In each issue as we countdown toward the new millennium, we are bringing you the countdown of the TOP 100 CATHOLICS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY as voted upon by the readers. We will spotlight each of the 100 Top Catholics chosen by readers over a three month period of time earlier this year. We received a total of 23,455 votes nominating 728 candidates for "Top 100 Catholics of the 20th Century" consideration. The top five vote-getters garnered 9,477 with the top ten registering a total 13,470 and the top twenty-five totaling 18,085 or 77% of the entire vote. The Top 100 chosen received 21,603 votes with those 628 candidates not making the list receiving 8% of the vote.
Caliber-wise in the final tally, DAILY CATHOLIC readers made excellent choices and there is a good balance throughout the century list. Eight of the nine Roman Pontiffs of this century made the list except for Pope John Paul I whose pontificate lasted only one month. There are five Saints and six Blesseds as well as seven whose cause for Beatification has been introduced to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The voters selected fifteen cardinals, seven bishops, nineteen priests, seven nuns and two lay brothers. The laity is well represented with four entertainers, four politicians, six renowned secular authors, and numerous dynamic Marian luminaries that have proved their worth through the fruits they have produced by their efforts. Education checks in with several who made the list in all aspects of scholastics including two university presidents and the pro-life movement also has several organizers who made the list as well as well-known leaders of various Catholic non-profit organizations dedicated to upholding the truths of the Church.
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100. Bishop Donald W. Wuerl
The one-hundredth choice of the voters is the 59 year-old Bishop of Pittsburgh Bishop Donald W. Wuerl. His selection kicks off the countdown and he was chosen because of his visibility both in the western Pennsylvania area and his appearances on local TV, the Odyssey Channel and other Christian stations with his catechetical series "The Teaching of Christ", which he also shares with readers in print in various publications including L'Osservatore Romano, the Knights of Columbus house organ Columbia and contributions to the "New Catholic Encyclopedia." Bishop Wuerl has truly been an evangelizing, teaching prelate, reaching out to not just Catholics but all who are willing to listen to his words.
Pittsburgh is heavily populated by many Catholic ethnic nationalities such as the Polish, Irish and Italians to name just a few cultures and thus is a cradle of many generations of Catholics. One of those homegrown Catholics is Bishop Wuerl who was born in the hilltop community of Mount Washington in Pittsburgh on November 12, 1940. Receiving the full scope of Catholic parochial education at St. Mary of the Mount Parish, he enrolled in the Diocese's minor seminary and then matriculated to Catholic University in Washington D.C. and then the North American College in Rome. He was ordained on December 17, 1966 in Pittsburgh where he was assigned various pastoral, teaching and administrative duties as well as returning to school at the North American College and receiving his Doctorate in Theology from the Angelicum in Rome in 1974. After twenty years as a priest Pope John Paul II not only named him titular Bishop of Rosemarkie and Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, but personally installed Bishop Wuerl in ceremonies at St. Peter's in Rome on January 6, 1986. After two years under the controversial liberal Bishop Raymond G. Hunthausen in Seattle, the Holy Father brought Bishop Wuerl home to the city of his birth naming him the eleventh Bishop of Pittsburgh on February 12, 1988. He was installed on the Solemnity of the Annunciation a month and a half later.
Throughout his tenure he has been very active in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving as chairman of the Bishop's Committee on Health Care Issues and the Church. In addition, he serves on boards of various prestigious organizations such as two of his alma maters the Catholic University of America and the North American College in Rome plus the Extra Mile Education Foundation. He has been honored by numerous awards including the coveted Elizabeth Ann Seton Award from the National Catholic Education Association as well as plaudits from the American Red Cross and the National Conference of Christian and Jews. Throughout his episcopacy he has emphasized open dialogue with leaders of all faiths and cultures which has endeared him to the people of southwestern Pennsylvania.
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