Cardinal Blase Cupich

Cardinal Blase Cupich

On October 9, 2016, Pope Francis named Blase Joseph Cupich a Cardinal and he was elevated to the College of Cardinals in a consistory on November 19, 2016 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Cardinal Cupich was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975.  He was pastor of two parishes in Omaha.  He was appointed Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on July 7, 1998, and was ordained and installed on September 21, 1998.  He was appointed the sixth Bishop of Spokane, Washington, on June 30, 2010, and installed September 3, 2010.  Cardinal Cupich was appointed Archbishop of Chicago on September 20, 2014, and installed as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago on November 18, 2014.

Additionally, Cardinal Cupich was the Secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. from 1981-1987; and served as Chair for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008-2011 and for the National Catholic Educational Association from 2013-2015.

In 2016, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Cupich to the Congregation for Bishops. Cardinal Cupich also serves on USCCB committees: Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and is Co-Chair of the National Dialogue Initiative with Muslims; and Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, Chair.  He is an Executive Member of The Catholic Mutual Relief Society and Chancellor of the Catholic Church Extension Society, and the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois.

Cardinal 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.  Cardinal Cupich is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1979 and a Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1987, both in Sacramental Theology, with his dissertation entitled, “Advent in the Roman Tradition:  An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods.”

Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich was born on March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Blase and Mary (Mayhan) Cupich.  He is one of nine children, with five sisters and three brothers.