BALTIMORE — Cardinal William Henry Keeler, the longtime leader of the Archdiocese of Baltimore whose influence in the Catholic Church spanned international borders over nearly six decades, died Thursday. He had turned 86 this month. The retired archbishop of Baltimore, who led the region’s nearly 500,000 Catholics from 1989 until 2007, died while under the care…
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The American Jewish Committee issued this comment:
AJC mourns the psssing of Cardinal William Keeler, 14th Archbishop of Baltimore, longtime Moderator of Catholic-Jewish Relations for the USCCB, and one of the most important U.S. Catholic voices in the promotion of Christian-Jewish reconciliation. He was 86 years old.
Rabbi A. James Rudin, Senior AJC Interreligious Adviser, who worked closely with Cardinal Keeler in advancing Catholic-Jewish relations over decades, issued the following statement:
“Cardinal Keeler was an extraordinary global leader in building human bridges of mutual respect and understanding between Roman Catholics and the Jewish people.
“As a young priest, he participated in the Second Vatican Council when in 1965 the world’s Catholic bishops overwhelmingly adopted the historic Nostra Aetate Declaration that represented a positive revolutionary change in the Church’s teachings towards Jews and Judaism.
“Cardinal Keeler was Bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania before becoming Baltimore’s Archbishop in 1989, where he served until his retirement in 2007. The Cardinal was a fierce and effective adversary of all forms of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism, and he strongly supported educational programs for both Catholic clergy and laity about the horrors of the Shoah.
“During the nearly 40 years of our friendship, I was privileged to co-lead several interreligious missions with Cardinal Keeler that included meetings with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. In addition, we co-led trips to Israel and to the infamous death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In all our years working together, he remained committed to what he always called ‘the sacred task’ of constructing positive relations, both institutional and personal, between our two ancient communities.
“Even when there were flashpoints and controversies between Catholics and Jews, William Keeler remained unflagging and zealous in solving and overcoming such difficulties and moving forward in what he considered perhaps the most important work of his 62 years as a devoted priest.
“The world and the Church that he dearly loved have lost a giant figure, a gifted and energetic man who dedicated his life to Catholic-Jewish reconciliation and authentic dialogue. While we salute his many lasting achievements, AJC has lost a loving friend and a trusted colleague.”