John Krol

John Joseph Krol (October 26, 1910 – March 3, 1996) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church.

Krol attended Cathedral Latin High School, graduating at age 16 in 1927.

He then took a job as a butcher at a Kroger grocery store in Cleveland, where he became manager of the meat department at age 18.

Religious questions from a Lutheran co-worker prompted Krol to more deeply study Catholic theology and eventually decide to enter the priesthood.

He began his studies at St. Mary's College in Orchard Lake, Michigan.

He later enrolled at St. Mary's Seminary in his native Cleveland.

At St. Mary's, he also operated a small tobacco business, receiving shipments of defective cigars and then selling them to his fellow seminarians.

On February 20, 1937, Krol was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Schrembs at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

His first assignment was as a curate at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Cleveland, where he remained for one year.

In 1938, he was sent to continue his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1940.

He received a Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Catholic University of America School of Canon Law in Washington, D.C., in 1942.

Following his return to Cleveland, Krol served as professor of canon law at St. Mary's Seminary from 1942 to 1943.

He served as vice-chancellor (1943–51) and chancellor (1951–54) of the Diocese of Cleveland.

He was named a papal chamberlain in 1945, and was raised to the rank of domestic prelate in 1951.

In 1950, he became president of the Canon Law Society of America.

On July 11, 1953, Krol was appointed auxiliary bishop of Cleveland and titular bishop of Cardi by Pope Pius XII.

He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 2 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Archbishop Edward Francis Hoban and Bishop Floyd Lawrence Begin serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

In addition to his episcopal duties, he was named vicar general of the Diocese of Cleveland in 1954.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Krol governed the Archdiocese of Philadelphia through an era where the population shifted to the suburbs.

He was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, having previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland (1953–1961), and was elevated as a cardinalate in 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

Krol was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the fourth of eight children of John and Anna (née Pietruszka) Krol.

His parents were Polish immigrants who were originally from the Tatra Mountains.

Krol's father held various occupations, working as a machinist, barber, carpenter, plumber and electrician; his mother worked as a maid at a hotel in Cleveland.

At age 2, he and his family returned to Poland, but returned to Cleveland within a year.

Krol received his early education at the parochial school of St. Hyacinth Church.

At age 9, he went to work part-time as a butcher's helper.

He later worked as a maker of wooden boxes.

Following the death of Cardinal John Francis O'Hara, Krol was appointed the sixth Archbishop of Philadelphia by Pope John XXIII on February 11, 1961.

His installation took place at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul on March 22 of that year.

He was the first Polish American to become an archbishop, and, at age 50, was the youngest Catholic archbishop in the country at the time.

In his first sermon as archbishop, Krol spoke of the need for civic dedication and virtue, saying, "I am conscious, too, of our beloved country, the bold idealism that inspired it, the courage that gave it birth. May God grant that our prayers, the moral integrity of our lives, the clarity of our teaching, and the sincerity of our patriotism help increase the spiritual resources without which no nation can survive."

Krol attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965.

During the Council, he served as one of six permanent undersecretaries, with responsibility for keeping a record of votes and distributing, collecting and tabulating ballots.

He also served as a member of the central coordinating committee.

Like Pope Paul VI, he was more liberal in social principles but sternly conservative in those of doctrine and church government.

He condemned arms races and abortion, but supported clerical celibacy and disarmament.

He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria della Mercede e Sant'Adriano a Villa Albani by Paul VI on June 26, 1967, during the same consistory that elevated Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Kraków, Poland.

After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on 11 April 1969 at the convent of the Divine Master in Ariccia, he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads of Freemasonry.

Both were cardinal electors in the conclaves of August and October 1978.

Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II in the latter conclave, and Krol served as one of his closest advisors.