William H. Keeler

William Henry Keeler (March 4, 1931 – March 23, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church.

William Keeler was born on March 4, 1931, in San Antonio, Texas, to Thomas Love and Margaret (née Conway) Keeler.

One of five children, Lawrence Keeler was of mixed Irish, Alsatian, and Scottish ancestry.

Margaret Keeler, the daughter of an Illinois farmer, was a schoolteacher.

Thomas Love was a steel-casting salesman.

Shortly after Keeler's birth, the family moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Keeler attended the St. Mary School and Lebanon Catholic High School.

He joined the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Deciding to become a priest, Keeler entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1952.

The Diocese of Harrisburg then sent him to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

While he was in Rome, Keeler was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Harrisburg on July 17, 1955, by Archbishop Luigi Traglia.

Keeler received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1956) and a Doctor of Canon Law (1961) from the Gregorian.

After returning to Harrisburg in 1961, the diocese assigned him to pastoral and curial work.

With the start of the first session of the Second Vatican Council, Keeler accompanied peritus, or expert, and secretary to Bishop George L. Leech to Rome.

Keeler attended all four sessions of the Council, from 1962 to 1965.

Keeler worked for the Council Digest, a communications service used to bring news of the Council sessions to American Catholics.

On July 24, 1979, Pope John Paul II appointed Keeler as auxiliary bishop of Harrisburg and titular bishop of Ulcinium.

He received his episcopal consecration on September 21, 1979, at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 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").

John Paul II appointed Keeler as the seventh bishop of Harrisburg on November 10, 1983, succeeding Daley.

Keeler was installed on January 4, 1984, in the Cathedral of St. Patrick.

As bishop of Harrisburg, Keeler served on committees for interreligious dialogue and helped expand diocesan youth ministry.

He served as Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1989 to 2007 and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1994.

He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

John Paul II named Keeler as the fourteenth archbishop of Baltimore on April 11, 1989, following the retirement of Archbishop William Borders.

Keeler was installed in Baltimore on May 23, 1989.

Keeler was President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1992 to 1995.

As Archbishop of Baltimore, Keeler was known for his failure to take action against priests who had been accused of inappropriate conduct, which significantly damaged his reputation.

He was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November 1992 for a three-year term.

In 1993, Dontee D. Stokes reported to the archdiocese that he had been fondled over a three year period as a minor by Reverend Maurice Blackwell, pastor of St. Edward Parish in West Baltimore.

Keeler then sent Blackwell to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for psychological evaluation and therapy.

After three months, Keeler reinstated Blackwell as pastor of St. Edward in Baltimore, overruling a lay panel recommendation.

While USCCB president, Keeler helped to organize the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado.

John Paul II created Keeler as cardinal-priest of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in a consistory on November 26, 1994.

That same year, the pope named him a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

He helped facilitate John Paul II's 1995 papal visit to Baltimore.

At that time, journalist Bill Broadway of The Washington Post called Keeler "one of the most respected Catholic leaders in the United States."

Despite his failure to take action against priests who were accused of inappropriate conduct, Keeler was also noted for his response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, choosing to publish the names of 57 priests who had been "credibly accused of child abuse" in 2002.

Keeler also led a restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of two cathedrals in the archdiocese and the oldest in the United States, which was completely repaired and restored to near its original appearance by 2006.

Keeler was also recognized for forming strong relationships with people from other religious groups, particularly those of the Jewish and Protestant faiths.