The American Cardinals Dinner is an annual fundraiser that benefits

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

(CUA). Each year, a different U.S.

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

hosts the Cardinals Dinner, a

black-tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

event which traditionally features all or most of the

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

who serve as residential or emeritus

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

s of various U.S. dioceses. It is traditionally preceded by a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

at the local

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

2016

The American Cardinals Dinner was not held in 2016. Instead, the financial support that would have gone toward a dinner in 2016 was to be directed toward supporting the 2016 visit of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

to the Catholic University campus, which was a very special and significant event for the University.

26th annual dinner (2015)

The 2015 dinner was held in St. Louis, Missouri, with the Mass celebrated at Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. The Cardinals that attended were: Sean O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Boston;

Daniel N. DiNardo Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (born May 23, 1949) is an American Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston ...

, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston; Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington; Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York;

Theodore McCarrick Theodore Edgar McCarrick (born July 7, 1930) is a laicized American bishop and former cardinal of the Catholic Church. Ordained a priest in 1958, he became an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1977, then became Bishop of Metuch ...

, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington; and

Justin Rigali Justin Francis Rigali (born April 19, 1935) is an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia, having previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1994 to 2003, and was elevated to the ca ...

, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia. The event was hosted by Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis and John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Drury were co-chairs of the dinner and were honored with the Archbishop’s Appreciation Award. The dinner was held at The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis and raised over $1.1 million, which goes directly to support scholarships for students at The Catholic University of America.

25th annual dinner (2014)

The 2014 dinner was held in New York City, with the Mass celebrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral with Cardinal Timothy Dolan serving as homilist. The dinner raised a record $2.1 million to support scholarships.

20th annual dinner (2009)

The 20th annual dinner was held in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, at the Hyatt Regency Houston and was co-hosted by Very Rev. David M. O'Connell, C.M.,

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the University, and Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston. Over 700 guests attended the gala, at whic
Angela House
a transitional-housing facility for women after incarceration, received the American Cardinals Encouragement Award. Sister Maureen O'Connell, O.P., president of Angela House, accepted the award and $10,000 grant on behalf of the Houston-based organization. The Mass preceding the dinner was held at the

Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a place of worship located at 1111 St. Joseph Parkway in downtown Houston. The co-cathedral seats 1,820 people in its sanctuary. Together with the venerable St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Galveston, Sac ...

, with Cardinal DiNardo as the principal celebrant and Father O'Connell as the homilist. The principal concelebrants were Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.,

archbishop of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 an ...

;

Roger Cardinal Mahony Roger Michael Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011. Before his appointment, he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno from ...

, archbishop of Los Angeles;

Justin Cardinal Rigali Justin Francis Rigali (born April 19, 1935) is an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the eighth Archbishop of Philadelphia, having previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1994 to 2003, and was elevated to the ca ...

, archbishop of Philadelphia; Seán Cardinal O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap.,

archbishop of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...

; William Cardinal Keeler, archbishop emeritus of Baltimore; Adam Cardinal Maida, archbishop emeritus of Detroit; Edward Cardinal Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York; Archbishop

Pietro Sambi Pietro Sambi (27 June 1938 – 27 July 2011) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1969 until his death in 2011. He had the rank of archbishop and the title of nuncio from 1985, fulfilling ...

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

to the United States; and Father O'Connell."Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston hosts U.S. cardinals, CUA Gala" ''Texas Catholic Herald'', May 8, 2009 Other prelates concelebrating were Archbishop

Donald Wuerl Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of S ...

, archbishop of Washington and

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of CUA, along with Archbishop Emeritus

Joseph Fiorenza Joseph Anthony Fiorenza (January 25, 1931 – September 19, 2022) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the seventh bishop and the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, serving from 1985 to 200 ...

, Auxiliary Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Vincent M. Rizzotto of Galveston-Houston and Auxiliary Bishop

Oscar Cantú Oscar Cantú (born December 5, 1966) is a Mexican-American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of San Jose in California since 2018. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico fr ...

of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

17th annual dinner (2006)

At the 2006 dinner, a gift of $8,000,000 from the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

was announced, to renovate Keane Hall and rename it McGivney Hall after Father

Michael J. McGivney Michael Joseph McGivney (August 12, 1852August 14, 1890) was an Irish-American Catholic priest based in New Haven, Connecticut. He founded the Knights of Columbus at a local parish to serve as a mutual aid and fraternal insurance organization, p ...

, who founded the Knights in 1882 in New Haven, Conn.

Past dinners

#December 12, 1989, in Washington, D.C. #January 18, 1991, in New York, New York #January 11, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois #April 24, 1993, in Boston, Massachusetts #April 16, 1994, in Washington, D.C. #February 25, 1995, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania #April 19, 1996, in Los Angeles, California #June 6, 1997, in Detroit, Michigan #May 1, 1998, in Baltimore, Maryland #April 23, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts #May 5, 2000, in Chicago, Illinois
April 27, 2001
in New York, New York
April 26, 2002
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 2, 2003
in San Francisco, California
April 23, 2004
in Saint Paul–Minneapolis, Minnesota
January 28, 2005
in Miami, Florida
April 28, 2006
in Washington, D.C.
April 27, 2007
in Las Vegas, Nevada
April 25, 2008
in Boston, Massachusetts
April 24, 2009
{Dead link, date=December 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes , in Houston, Texas
April 23, 2010
in Atlanta, Georgia
May 6, 2011
in Phoenix, Arizona
April 27, 2012
in Chicago, Illinois
May 10, 2013
in Washington, D.C.
May 30, 2014
in New York, New York
April 24, 2015
in St. Louis, Missouri # May 5, 2017 - Location TBD # April 27, 2018 - Location TBD

References

External links

American Cardinals Dinner official webpage (CUA)
Catholic Church in the United States * Catholic University of America