Early life and education The oldest of seven children, Raymond Hunthausen was born on August 21, 1921, in
Anaconda,
Montana, to Anthony Gerhardt and Edna Marie (née Tuchscherer) Hunthausen. His parents owned and operated a local grocery store. He grew up helping with the grocery business and working in the Tuchscherer brewery.Nicknamed "Dutch", Hunthausen received his early education from the
Ursuline nuns at the
parochial school, and excelled both academically and athletically during high school. However, he was persuaded by Reverend
Bernard Topel, his spiritual director and mathematics professor at Carroll, to enter the
priesthood.
Priesthood Hunthausen was
ordained a priest for the Diocese of Helena by Bishop
Joseph Gilmore on June 1, 1946, in Helena. He returned to Carroll College, where he served as a
professor of chemistry (1946–57) and a football and basketball coach (1953–57). This
tax resistance prompted the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service to garnish his wages.
Church investigation As a result of the complaints surrounding Hunthausen's alleged deviations from Church doctrine, in 1983 the
Vatican authorized Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to launch an investigation. Archbishop
James A. Hickey of Washington was named
apostolic visitor to the archdiocese. Hickey's delegation met with Hunthausen and others to investigate his administrative and pastoral practices. The investigation concluded that Hunthausen had exercised "weak doctrinal leadership" in a number of areas, including allowing children to receive the sacrament of
Communion without first having received the
sacrament of penance. Thereafter, Fr
Donald Wuerl was controversially named an auxiliary bishop with special powers.
Thomas Murphy, Bishop of Great Falls–Billings, was appointed
coadjutor bishop in 1987. According to Thomas Bokenkotter, "A resolution of the affair was finally announced by the Vatican in April after it accepted the report of a commission that recommended that Hunthausen's authority be restored and a coadjutor bishop be appointed. Hunthausen stoutly maintains that his archdiocese has remained fundamentally the same and was never in violation of Vatican doctrine; nor has he had to alter the general direction of his ministry or compromise his liberal beliefs." Hunthausen is remembered most for his support of the poor and disenfranchised. He was also an advocate for the youth and encouraged better
catechesis in Catholic parishes and Catholic parochial schools despite waning enrollment. In 1985, he helped establish the Institute for Theological Studies at
Seattle University, which in 1996 evolved into the School of Theology and Ministry.
Retirement and legacy On August 21, 1991,
Pope John Paul II accepted Hunthausen's resignation as Archbishop of Seattle, five years before the normal episcopal retirement age of 75. He then moved to Helena to live with his brother, Jack Hunthausen. Raymond continued to hear confessions once a week in
East Helena, Montana, and led retreats in the Diocese of Helena. On July 22, 2018, Hunthausen died in his home in Helena at age 96. He was the second archbishop to be interred in the
crypt at
St. James Cathedral. ==Awards==