Adam Maida

Adam Joseph Maida (born March 18, 1930) is an American cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan, from 1990 to 2009, and was elevated to Cardinal in 1994.[1] Maida previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from 1984 to 1990.[2]

His Eminence Adam Joseph Maida
Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit
Cardinal Maida (left) outside the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Archdiocese	Detroit
Appointed	April 28, 1990
Installed	June 12, 1990
Term ended	January 5, 2009
Predecessor	Edmund Szoka
Successor	Allen Henry Vigneron
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of Santi Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio
Orders
Ordination	May 26, 1956 by John Francis Dearden
Consecration	January 25, 1984 by Pio Laghi, Aloysius John Wycislo, and Vincent Leonard
Created cardinal	November 26, 1994 by John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	(1930-03-18) March 18, 1930 East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Previous post	Bishop of Green Bay (1984–90) Superior of Cayman Islands (2000–09)
Motto	Facere Omnia Nova (To Make All Things New)

Styles of Adam Joseph Maida
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Detroit (Emeritus)

Biography

Early life and education

Maida was born in East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, to Adam and Sophie (née Cieslak) Maida.[3][4] The oldest of three children, he has two brothers, Thaddeus (who also became a priest) and Daniel.[5] His father immigrated from Poland at age 16, while his mother was the daughter of Polish immigrants.[5] He and his brothers attended public schools in East Vandergrift since there were no local Catholic schools.[6]

Maida attended each Vandergrift High School and Scott Township High School for one year.[1] During his sophomore year of high school, he decided to enter the priesthood and was sent to St. Mary's Preparatory in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan.[6] He graduated from St. Mary's Preparatory in 1948, and then entered St. Mary's College, also in Orchard Lake Village.[7] In 1950, he transferred to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1952.[4] He received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from St. Mary's University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1956.[7]

Ordination and ministry

On May 26, 1956, Maida was ordained a priest by Bishop John Dearden at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Pittsburgh.[2] His first assignment was as assistant pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Pleasant Hills.[8] He later served at Holy Innocents Church in Sheraden.[8] In 1958, he was sent by Dearden to study at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1960.[4] He received his Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1964; he was admitted to practice law before the bar for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Federal Bar in Western Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Supreme Court.[1]

Maida served as vice-chancellor and general counsel (1965–83) of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.[6] In 1968, he was elected president of the Canon Law Society of America.[8] He served on a papal commission to draft a due process procedure giving the laity legal recourse within the Church, and participated in the revision of the Code of Canon Law; for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, he worked on the adoption of a due process procedure and chaired the bishops' Canonical Affairs Committee.[6]

He served as a member of the diocesan tribunal, assistant professor of theology at La Roche College, and adjunct professor of law at Duquesne University Law School (1971–83).[7] He was also chaplain of the St. Thomas More Society.[4]

Ordination history of Adam Maida
History Episcopal consecration Consecrated by Pio Laghi (Apos. Del.) Date January 25, 1984
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Adam Maida as principal consecrator Bernard Joseph Harrington January 6, 1994 Kevin Michael Britt January 6, 1994 Carl Frederick Mengeling January 25, 1996 John Clayton Nienstedt July 9, 1996 Allen Henry Vigneron July 9, 1996 James Albert Murray January 27, 1998 Leonard Paul Blair August 24, 1999 Earl Alfred Boyea Jr. September 13, 2002 Walter Allison Hurley August 12, 2003 Francis Ronald Reiss August 12, 2003 John Michael Quinn August 12, 2003 Alexander King Sample January 25, 2006 Daniel E. Flores November 29, 2006

Bishop of Green Bay

On November 8, 1983, Maida was appointed the ninth Bishop of Green Bay by Pope John Paul II.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1984, from Archbishop Pio Laghi, with Bishops Aloysius Wycislo and Vincent Leonard serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier.[2]

During his tenure in Green Bay, Maida appointed the diocese's first female chancellor and first female parish director.[9] He also established a diocesan planning council and ministry formation program, initiated a diocesan census, implemented the RCIA process, and raised $9 million through Lumen Christi education endowment campaign.[9]

Archbishop of Detroit

The coat of arms of Cardinal Maida, as Archbishop of Detroit

In 1990, the Pope named Cardinal Edmund Szoka, Archbishop of Detroit, to serve as a Vatican official, and subsequently chose Maida as his successor in Detroit as on April 28 of that year.[10] Maida was installed as the fourth Archbishop of Detroit on June 12.[11]

On November 26, 1994, Pope John Paul II elevated Maida to the Sacred College of Cardinals as Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio.[10] In 2000, Maida was appointed the first superior of the Mission Sui Iuris of Cayman Islands. In April 2005, following the Pope's death, he traveled to the Vatican as a cardinal elector to participate in the conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Maida is no longer eligible to vote in any future conclaves as he reached his 80th birthday on March 18, 2010.

