page_title: J. Peter Sartain
section_title: Archbishop of Seattle
hierarchical_section_title: J. Peter Sartain / Bishop / Archbishop of Seattle
caption_attribution_description: English: Holy Rosary Parish Church, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
context_page_description: James Peter Sartain, better known as Peter Sartain, is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the fifth Archbishop of Seattle from 2010 to 2019. He previously served as Bishop of Little Rock and Bishop of Joliet.
context_section_description: On September 16, 2010, he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle, succeeding Archbishop Alexander Joseph Brunett. He was installed as Archbishop on December 1, 2010 in St. James Cathedral in Seattle.
  On November 15, 2011, Sartain was elected Secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); he begins a three-year term in November 2012. His position also makes him chairman of the USCCB Committee on Priorities and Plans.
  In April 2012, Sartain urged parishes in the Seattle archdiocese to collect signatures to place Referendum 74 on the November ballot. The referendum sought to repeal Washington state's newly enacted same-sex marriage statute. "The word 'marriage' isn't simply a label that can be attached to different types of relationships," Sartain wrote. "Instead, 'marriage' reflects a deep reality – the reality of the unique, fruitful, lifelong union that is only possible between a man and a woman. There is nothing else like it, and it can't be defined or made into something that it isn't...Marriage can only be between a man and a woman because of its unique ends, purpose and place in society."
  On April 18, 2012, the Vatican announced the appointment of Archbishop Sartain to oversee a review of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a prominent umbrella group for nuns in the United States. It involved reviewing and changing the group's laws, programs and practices to correct practices that are "incompatible with the Catholic faith."
  On June 7, 2019, Sartain installed Paul D. Etienne, then Archbishop of Anchorage, as coadjutor archbishop.
  On August 24, 2019, Sartain issued a decree to demolish Holy Rosary Church in Tacoma, Washington, a building that has been on the City of Tacoma's Register of Tacoma Places since 1975. It had become too dangerous to occupy, and estimates for its repair were at $18 million.
  Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Seattle on September 3, 2019. The Archdiocese of Seattle, relaying a message from US nuncio Christophe Pierre, said that Coadjutor Archbishop Paul D. Eitenne automatically succeeded Sartain as Archbishop after his resignation was accepted. Sartain is also reported to be in poor health, which resulted in Pope Francis accepting his resignation.
caption: Holy Rosary Parish Church, Tacoma, Washington, awaiting demolition in 2020.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5200", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.2", "Image DateTime": "2020:08:13 23:09:51", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "224", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "15030", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "15154", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5170", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "63/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2020:08:08 12:21:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020:08:08 12:21:15", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "8/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Cloudy weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTime": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "6000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "15000", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "24", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}