William Levada

His great-grandparents came from Portugal and Ireland, and emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1860s.

He grew up in Long Beach and Houston, Texas, attended St. Anthony High School Long Beach and then St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

At St. Anthony High School, his classmate was George Hugh Niederauer, later his successor as archbishop of San Francisco.

William Joseph Levada (June 15, 1936 – September 26, 2019) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church.

From 1958 to 1961, Levada studied at the North American College and did his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

He was ordained to the priesthood on December 20, 1961, by Archbishop Martin John O'Connor, rector of the Pontifical North American College and president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in St. Peter's Basilica.

From 1961 until around 1966, Levada worked in parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, including St. Louis of France in La Puente and St. Monica in Santa Monica.

He also taught high school and worked in college campus ministry.

After this, he returned to Rome and continued his studies at the North American College.

He received a doctorate in sacred theology magna cum laude.

In the early 1970s, he taught theology at St. John's Seminary School of Theology in Camarillo, California.

He was also named the first Director of Continuing Education for the Clergy in the archdiocese, and received the title Monsignor.

His 1971 dissertation was written under Francis A. Sullivan, SJ, on "Infallible Church Magisterium and the Natural Moral Law".

From 1976 to 1982, Levada was an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in the Vatican, having been recommended by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

He also taught part-time at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

At the CDF, Levada served under three popes (Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II), and under two prefects of the CDF (Cardinals Franjo Šeper and Joseph Ratzinger).

In 1982, Cardinal Timothy Manning, Archbishop of Los Angeles, named Levada as the executive director of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops which has its offices in Sacramento.

Levada was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and titular bishop of Capri on March 25, 1983, and was consecrated by Cardinal Manning (with Bishops John J. Ward and Juan Arzube as co-consecrators) in the Cathedral of St. Vibiana on May 12.

In 1984, he was appointed episcopal vicar of Santa Barbara County.

He was previously the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon from 1986 to 1995, and then Archbishop of San Francisco from 1995 to 2005.

While serving as archbishop, he was criticized for covering up sexual abuse by priests within his jurisdiction.

In 1986, he was appointed chancellor and moderator of the archdiocesan curia.

Serving under Cardinal Roger Mahony, a classmate of Levada's at seminary, he reorganized the internal structure of the archdiocese.

On July 1, 1986, Levada became the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon.

During his tenure in Portland, Levada helped to revitalize Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon; Levada briefly taught at the seminary as well.

Other work he undertook in Portland included reorganizing Catholic Charities, working in outreach to the Hispanic Catholic community, and renovating St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1987, he was appointed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whom Pope John Paul II asked to develop the project for a new Catechism of the Catholic Church, to serve on its editorial committee, one of seven bishops whose task it was to prepare a draft of the catechism, conduct a consultation among the bishops of the world and many scholars, and develop a final text under the direction of a commission of twelve cardinals of which Cardinal Ratzinger was president.

On August 17, 1995, Levada was appointed coadjutor archbishop of San Francisco, and on December 27 of the same year he succeeded John Raphael Quinn as the archbishop.

When appointed archbishop of San Francisco in 1995, Levada was asked whether he expected to be created a cardinal at a news conference.

"There is only one cardinal in California," he said at a time when Los Angeles, the largest diocese in the country, was still considered a cardinalatial see.

"He is in Los Angeles. Being a cardinal is the consolation prize for not being the archbishop of San Francisco."

In November 2000, Levada was appointed one of the members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he again served under Cardinal Ratzinger.

This was a part-time task which allowed him to remain in California.

Also in 2000, Levada became the bishop co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue in the United States.

In November 2003, Levada was appointed as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine.

From May 2005 until June 2012, he served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI; he was the highest ranking American in the Roman Curia.

This was a three-year term, but he resigned in 2005 due to his new duties in Rome and was replaced by Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson.

Levada was created a cardinal in 2006 by Benedict XVI.

William Joseph Levada was born in Long Beach, California, to Joseph and Lorraine (née Nunez) Levada, both natives of Concord, California.

His older sister, Dolores, died on May 21, 2007.