Cardinal William H. Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, issued this statement today in response to the Holy Father’s appointment of Archbishop-Elect Donald Wuerl to the Archdiocese of Washington.
Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl will bring many strengths to the challenges in the Archdiocese of Washington; he is an excellent theologian and has a very positive way of framing statements regarding public policy.
I have known him personally since the early 1970s, when he was the Secretary to Cardinal John J. Wright.
In Pennsylvania we worked together closely on the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and I will enjoy welcoming him to the Maryland Catholic Conference.
At the same time, I want to say how much we are going to miss Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick in the work of our conference and in his leadership in our neighboring diocese. Cardinal McCarrick’s contributions to the good of the Church have been outstanding, and I am sure that he will continue to be a major force in the years ahead in the work of our Papal Foundation and in other areas of interest to him, such as the international justice issues which continually confront the Church and society.