William H. Keeler

William Henry Keeler (March 4, 1931 – March 23, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1989 to 2007 and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1994. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg. Keeler was President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1992 to 1995.

As Archbishop of Baltimore, Keeler was known for his failure to take action against priests who had been accused of inappropriate conduct, which significantly damaged his reputation. Keeler also led a restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of two cathedrals in the archdiocese and the oldest in the United States, which was completely repaired and restored to near its original appearance by 2006. Keeler was also recognized for forming strong relationships with people from other religious groups, particularly those of the Jewish and Protestant faiths. Despite his failure to take action against priests who were accused of inappropriate conduct, Keeler was also noted for his response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, choosing to publish the names of 57 priests who had been "credibly accused of child abuse" in 2002.

Early life
William Keeler was born on March 4, 1931, in San Antonio, Texas, to Thomas Love and Margaret (née Conway) Keeler. One of five children, Lawrence Keeler was of mixed Irish, Alsatian, and Scottish ancestry. Margaret Keeler, the daughter of an Illinois farmer, was a schoolteacher. Thomas Love was a steel-casting salesman.

Shortly after Keeler's birth, the family moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Keeler attended the St. Mary School and Lebanon Catholic High School. He joined the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Deciding to become a priest, Keeler entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1952. The Diocese of Harrisburg then sent him to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Priesthood
While he was in Rome, Keeler was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Harrisburg on July 17, 1955, by Archbishop Luigi Traglia. Keeler received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1956) and a Doctor of Canon Law (1961) from the Gregorian. After returning to Harrisburg in 1961, the diocese assigned him to pastoral and curial work.

With the start of the first session of the Second Vatican Council, Keeler accompanied peritus, or expert, and secretary to Bishop George L. Leech to Rome. Keeler attended all four sessions of the Council, from 1962 to 1965. Keeler worked for the Council Digest, a communications service used to bring news of the Council sessions to American Catholics.

Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of Harrisburg
On July 24, 1979, Pope John Paul II appointed Keeler as auxiliary bishop of Harrisburg and titular bishop of Ulcinium. He received his episcopal consecration on September 21, 1979, at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from Bishop Joseph Thomas Daley, with Bishops Francis Gossman and Martin Lohmuller serving as co-consecrators. Keeler took as his episcopal motto: Opus Fac Evangelistae ("Do the Work of an Evangelist").

John Paul II appointed Keeler as the seventh bishop of Harrisburg on November 10, 1983, succeeding Daley. Keeler was installed on January 4, 1984, in the Cathedral of St. Patrick. As bishop of Harrisburg, Keeler served on committees for interreligious dialogue and helped expand diocesan youth ministry.

1989 to 2000
John Paul II named Keeler as the fourteenth archbishop of Baltimore on April 11, 1989, following the retirement of Archbishop William Borders. Keeler was installed in Baltimore on May 23, 1989. He was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November 1992 for a three-year term.

In 1993, Dontee D. Stokes reported to the archdiocese that he had been fondled over a three year period as a minor by Reverend Maurice Blackwell, pastor of St. Edward Parish in West Baltimore. Keeler then sent Blackwell to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, for psychological evaluation and therapy. After three months, Keeler reinstated Blackwell as pastor of St. Edward in Baltimore, overruling a lay panel recommendation.

While USCCB president, Keeler helped to organize the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado. He helped facilitate John Paul II's 1995 papal visit to Baltimore. At that time, journalist Bill Broadway of The Washington Post called Keeler "one of the most respected Catholic leaders in the United States."

John Paul II created Keeler as cardinal-priest of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in a consistory on November 26, 1994. That same year, the pope named him a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

2000 to 2006
From 1998 to 2001 and again from late 2003 to 2006, Keeler served as chair for the Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Keeler participated in the 2005 conclave in Rome that elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.

When The Boston Globe in 2002 began breaking the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston, Keeler's first response was to resist the media "feeding frenzy." Several cardinals commented publicly about the issue before Keeler. Psychotherapist Richard Sipe stated that Keeler was "probably one of the most politically savvy of all the cardinals in the country. He plays things safe and is very concerned about avoiding any scandal."

Keeler, however, became the first bishop to identify publicly priests who had been "credibly accused of child abuse," listing 57 on the archdiocese website and detailing $5.6 million spent on settlements, legal fees and counseling. Keeler called for addressing the scandal "with humble contrition, righteous anger and public outrage. Telling the truth cannot be wrong." While victims and their advocates praised him and other bishops followed his lead, "defenders of the church criticized him and the other bishops as having betrayed the priests in their dioceses," according to The New York Times. '"I think Cardinal Keeler has taken a very bold and courageous and pastorally sensitive approach," said Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the USCCB, at the time.

In May 2002, Stokes encountered Blackwell by accident on a street in Baltimore. Blackwell had been suspended from ministry since 1998 after accusations of sexual abuse of another minor had surfaced. After a brief conversation Stokes shot and wounded Blackwell, then turned himself in at a local church. Stokes was acquitted of all charges in December 2002. Blackwell was convicted of molesting Stokes in February 2005, but the verdict was overturned on appeal in July of that year.

Keeler was responsible for the restoration of Baltimore's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, America's first cathedral. The $32 million for the project was raised from private donations. Construction lasted from 2004 until November 2006. The project was finished in time for the 200th anniversary of the cathedral's groundbreaking.

Retirement and legacy
In April 2006, Keeler, after reaching age 75, Keeler submitted his resignation as archbishop of Baltimore to the pope as required by church law. It was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on July 12, 2007. On March 23, 2017, Keeler died at age 86 in his residence at St. Martin's Home for the Aged, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Catonsville, Maryland. He had been ill for several years.

On August 1, 2018, Bishop Ronald Gainer of Harrisburg announced that he was removing Keeler's name from any building or room in the diocese due to Keeler's failure to protect victims from abuse. On August 14, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a report that alleged Keeler committed criminal inaction during his time as bishop of Harrisburg.

The grand jury report stated that Keeler learned in 1987 of allegations of sexual abuse against Father Arthur Long. A church memo written in 1995, the year that Long was removed from ministry, revealed that accusations of "inappropriate behavior" had surfaced against Long in 1991 and 1992 during his time in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Immediately after the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, the Archdiocese of Baltimore in August 2018 cancelled plans to name a new Catholic school after Keeler due to his handling of the Long accusations.

Stem cell research
Keeler mourned the death of Terri Schiavo, calling it a "human tragedy." Schiavo was a woman in a persistent vegetative state who died in 2005, thirteen days after doctors removed her feeding tube at the request of Schiavo's husband.

Abortion
The Baltimore Sun called him "a leading national voice" against abortion rights for women.

Ecumenism
When John Paul II visited the United States in 1987, Keeler helped arrange his meetings with Jewish leaders in Miami, Florida and Protestant leaders in Columbia, South Carolina. However, Jewish leaders threatened to boycott the Miami meeting because John Paul II had recently met with former U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. It had been recently revealed that Waldheim had previous connections to Nazi Germany. After Keeler intervened, the Jewish leaders agreed to attend the meeting.

On November 18, 2005, at the annual general assembly of the National Council of Churches, Keeler reassured delegates that the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI were firmly ecumenical.