Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will be the celebrant and homilist at Mass on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his Ordination as a Bishop. Cardinal Rigali was ordained a Bishop by Pope John Paul II twenty five years ago on The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 1985.

The Mass of Thanksgiving will be streamed live beginning with the Procession at 1:40 p.m. on the Archdiocesan website www.archphila.org. The Mass will also air live on EWTN Television at 2 p.m.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Procession 1:40 p.m.
Mass of Thanksgiving 2:00 p.m.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia

A procession that includes five Cardinals, 10 Archbishops, 45 Bishops and hundreds of priests will begin at 1:40 p.m. from the Archdiocesan Office Center (222 N. 17th Street). It will exit left from the front of the building; proceed through the parking lot to the entrance of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on 18th Street.

Semiarians from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary will serve the Mass. Lectors from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary will proclaim the first and second reading. Deacon Al Clay will sing the Gospel. The Villanova University Choir will sing the Mass and Dr. John Romeri, the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music, will play the organ. A variety of instrumentalists and cantors will also assist with the liturgical music.

Cardinal Rigali was ordained a priest on April 25, 1961. He went on to become the director of the English language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and serve as the English language translator for Pope Paul VI, whom he accompanied to various countries. During his service at the Vatican Secretariat of State, he also accompanied Pope John Paul II on a number of international pastoral visits, including the Holy Father's first two major journeys to the United States in 1979 and 1987. The 1979 trip included the Holy Father's visit to Philadelphia. On April 19, 1980 he was named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness.

Pope John Paul II ordained Monsignor Rigali to the episcopacy September 14, 1985. From 1985 to 1990, in addition to being President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he held a number of positions at the Vatican, serving the Secretariat of State, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for the Laity. On December 21, 1989, he was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and on January 2, 1990 he became the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. He was a member of the Permanent Interdicasterial Commission and served as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the same time, he was also engaged in pastoral services to a number of parishes and seminaries in Rome. In 1994, Pope John Paul II named him the eighth Bishop and seventh Archbishop of St. Louis.

On July 15, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Rigali as the twelfth Bishop and eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia. He was named a Cardinal on September 28, 2003. On October 7, 2003, he was installed Archbishop of Philadelphia by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio, in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Cardinal Rigali is the spiritual leader of almost 1.5 million Catholics in the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. He is also a successor of Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia (1852 1860), and the first canonized male American saint.

Two weeks after his installation as Archbishop of Philadelphia, he was formally created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the Public Consistory in Saint Peter's Square on October 21, 2003. He was assigned the Titular Church of Saint Prisca in Rome.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Rigali a member of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops on September 26, 2007. The Cardinal is also member of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He is also a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See. The Cardinal is on the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. At the same time he is Chair of the University Seminary Committee and member of the Administrative Committee. He is also on the Board of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and the Chair of the Iconography Committee. He is a member of the Order of the Knights of Malta and the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Cardinal Rigali is also a member of the Papal Foundation. On June 5, 2004 he became a Knight of Peter Claver. The Cardinal is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Currently, Cardinal Rigali is the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Aid to the Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe. He is a member of the Committee on Divine Worship, the Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of Scripture Translations and is President of the Board of Directors of the Black and Indian Mission Office. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Rigali a member of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops on September 26, 2007.



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Editor's Note:

An audio and video mult-box feed will be provided in the rear parking lot of the Cathedral. Please enter on 17th Street between Race and Vine Streets. Crews will need a bnc connector and a recording deck or a live truck. Television cameras will not be permitted in the Cathedral. Reporters and still photographers will be permitted.

Contact
Donna Farrell
Director of Communications
215-587-3747