Early life and education Anthony Bevilacqua was born on June 17, 1923, in
Brooklyn,
New York, to Luigi (1884–1961) and Maria (née Codella, 1893–1968) Bevilacqua. Luigi was born in
Spinazzola, Italy and worked as a
bricklayer. and Maria was born in
Calitri, Italy. Anthony Bevilacqua had four brothers: Michael, Angelo, Rocco, and Frank; and six sisters, Josephine (died of
meningitis at age two), Isabella, Virginia, Mary Jo, Gloria, and Madeline. Luigi immigrated to the United States in 1910, followed by Maria and their oldest son, Michael. The family lived in
New Rochelle, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Brooklyn before settling in
Woodhaven, Queens. Luigi operated a
hair dyeing shop and
shoe shine shop in Queens. Anthony Bevilacqua attended Public School No. 60, St. Thomas the Apostle School, and
Richmond Hill High School, all in the
Borough of Queens. He then studied at
Cathedral College in Queens, where he won prizes in mathematics and science. He earned a trip to Washington, D.C. for an essay on the
Immaculate Conception.
Ordination and ministry Bevilacqua was
ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Brooklyn by Bishop
Thomas Malloy on June 11, 1949, at
St. James Cathedral in Brooklyn. He then served as an
associate pastor at
Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Mary Parish in Brooklyn and St. Mary Parish on
Long Island until 1950. He remained chancellor of the diocese and director of its Migration and Refugee Office until 1983. From 1977 to 1980, Bevilacqua taught
immigration law as an adjunct professor at
St. John's University School of Law.
Mansour controversy In 1983, Bevilacqua became involved in the case of
Agnes Mary Mansour. A member of the
Sisters of Mercy religious order in Detroit, Mansour administered the State of Michigan's
Medicaid program as the director of the
Michigan Department of Social Services. In 1983, Detroit Archbishop
Edmund Szoka asked Mansour to declare her opposition to public financing of abortion procedures, which she refused to do. The Vatican then sent Bevilacqua to meet with her. He told Mansour that if she did not resign as director, she would have to leave the Sisters of Mercy. Mansour chose to keep her job and leave the religious order. In the early 1980s, as chair of the Committee on Canonical Affairs, Bevilacqua led the
US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) through the first phases of implementing the new
1983 Code of Canon Law, making appropriate adaptations for the United States.
Bishop of Pittsburgh Bevilacqua was named by John Paul II as the tenth bishop of Pittsburgh on October 7, 1983.
Karabin abuse case On August 14, 2018, Pennsylvania attorney general
Josh Shapiro released a grand jury report detailing alleged sex abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The report showed a 1985 memo written by Bevilacqua in which he rejected a request to reassign Reverend Joseph Karabin, a diocese priest, after two children told the diocese he had sexually molested them. Bevilacqua did not report Karabin to the police, but sent him instead to a treatment center for
alcohol abuse in Maryland. Karabin was kept on restricted assignments until 2002, when he was appointed as chaplain at a retirement home. Bishop
Donald Wuerl, Bevilacqua's successor as bishop, withdrew Karabin's appointment and suspended his priestly faculties. In 1986, Bevilacqua banned women from participating in the
Holy Thursday foot-washing service. He said that the service was a re-enactment of the
Last Supper, in which Jesus only washed men's feet. After pushback from Catholic women and from the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bevilacqua relented, allowing individual pastors to decide. However, he refused to attend services that washed women's feet.
Archbishop of Philadelphia Pope John Paul II appointed Bevilacqua as archbishop of Philadelphia on December 8, 1987. Succeeding Cardinal
John Krol, Bevilacqua was installed on February 11, 1988. He was named
cardinal-priest of the
Church of Ss. Redentore e S. Alfonso in Via Merulana in Rome during the
consistory of June 28, 1991. In 1998, Bevilacqua asked Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge to fund
food stamp assistance for immigrants and instituted service centers for Latino and African American Catholics. Bevilacqua is remembered for his frequent visits to churches in the diocese, his knowledge of fiscal matters, his conservatism, and his closing of schools. Organizationally, he divided the archdiocese into six
vicariates, each with a general vicariate, and subdivided the central administration into six secretariats. He hosted a weekly radio call-in program,
Live with Cardinal Bevilacqua, which aired on WZZD-AM in Philadelphia. In 2002, he was named to the
PoliticsPA "Power 50" list of politically influential personalities. Within the USCCB, Bevilacqua served as chair of the Committee on Migration from 1983 to 1984, during which time he visited the refugee camps of
Southeast Asia and
Africa. He also chaired the Committee for Canonical Affairs (1981–1984) and the Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In 2005, the
Philadelphia District Attorney's office issued a report that criticized Bevilacqua and his predecessor, Cardinal Krol, for failing to protect children in the archdiocese from sexual abuse by priests. In November 2011, Bevilacqua gave a seven-hour
deposition in a sealed hearing on the handling of sexual abuse cases in the archdiocese. Due to his declining health, his testimony was videotaped. Defense lawyers said the cardinal could no longer recognize the priest who had been his longtime aide.
Lynn negligence case In 2012, Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was convicted of one count of
child endangerment. This conviction resulted from his negligent oversight of Edward Avery, a priest in the archdiocese, who sexually fondled a 12-year-old boy. Lynn was acquitted of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count. Lynn's lawyers had argued that the case should be thrown out. They presented a 1994 memo that showed that Lynn had prepared a list of 35 abuse allegations against priests in the archdiocese. Bevilacqua had ordered Monsignor James Molloy to destroy the list.
Picard retaliation During Lynn's trial, it was revealed that in 1996, Monsignor Michael Picard, the pastor of St. Andrew Parish in
Newtown, Pennsylvania, had expressed concerns to Bevilacqua regarding a priest assigned to his parish. That unnamed priest had been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 1982. In response, Bevilacqua ordered Picard to apologize to the priest and spend two weeks on a contemplative retreat. The other priest was transferred to another parish. In response to Picard's allegation, the archdiocese said it had received no complaints about the accused priest's work in 15 years of service to three parishes. That priest died in 2006.
Bevilacqua abuse allegation In September 2018, the Diocese of Pittsburgh was sued by Heather Taylor, a former student at St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin School near Pittsburgh. Taylor claimed that Bevilacqua, then bishop of Pittsburgh, had groped her while visiting St. Gabriel. She also accused two other priests on the school faculty of molesting her, both of whom were found to have sexually abused minors. == Viewpoints ==