Rev. Blase J. Cupich

Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich was appointed as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago by His Holiness Pope Francis on September 20, 2014. Archbishop Cupich will be installed as Archbishop of Chicago on November 18, 2014, at Holy Name Cathedral. Archbishop Cupich was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975, and was ordained and installed as Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on September 21, 1998. He was officially installed as Bishop of Spokane on September 3, 2010. Archbishop Cupich obtained his B.A. in Philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1971. He attended seminary at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome where he received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in 1974, and his M.A. in Theology in 1975. Archbishop Cupich is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he received his License of Sacred Theology in 1979. He also holds a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in Sacramental Theology from the Catholic University of America awarded in 1987, with his dissertation entitled: ADVENT IN THE ROMAN TRADITION: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods. Additionally, Archbishop Cupich was the Secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. He was pastor of two parishes in Omaha, Nebraska and also served as the Chair for the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008 until 2011. Archbishop Cupich was born on March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Blase and Mary (Mayhan) Cupich. He is one of nine children, five sisters and three brothers.