Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, metropolitan of the Church in Georgia, North and South Carolina, made the following comment on Bishop Unterkoefler:

The announcement of the resignation of the Most Reverend Ernest L. Unterkoefler as Bishop of Charleston was for me an occasion of mixed feelings of sadness and joy: Sadness that the long and fruitful ministry of a truly outstanding Church leader has come to an end, and joy that he can now lay down the burden of office and enjoy the leisure of a well-deserved retirement.

I also rejoice that our dear brother David Thompson, coadjutor to Bishop Unterkoefler, has become the 11th bishop of Charleston, and I take this occasion to renew our warm welcome and our pledge of fraternal support to him.

My first contact with Bishop Unterkoefler came in 1969 when he was chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on the Permanent Diaconate and I was an instructor in the Washington program. As a Council Father at Vatican II, Bishop Unterkoefler had spoken in favor of the restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order in the Church.

His leadership in this effort was recognized by Pope Paul VI, who appointed the bishop to the international commission on the diaconate established shortly after the Council. When the NCCB voted to implement the restored diaconate in the U.S., a new standing committee of the conference was established and Bishop Unterkoefler was overwhelmingly chosen by his brother bishops to be chairman. Initially there were only four programs in 1969 devoted to the preparation of candidates for the permanent diaconate.

Bishop Unterkoefler invited those involved in these programs, both instructors and candidates, to attend and to participate in the Bishop’s Committee meetings. Those meetings stand out in my memory as among the most exciting and Spirit-filled expressions of the Church as it was emerging from the Second Vatican Council. It would not have happened were it not for the vision, confidence and faith of Bishop Unterkoefler.

All of us are aware of and grateful for Bishop Unterkoefler’s forthright and courageous stance on civil rights. When he came to the See of Charleston, it was his responsibility to complete and maintain the desegregation of Catholic institutions in South Carolina that had been initiated by his predecessor, Bishop Paul J. Hallinan. Bishop Unterkoefler went on to become a respected voice for the rights of not only blacks, but of workers and other oppressed persons in the South. Sometimes feared, more often admired, always respected by his colleagues of other faiths, Bishop Unterkoefler manifested a vision of Church and a prophetic social consciousness that ideally suited him for leadership in the emerging ecumenical dialogue. His contributions in this critical area of Church life are unparalleled.

For those of us who have had the privilege of working closely with Bishop Unterkoefler, each will have his own recollection of how this distinguished churchman has touched our lives and made us better for it. I have no doubt that as Bishop Unterkoefler begins his retirement he will find innovative and creative ways to continue his enormous contribution to the life and mission of the Church. And so as you begin this newest phase of your remarkable ministry, Bishop Unterkoefler, I wish you ad multos annos!

Most Reverend Eugene A. Marino, SSJ

Archbishop of Atlanta