Current Post: Archbishop of Philadelphia, Pa., since February 1988; made a cardinal in 1991. Recently named to head bishops'commission charged with reviewing the relationship between Catholic institutions of higher learning and the local ordinary in accordance with principles set forth in Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Member of Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Congregation for the Clergy, and the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. Civil lawyer before the courts of New York, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
History: Consecrated in 1980 as auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y.; served as bishop of Pittsburgh, Pa. Former chairman of U.S. bishops'Committee on Canonical Affairs.
Vision: Puts premium on the spiritual renewal of the archdiocese by way of an ambitious and highly successful program founded in 1991 and due to culminate in the Jubilee year 2000.
Personal: Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., June 17, 1923, one of 11 children of Luigi and Maria Bevilacqua. Ordained in 1949.