Maida is the ecclesiastic advisor to the Catholic Advisory Board for the Ave Maria Mutual Funds and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America. In 2002, St. Gertrude School, part of the Diocese of Greensburg in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was renamed Cardinal Maida Academy in Maida's honor. The school, which offers instruction from grades kindergarten through six, is near his hometown of East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.

Retirement

On March 18, 2005, Maida followed church law and submitted his retirement request to the Vatican (age 75).[10] The Vatican asked Maida to remain archbishop until further notice.[10] On June 8, 2006 Maida celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.[12]

On January 5, 2009, the Holy See announced acceptance of Maida's resignation and the appointment of Allen Henry Vigneron, then Bishop of Oakland, as his successor as Archbishop of Detroit. Vigneron was installed on January 28, 2009, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit[13][14] Cardinal Maida became apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Detroit and assisted incoming Archbishop Vigneron with the transition.[15]

Maida celebrated his final mass at the cathedral on January 25, 2009. This was also held in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his consecration as a bishop.[16]

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

References

1. "Biography of Adam Cardinal Maida". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. Archived from the original on 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
2. Cheney, David M. "Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
3. Terrie M. Rooney (April 1999). Newsmakers 1998: The People Behind Today's Headlines. Gale Group. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-7876-1230-6.
4. Miranda, Salvador. "MAIDA, Adam Joseph (1930- )". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.
5. Lukowski, Kristin (2008-01-31). "Mrs. Sophie Maida". The Michigan Catholic. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
6. "50th Anniversary of Ordination". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
7. "MAIDA Card. Adam Joseph". Holy See.
8. Sharpe, Jerry (1983-11-08). "Priest here named Green Bay bishop". Pittsburgh Press.
9. "Bishops of the Diocese of Green Bay". Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
10. "Cardinal Maida retires; successor named". The Compass (official publication of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin). January 9, 2009.
11. "Photo Gallery, Adam Maida, shepherd of the Archdiocese of Detroit". Detroit News. 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2009-01-22. Picture 4 caption: Cardinal Edmund Szoka and Archbishop Adam Maida face the congregation at Maida's installation as Archbishop of Detroit, June 12, 1990.
12. Krupa, Gregg (June 9, 2006). "Cardinal Maida Counts His Blessings". The Detroit News.
13. Wilkinson, Mike. "Maida's successor will be first native son to lead Archdiocese of Detroit". Detroit News. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
14. "Detroit Gets New Archbishop". WDIV. 2009-01-05. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2009-01-06. Maida, selected to lead the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1990, submitted his resignation in 2005 when he turned 75 as required by church law, but the pope had invited him to continue. Maida's resignation now has been accepted.
15. Yonke, David (January 6, 2009). "Archbishop appointed to Detroit diocese". Toledo Blade. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
16. Jim Lynch (2009-01-26). "More than 1,000 attend final Mass for archbishop Maida". Detroit News. Retrieved 2009-01-26. On Sunday (January 25, 2009), with Maida celebrating his final regular Mass as the archbishop of Detroit, Butkunas and Giedraitis traveled to Detroit for a special 3 p.m. service at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. ... More than 1,000 people crammed Blessed Sacrament Sunday for a service that marked the 25-year anniversary of Maida's ordination.

External links

• "Maida Card. Adam Joseph". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
• Biography from the Archdiocese of Detroit (in PDF format)
• Cardinal Adam Maida, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Edmund Szoka	Archbishop of Detroit 1990–2009	Succeeded by Allen Henry Vigneron
Mission sui iuris erected	Ecclesiastical Superior of the Cayman Islands 2000–2009
Preceded by Aloysius John Wycislo	Bishop of Green Bay 1984–1990	Succeeded by Robert Joseph Banks