Biography of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin

Joseph Louis Bernardin was born April 2, 1928 to Joseph and Maria Bernardin, recent immigrants from the north of Italy. Having lost his father to cancer at the age of six, Joseph took responsibility for his younger sister, Elaine while Mrs. Bernardin worked as a seamstress. 

Joseph Bernardin’s original academic ambition was directed towards becoming a physician, inspiring him to enroll in the Pre-Medical program at the University of South Carolina. However, a year later, Bernardin recognized his calling to serve the Church as a priest, and therefore transferred to Saint Mary Seminary in Baltimore, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1948, and subsequently to The Catholic University of America to complete his theological studies.

Joseph Bernardin was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Charleston by the Most Reverend John J. Russell at St. Joseph Church in Columbia, South Carolina on April 26, 1952. During his fourteen year tenure at the Diocese of Charleston, Reverend Bernardin served under four bishops in capacities including chancellor, vicar general, diocesan counselor, and, when the See was vacant, diocesan administrator. In 1959, Pope John XXIII named Bernardin a Papal Chamberlain.

In 1966, Pope Paul VI appointed Monsignor Bernardin an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Upon his episcopal consecration on April 26, 1966 at the hands of Bernardin’s mentor, Archbishop Paul Hallinan, Bernardin became the youngest bishop in America. From 1966 to 1968, the Most Reverend Joseph Bernardin served as pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta.

Bishop Joseph Bernardin continued to serve the Church from 1968 through 1972, as the first General Secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC). He was instrumental in shaping the Catholic Church in the United States according to the vision of the Second Vatican Council. Bernardin’s evenhandedness and compassion made him well suited to act as a mediator, and he was called to reconcile diverging parties in the changing Post-Conciliar Church.

On November 21, 1972, Bishop Bernardin was appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati by Pope Paul VI, and was installed less than a month later in a ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains. Archbishop Bernardin served the Metropolitan See of Cincinnati for nearly ten years. While Archbishop of Cincinnati, Bernardin was named to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops, was elected to the permanent council of the World Synod of Bishops, served as president of the NCCB/USCC, worked to improve relations between Catholics and Jews, strove for better understanding between the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations, and made pastoral visits to both Poland and Hungary.

Following the death of John Cardinal Cody of Chicago, Pope John Paul II appointed the promising Archbishop Bernardin to perhaps the preeminent See in the United States – the Archdiocese of Chicago. On August 25, 1982, Bernardin was installed as the Archbishop of Chicago by the Apostolic Delegate, the Most Reverend Pio Laghi.

Archbishop Bernardin served as head of the NCCB/USCC Ad Hoc Committee on War and Peace, which drafted the pastoral letter The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response. This book-length pastoral letter challenged the morality of nuclear deterrence, and sparked a decade’s long debate in both the United States and abroad. Perhaps the most well know of these discussions on nuclear morality played out in the November 29, 1982 issue of Time, entitled "God and the Bomb," which featured Bernardin on its cover.

During the Consistory of February 2, 1983, he was elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II. He was given to La Perrocchia di Gesú Divino Lavoratore (The Church of Jesus the Divine Worker) as his titular church.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin worked diligently for social justice in a changing world. Beginning in 1983, Cardinal Bernardin called for a "consistent ethic of life" in an age when modern technologies threatened the sanctity of all human life at every turn, be it abortion, euthanasia, modern warfare, or capital punishment. Cardinal Bernardin consistently spoke out against the increasing violence in Lebanon, Israel, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere. Additionally, Cardinal Bernardin was the first to offer a Mass for divorced and separated Catholics at Holy Name Cathedral.

In 1985, Cardinal Bernardin established an AIDS task force to determine how the Archdiocese might best care for those stricken by the AIDS crisis. In 1989, the Cardinal dedicated Bonaventure House with the help of the Alexian Brothers, a residential facility for people suffering with AIDS.

Ardently adhering to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Bernardin, first in Cincinnati, then in Chicago, was committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogues. While Archbishop of Cincinnati, Bernardin maintained dialogues with local congregations of Jews, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans. In Chicago, this dedication led to the formation of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago in 1985. Cardinal Bernardin served as the council’s first president. Subsequently, under his leadership, the Archdiocese of Chicago established official covenants with both the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Evangelical Lutheran Metropolitan Synod. Cardinal Bernardin participated in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1993. During his interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995, he met with Israeli, Palestinian, ecumenical, and interfaith leaders, and urged peace and mutual respect between Israelis and Palestinians.

Cardinal Bernardin also adapted a strong stance on sexual abuse cases within the clergy by implementing the strongest, most comprehensive policy concerning priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors. Bernardin’s reforms concerning this painful issue soon served as a model for other dioceses across the nation.

Bernardin served the Universal Church having been elected as a delegate of the NCCB/USCC to the Synod of Bishops, and was on the Council of the Secretariate of the Synod for sixteen years. From 1983 to 1989, Bernardin served as chair of the NCCB/USCC Committee for Pro-Life Activities, and from 1989 to 1993 was Chairman of the Committee for Marriage and Family Life. Bernardin was also a founding member and co-chair of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, a member of the Catholic Charities USA National Development Taskforce, and the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association.

To recognize his pastoral work, statements, and publications, Cardinal Bernardin received honorary doctorates from many universities in the United States and in Europe. His commitment to education can also be seen in his positions as Chancellor of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Mundelein, Illinois and on the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America, where he served a term as chair.

In June of 1995, following a string of international visits and pilgrimages, Cardinal Bernardin underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. Following the operation, Bernardin began his cancer ministry. Bernardin so touched the lives of cancer patients, relating to them on such a personal and spiritual level, that countless sick, dying and survivors of the terror of cancer wrote to him, expressing their thanks, admiration, love and hope.

Sadly, on August 30, 1996, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin told his flock that the cancer had returned, was in his liver, and was inoperable.

In a September 1996 ceremony at the White House, President Bill Clinton awarded Joseph Cardinal Bernardin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities and the nation. The President lauded Bernardin for his dedication to racial equality, arms control and social justice. Among the other recipients were Brady Bill sponsor James Brady, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, and African American publisher John Johnson.

On September 23, Cardinal Bernardin traveled to Rome to visit with the Holy Father and visit Assisi. It was on that trip that the Cardinal made his funerary arrangements. Upon his return to Chicago, Bernardin arranged for the care for his mother after his death, and the distribution of his personal possessions. It was then that Cardinal Bernardin arranged for his personal papers and administrative files to be transported from the Residence and Pastoral Center to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Archives and Records Center.

On October 7, the Cardinal met with the Presbyterate, and by the end of October, the Cardinal withdrew from his active ministry due to his deteriorating strength. Reflecting on Jesus in the Garden of Gesthemeni, Bernardin personally faced death in full view of the world: Bernardin was teaching us how to die. In his last days, Cardinal Bernardin wrote to the United States Supreme Court against assisted suicide. The Cardinal always defended the precious gift of human life. On November 14, 1996, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin died at the age of sixty-eight.

Joseph Louis Bernardin invested the whole of his life showing the way of peace and conciliation to the world. He worked for justice, he strove for peace, and he gave all his strength to make life better for whomever he could. Through his many homilies, addresses, and pastoral letters, Cardinal Bernardin insisted that action be taken to preserve human life, dignity, and security by showing us that there is no other moral alternative. Even facing death, Bernardin showed us the gift and joy of life.