Anthony Michael Pilla (November 12, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1979 to 1981 and as bishop of the same diocese from 1981 to 2006.

Biography

Early life

Anthony Pilla was born on November 12, 1932, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland for several years before the family moved to Cincinnati. Pilla graduated in 1951 from St. Gregory Seminary College in Cincinnati, then went to study at

Borromeo College ''For the former Borromeo College in the United States see Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology#Borromeo College'' The Almo Collegio Borromeo is a private university hall of residence (collegio) in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. ...

in Wickliffe, Ohio, until 1955. Pilla completed his preparation for the priesthood at Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland. Pilla was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

a priest by Bishop Floyd Begin for the Diocese of Cleveland on May 23, 1959.

Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland

On June 30, 1979, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named Pilla as

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of ''Scardona'' and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. He was consecrated by Bishop James Hickey on August 1, 1979. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Clarence Issenmann and Joseph Francis. Pilla was named

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of the diocese on July 29, 1980, after Hickey was named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.

Bishop of Cleveland

Pilla was named bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland on November 13, 1980 by Pope John Paul II. Pilla was installed on January 6, 1981. He was elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in November, 1995, serving until 1998. In March 2002, Pilla published a list of 28 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. Fifteen of them were 15 active priests, who Pilla suspended from ministry. Earlier that year Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason announced an investigation to sexual abuse of minors by diocesan priests. In 2005, 36 lay members of the diocese sued Pilla, accusing him of allowing $2 million in diocesan funds to be stolen. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the plaintiffs did not have the

legal standing Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

to sue in this case.

Retirement and legacy

On April 4, 2006, Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

accepted Pilla's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. He was replaced by Auxiliary Bishop

Richard Lennon Richard Gerard Lennon (March 26, 1947 – October 29, 2019) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 2006 to 2016. ...

on the same day. In May 2008, Pilla testified for the prosecution in the embezzlement trial of Joseph Smith, the assistant

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

for the Diocese of Cleveland. Smith had been accused of stealing $784,000 from the diocese through a kickback scheme with an accomplice. Smith's lawyers claimed that Pilla and other diocesan clergy were guilty of that theft. Pilla said that in 2004 he had received an anonymous letter accusing Smith of theft. After meeting with Pilla, Smith went on administrative lead and later resigned. In his testimony, Pilla praised Smith and said that he left the financial management of the diocese up to him. Smith was acquitted of embezzlement, but convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

; he received one year in prison. In July 2011, an Ohio man sued Pilla and the Diocese of Cleveland, saying that their

negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...

allowed a priest to sexually abuse him when he was a boy. The plaintiff claimed that Patrick O’Connor, a diocesan priest at St. Jude Parish in

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles sou ...

, abused him from 1997 to 1999 when he was a boy. Pilla knew that O'Connor had previously abused a child at St. Joseph Parish in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The diocese had settled with that victim and sent O'Connor to Elyria. O'Connor pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor in 2009. Anthony Pilla died in Cleveland on September 21, 2021 at age 88.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilla, Anthony Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati American religious leaders Roman Catholic bishops of Cleveland 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States John Carroll University alumni 1932 births 2021 deaths