William Levada

Personal

Vocation

Traits

American ecclesiastic, appointed Archbishop of San Francisco on 8/17/1995, becoming the 7th archbishop of the diocese upon the resignation of Archbishop Quinn. Descendent of Irish and Portuguese settlers, Levada was raised in a Catholic household and had a theological education. He was ordained a priest in the Vatican on 12/20/1961. Serving at various posts, he was appointed 8th Archbishop of Portland, Oregon on 9/21/1986 where he served until his transfer to San Francisco. Vigorously supporting Catholic education, in late 1995 he began to oversee the restoration of Portland's Cathedral. A staunch conservative, Levada considers "domestic partners" an attack against the sacrament of marriage and same-sex partners as an attack against the sacrament of the church; a difficult stance for one stationed in San Francisco. On May 13, 2005, the recently elected Pope Benedict XVI nominated Archbishop Levada as the Catholic Church’s prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Levada will resign from his duties as Archbishop of San Francisco in August and is expected to be elevated to Cardinal. On February 22, 2006 Pope Benedict XVI announced that Archbishop Levada would be elevated to Cardinal in a ceremony held on 24, 2006 at the Vatican. Link to Wikipedia biography