Cardinal William Baum, longest-serving American cardinal, dead at 88
July 24, 2015
Cardinal William Baum, the senior American member of the College of Cardinals, died in Washington, DC, on July 23 at the age of 88, after a lengthy illness.
Cardinal Baum served as Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Archbishop of Washington before he was called to Rome in 1980 to become prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. After a decade he became head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, remaining in that post until his retirement in 2001.
Born in Texas, William Wakefield Baum was ordained to the priesthood in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1951. He was appointed Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in 1970, and raised to the College of Cardinals by Pope Paul VI in 1976, while serving in Washington.
Cardinal Baum was a member of the College of Cardinals for more than 39 years—longer than any other American in history. At the time of his death only one other living prelate, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, the retired Archbishop of Sao Paulo, had been a cardinal longer. Cardinal Baum was one of only three living cardinals—along with Cardinal Arns and Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI-- who received their red hats from Pope Paul VI.
With the death of Cardinal Baum there are now 220 living members of the College of Cardinals, of whom 120 are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
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