisher of archdiocese's newspaper, The Catholic Review.

In 2007, Keeler, after reaching his 76th year of age, submitted his resignation to the pope as required by Church law. It was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on July 12, and Keeler was succeeded in the Baltimore see by Edwin Frederick O'Brien, until then Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

Honors and awards

A Distinguished Eagle Scout, Keeler was a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, and Silver Buffalo of the Boy Scouts of America.

He held honorary degrees from Lebanon Valley College, Gettysburg College, Susquehanna University, and Gannon University.

Embryonic stem cell research

As chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities, he criticized Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2005 announcement that he will support federally funded stem cell research that requires destroying human embryos.

Ecumenism

On November 18, 2005, at the annual general assembly of the National Council of Churches, he reassured delegates that the Catholic Church, and Pope Benedict XVI, were firmly ecumenical.

Terri Schiavo

Keeler mourned the death of Terri Schiavo, calling it a "human tragedy". Schiavo was a woman in a persistent vegetative state who died in 2005, thirteen days after her feeding tube had been removed at the request of her husband.

Death

On March 23, 2017, Keeler died at his residence at St. Martin's Home for the Aged in Catonsville, Maryland at the age of 86. He had been ill for several years.