Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2003 at 2:45 p.m. CST

Few surprises in store for Philadelphia

By Joe Feuerherd
Washington

Appointed to head the Philadelphia archdiocese July 15, Archbishop Justin Rigali promises few surprises -- which is probably why he got the job.

Other prelates (Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl most prominently) were considered candidates for the cardinal's red hat that typically accompanies the Philadelphia appointment. But Rigali -- a longtime insider at the church's highest levels -- was the focus of speculation and press reports as a logical successor to the retiring Philadelphia archbishop, 80-year-old Cardinal Anthony Bevilaqua.

Now that he's got the job, Rigali promises few surprises to an archdiocese already accustomed to conservative leadership.

As St. Louis archbishop since March 1994, the 68-year-old California native was known for doctrinal orthodoxy and quality administration. On the former, he was meticulous in implementing the recent changes in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal ("It is fitting," Rigali wrote, "that we limit [the sign of peace at mass] to a few around us.") and he strongly encouraged Eucharistic adoration at every parish.

Administratively, he is a prodigious fundraiser who put the St. Louis church on solid financial footing while implementing the archdiocese's first strategic plan. Though survivors of clerical sexual abuse and their advocates have been critical of Rigali, the St. Louis church has not been a focal point in the crisis.

Other highlights of his St. Louis tenure:

• In 1998, Rigali tangled with Jesuit officials at St. Louis University over the sale of the school's teaching hospital to a for-profit non-Catholic health care provider. The Vatican ultimately approved the sale over Rigali's objections, though safeguards he promoted designed to maintain the Catholic nature of the hospital were included in the final agreement.
• In January 1999, Rigali hosted Pope John Paul II in, according to the archdiocesan Web site, "the only such visit to a single diocese in the United States during John Paul's…pontificate." During that visit, Rigali worked behind the scenes to secure a death sentence commutation for convicted murderer Darrell Mease. In agreeing to forgo the death penalty for Mease, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan cited the pope's appeal.
• While maintaining good relations with Catholic high school teachers, Rigali has drawn the wrath of parish grade school teachers who seek to collectively bargain with the archdiocese. Rigali has refused to recognize a grade school teachers union, saying the teachers are employees of the individual parishes and thus must negotiate on a school-by-school basis.

Rigali's appointment, said the Jesuit church historian Fr. Gerard Fogarty, "is an indication that Vatican officials are pleased with his handling of St. Louis."

It is also an indication, said Fogarty, that Rigali -- who served as a Vatican official in numerous capacities over more than 30 years -- has friends in Rome.

In 1964, Rigali was awarded a doctorate in Canon Law from Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, and then began studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (of which, in 1985, he became president), the training ground for Vatican diplomats.

In the late 1960s, he served as the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar, and then, beginning in February 1970, as director of the English-language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State and as English-language translator for Pope Paul VI.

Ordained a bishop in 1985, he continued his service in various Vatican departments, including the Council for Public Affairs of the Church, the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In 1989 he was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops.

Rigali fits the Philadelphia episcopal mold. Among his predecessors was Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, of whom historian Charles R. Morris wrote: "Of all the American prelates, in an age when the American church's loyalty to Rome was at a high pitch, Dougherty was 'Romanissimus,' the most devoted of all, to the point of servility."

Rigali's two immediate predecessors -- Cardinals John Krol and Bevilaqua -- were likewise known for their doctrinal conservatism. Krol, for example, didn't allow Saturday vigil masses until 1983, long after every other U.S. diocese adopted the practice, while Bevilaqua initially would not allow women to participate in the Holy Thursday washing of the feet ritual. Both had strong ties to Rome.

Rigali will be installed as Philadelphia archbishop Oct. 7. No successor has been named to the St. Louis position he is vacating.

Joe Feuerherd is NCR Washington correspondent. His e-mail address is jfeuerherd@natcath.org

National Catholic Reporter, July 16, 2003