Joseph Louis Bernardin was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a major leader in the U. S.-based Catholic Church during the modern progressive era.
Background
Joseph Bernardin was born on April 2, 1928, in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. He was a son of Joseph Bernardin, a stonecutter, and Maria Simion Bernardin, a seamstress. They were an Italian immigrant couple. Bernardin was baptized and confirmed at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Columbia, South Carolina, United States.
Joseph lost his father being a six-year-old boy, and he had to look after his younger sister Elaine.
Education
Joseph Bernardin attended the pre-medical program of the University of South Carolina for one year. Then, he transferred at Saint Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, United States where he studied Latin and received Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1948.
In 1952, Joseph graduated from the Catholic University of America with Master of Arts degree.
Career
Joseph Bernardin was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Charleston by John J. Russell at St. Joseph Church on April 26, 1952.
The same year, Joseph became a teacher of Bishop England High School, Charleston, South Carolina, United States. He left this post in 1954 and worked some time as a chancellor.
Once ordained, Bernardin's skills shined, as he soon climbed the hierarchical ladder, moving to Atlanta and becoming the youngest bishop in the country by 1966. By 1968 Bernardin became the general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and its social action agency, the United States Catholic Conference in Washington, D. C.
Four years later, Joseph was named the archbishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was elected president of the NCCB in 1974, serving in that role until 1977. In 1982 Bernardin was named archbishop of Chicago, the largest archdiocese in the nation. This new foothold of power placed Bernardin in a prominent location to express his social activism.
In February 1983 Bernardin succeeded the late John Cardinal Cody at the Sacred College of Cardinals. The same year, Joseph received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the College of the Holy Cross.
A year after, the NCCB examined the United States' economic structure. Once again Bernardin led the charge for the Catholic Church to take a moral stand, and the resulting pastoral letter, "Economic Justice for All," cited systematic flaws. From 1983 till 1993, Joseph worked as a chair of different committees, for example, committee for pro-life activities, for marriage and family life.
Bernardin was named as a former chaplain for The Citadel of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, United States in 1986.
Religion
In childhood Joseph Bernardin was the only Catholic boy on his block. These early experiences helped him acquire a great understanding and tolerance for other religions and opposite points of view.
Views
Quotations:
"Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity and there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize this right. "
"What I would like to leave behind is a simple prayer that each of you may find what I have found—God’s special gift to us all: the gift of peace. When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst of times. We let go of what is nonessential and embrace what is essential. We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us. And we become instruments in the hands of the Lord. "
"Some services are too important to leave to the marketplace. "
Personality
As a priest, archbishop, and president of the US bishops’ conference, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin lived a ministry marked by thoughtfulness, compassion, and conviction.
Bernardin was a visionary in the Catholic Church, always looking toward the future but never neglecting the Church's rich past. His strong relationships with the laity and to John Paul II in the early 1970s before his elevation to pope served Bernardin well during difficult periods in his career. His open style created a level of comfort not known to many elder Catholics, as he symbolized the pinnacle of post-Vatican II Catholicism. Unafraid to challenge the status quo, he became a star of the American Catholic Church.