Baseball player, born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. During his 19 year career as an outfielder (18921910), mostly with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, he posted a lifetime batting average of ·345, fifth highest in major league history. A diminutive player, his batting style was, as he put it, To hit 'em where they ain't. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1939.
His Eminence, William Henry Cardinal Keeler (born March 4, 1931 in San Antonio, Texas) has been the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore since 1989 and a Cardinal since 1994.
Early life
He was raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where he attended St. Mary School and Lebanon Catholic High School. While he was studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1955, he was ordained a priest in the Church of the Holy Apostles, by Luigi Cardinal Traglia, then the Vicegerent of the Diocese of Rome but later Dean of the College of Cardinals.
An Eagle Scout, Cardinal Keeler is a longtime supporter of Scouting. Bishop Keeler was named the 14th Archbishop of Baltimore in 1989 and appointed to the College of Cardinals by the late Pope John Paul II in November, 1994.
He was elected President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 1992, he had been elected as the organizations' Vice President in November of 1989, when hosting Baltimore, Maryland's bicentennial celebration of the founding of America's first Roman Catholic diocese.
Cardinal Keeler developed a reputation for effectively building interfaith bonds, particularly for furthering Catholic-Jewish dialogue and serves as moderator of Catholic-Jewish relations for the USCCB. In 1992, the Cardinal initiated the Lenten Appeal, a giving campaign that has raised over $44 million in support of Baltimore's Catholic schools, the needs of the less fortunate, and a variety of spiritual development efforts and the Cardinal's Partners in Excellence scholarship program has raised $16 million in tuition assistance for at-risk children.
The Cardinal is also responsible for the effort to restore Baltimore's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, America's oldest Cathedral.
Cardinal Keeler is the President of the American Division Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and Chair of the Black and Native American Missions Board.
He is Cardinal Priest of the Titular Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri which is in Piazza Repubblica in Rome.
Episcopal Succession
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Preceded by: William Donald Borders |
Archbishop of Baltimore 1989–present |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
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