Blase Joseph Cupich (born March 19, 1949) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. He was installed as the sixth bishop of the Spokane Diocese on September 3, 2010.[1]On September 20, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Chicago.
Biography[edit]
Blase Cupich was born in Omaha, Nebraska, as one of the nine children of Blase and Mary (née Mayhan) Cupich. He attended theUniversity of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from where he obtained his B.A. in Philosophy in 1971. He then studied in Rome at the Pontifical North American College and earned his Bachelor's in Sacred Theology (1974) and his Master's in Theology (1975) from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Cupich was ordained to the priesthood on August 16, 1975, and then served as both associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Church and instructor at Paul VI High School in Omaha until 1978.
At the Omaha, he served as director of the Office for Divine Worship and as chairman of the Commission on Youth from 1978 to 1981. He completed his graduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Cupich obtained his licentiate(1979) and later doctorate of Sacred Theology (1987) in Sacramental Theology, with a dissertation entitled: Advent in the Roman Tradition: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods.[2]
From 1980 to 1981, Cupich was an instructor of the Continuing Education of Priests Program and Diaconate Formation at Creighton University in Omaha. He then served as secretary of the nunciature to the United States until 1987. He was pastor of St. Mary Church in Bellevue from 1987 to 1989, President-Rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, from 1989 to 1996, and pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Omaha from 1997 to 1998.
On July 6, 1998, Cupich was appointed the seventh Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Pope John Paul II.[3] Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Cupich serves as Chair of the Bishops' Committee on the Protection for Children and Young People and is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Scripture Translation. He has served as a member of the Committee on the Liturgy, the Communications Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism. He is also a member of the Board of the Catholic Extension Society and the Catholic Mutual Relief Society. He has served on the Board ofTrustees of St. Paul Seminary, as the Episcopal Advisor of the Serra Club, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Pastoral Life Center. He is currently the chairman of the National Catholic Education Association.[4]
On June 30, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of the Spokane.[5]
In 2011, Cupich issued an edict forbidding priests and seminarians from praying in front of Planned Parenthood clinics, or supporting 40 Days for Life. [6]
On September 19, 2014, it was reported that Bishop Cupich would become the next Archbishop of Chicago.[7] The nomination was published by the Press office of the Holy See on September 20, 2014.
