Cardinal Baum remembered for 'ministry of engagement and not of confrontation'
August 03, 2015
At the funeral Mass of Cardinal William Baum, the United States' longest-serving cardinal, Cardinal Donald Wuerl paid tribute to the late prelate's commitment of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, his devotion to the Eucharist, and his governance of the Archdiocese of Washington in the 1970s.
Born in 1926, Cardinal Baum was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City in 1951 before serving as the first executive director of the US bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri (1970-73), and Archbishop of Washington (1973-80).
He then served as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education (1980-90) and Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary (1990-2001). Created a cardinal in 1976, he took part in the elections of Pope John Paul I, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.
"With a Protestant father and a Jewish stepfather, Cardinal Baum was profoundly aware of the implications of interfaith and ecumenical relations," Cardinal Wuerl preached. "In his thirties he was already recognized as one of the Catholic Church’s authorities on interfaith relations."
The 1970s, Cardinal Wuerl added, "was not a quiet time in the life of the Church. He spoke then about the need to bring healing and unity to a Church that was divided in its clergy and faithful over the encyclical of Pope, now Blessed, Paul VI, Humanae Vitae."
"Some who objected to this teaching asserted that it was an overreach of Papal Magisterium because it dealt with matters that were less than dogmatic," he continued. "There were those who insisted that it clearly did not enjoy the approbation of those who had expertise in this field. Yet the overriding vision of Cardinal Baum was to do everything possible to sustain and maintain the unity of God’s family ... His was a ministry of engagement not confrontation."
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Further information:
- Homily: Mass of Christian Burial for Cardinal William Baum
- Cardinal William Baum, longest-serving American cardinal, dead at 88 (CWN, 7/24)
- Papal telegram following death of Cardinal Baum (CWN, 7/27)
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