Donald Wuerl

Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle (1986–1987), and bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh (1988–2006). Pope Benedict XVI named Wuerl as archbishop of Washington and made him a cardinal in 2010.


Donald William Wuerl
Cardinal,
Archbishop Emeritus of Washington
Wuerl in 2015
ArchdioceseWashington
AppointedMay 16, 2006
InstalledJune 22, 2006
RetiredOctober 12, 2018
PredecessorTheodore McCarrick
SuccessorWilton Daniel Gregory
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli
Chancellor of the Catholic University of America
Orders
OrdinationDecember 17, 1966
by Francis Frederick Reh
ConsecrationJanuary 6, 1986
by John Paul II, Agostino Casaroli, and Bernardin Gantin
Created cardinalNovember 20, 2010
by Benedict XVI
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born
Donald William Wuerl

(1940-11-12) November 12, 1940
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DenominationCatholic Church
Previous post(s)
MottoThy kingdom come
Coat of arms
Styles of
Donald William Wuerl
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
Ordination history of
Donald Wuerl
History
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated byJohn Paul II
DateJanuary 6, 1986
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Donald Wuerl as principal consecrator
William J. WinterFebruary 13, 1989
Thomas Joseph TobinDecember 27, 1992
David ZubikApril 6, 1997
Paul J. BradleyFebruary 2, 2005
Herbert BevardSeptember 3, 2008
Barry Christopher KnestoutDecember 29, 2008
Mario E. DorsonvilleApril 20, 2015
Roy Edward CampbellApril 21, 2017

Wuerl is widely viewed as a theological moderate, and is well known in the church for his ability to forge consensus between different factions. Questions arose in 2018 of whether Wuerl had adequately dealt with allegations of sexual abuse under his jurisdiction. A 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report criticized how he handled sexual abuse cases during his time as bishop in Pittsburgh. Wuerl has denied mishandling the cases. There were additional accusations that Wuerl, despite initially denying it, was aware of sexual abuse accusations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, his predecessor in Washington. On October 12, 2018, Pope Francis accepted Wuerl's resignation as archbishop of Washington. Wuerl remained in charge of the archdiocese as its apostolic administrator until Pope Francis appointed his successor, Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory, in 2019.

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