name: Justin Rigali
birth_date: 1935-04-19 00:00:00
avg_rating: 4.13
ratings_count: 31
about: Cardinal Justin Rigali was born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1935, one of seven children of Henry Alphonsus Rigali and Frances Irene White. He attended Catholic schools in Los Angeles and studied in the archdiocesan seminaries at Los Angeles College, Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary in San Fernando, and St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained a priest by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre in the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in Los Angeles on April 25, 1961.In October 1961 he entered the graduate division of the North American College in Rome and began graduate studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He obtained a doctorate in canon law from that university in 1964. From 1964 to 1966 he followed the course of studies Cardinal Justin Rigali was born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1935, one of seven children of Henry Alphonsus Rigali and Frances Irene White. He attended Catholic schools in Los Angeles and studied in the archdiocesan seminaries at Los Angeles College, Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary in San Fernando, and St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained a priest by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre in the Cathedral of St. Vibiana in Los Angeles on April 25, 1961.In October 1961 he entered the graduate division of the North American College in Rome and began graduate studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He obtained a doctorate in canon law from that university in 1964. From 1964 to 1966 he followed the course of studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy while serving in the English-language section of the Secretariat of State of the Vatican.From September 1966 to February 1970 he served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar, which also was the Apostolic Delegation for the islands of Mauritius and La Reunión. In July 1967 he was named a Papal Chamberlain (Monsignor) to His Holiness Pope Paul VI.In February 1970 Monsignor Rigali became the director of the English-language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State and the English-language translator for Pope Paul VI, whom he accompanied to various countries. Monsignor Rigali served as a professor at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome from 1972 to 1973.During his service at the Vatican Secretariat of State, he also accompanied Pope John Paul II on a number of international pastoral visits, including the Holy Father’s two major journeys to the United States in 1979 and 1987. The 1979 trip included a visit to Philadelphia. On April 19, 1980, he was named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness. He became a magistral chaplain in the Knights of Malta on Oct. 25, 1984. On Oct. 13, 1986, he became a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.On June 8, 1985, he was named President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and Titular Archbishop of Bolsena, Italy. Pope John Paul II ordained him to the episcopacy on Sept. 14, 1985 in the Cathedral of Albano in Albano Laziale, Italy.From 1985 to 1990, in addition to being President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he held a number of positions at the Vatican, serving the Secretariat of State, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, the Congregation for Bishops, and the Pontifical Council for the Laity. On Dec. 21, 1989, he was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops, and on Jan. 2, 1990, he became the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. He was a member of the Permanent Interdicasterial Commission and served as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the same time he was also engaged in pastoral services to a number of parishes and seminaries in Rome.On Jan. 25, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him the eighth Bishop and seventh Archbishop of St. Louis. He was formally installed on March 15, 1994, by His Eminence Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He received the pallium from the Holy Father on June 29, 1994. That same year, on Nov. 7, he became a member of the Knights of Columbus.Cardinal Rigali was elected by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a delegate to the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops of 1997. In January 1999 he hosted the Pastoral Visit of Pope John Paul II to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the only such visit to a single diocese in the United States during the pontificate.Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Rigali to the Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2001, the theme of which was “The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World.”On July 15, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Rigali as the 12th Bishop and eighth Archbishop of Philad ...more