Cardinal Keeler retires; Archbishop O'Brien succeeds him in Baltimore

Published: 2007-07-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler July 12 and named Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services to succeed him. The changes were announced in Washington by Msgr. Martin Krebs, charge d'affaires of the Vatican nunciature. Archbishop O'Brien will be formally installed as archbishop of Baltimore Oct. 1. Cardinal Keeler, 76, has been beset with health problems in recent years, including a total knee replacement in 2005, a broken ankle resulting from a car accident in Italy in 2006 and brain surgery in June, believed to be related to head trauma during the accident. He has been a bishop since 1979 and had headed the Baltimore Archdiocese for more than 18 years. Archbishop O'Brien, 68, was named an auxiliary bishop of the New York Archdiocese in 1996 and coadjutor archbishop of the U.S. military archdiocese in 1997. Less than three months after his installation, he became head of the archdiocese when Archbishop Joseph T. Dimino resigned for health reasons. As a priest he worked as a civilian chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; a military chaplain in Vietnam and at U.S. Army posts; vice chancellor and director of communications for the New York Archdiocese; secretary to Cardinals Terence Cooke and John J. O'Connor of New York; and seminary rector in New York and Rome.

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