American Cardinal William Levada dies

American Cardinal William Joseph Levada died on Sept. 26, 2019 at 83 years old. 

In 2005, after being appointed by Benedict XVI, he was the head of the Vatican dicastery that adjudicated clergy sex abuse cases, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

CARD. WILLIAM JOSEPH LEVADA
Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
“The more than 4,000 cases of sexual abuse of minors reported to the CDF in the past decade have revealed, on the one hand, the inadequacy of an exclusively canonical (or canon law) response to this tragedy, and on the other, the necessity of a truly multi-faceted response.”

Card. Levada was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1961. He was appointed bishop by John Paul II in 1983 and was soon named Archbishop of Portland and San Francisco in 1995. In 2006, soon after beginning his Vatican position is when he was named cardinal by Benedict XVI.

The cardinal participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013.

He was one of the highest-ranking American cardinals within the Vatican before 2012, when he retired as archbishop. 

Melissa Butz