Eugene Antonio Marino, SSJ (May 29, 1934 – November 12, 2000) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Catholic 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 ...

prelate who served as Archbishop of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

from 1988 until 1990, becoming the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

archbishop in history. He was also the first such auxiliary bishop in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and the first to be secretary of the

National Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

. During his time as archbishop of Atlanta, he helped address the conduct of other priests, until his own relationship with a lay minister became public knowledge. He soon resigned, later working as a chaplain and counselor until his death in 2000.

Biography

Early life and education

Marino was born in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, the sixth of a total of eight children to

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

and Puerto Rican Jesús María Marino and Lottie Irene Bradford Marino, an

maid. He attended parochial schools in Biloxi before joining the Josephites. He attended

Epiphany Apostolic College Epiphany Apostolic College, formerly known as the Josephite Collegiate Seminary, was a Catholic Church, Catholic minor seminary founded in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland in 1889 by John R. Slattery for the Mill Hill Missionaries, a United Kingdom, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and later earned his master's degree from St. Joseph's Seminary in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He also completed a master's degree in religious education at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. He was ordained a priest in 1962.

Priesthood

After ordination, Marino taught religion and

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Physi ...

at Epiphany College in

Newburgh, NY Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, and ...

for seven years. He was the spiritual director at St. Joseph's Seminary in Washington, D.C. from 1968 until 1971, when he became

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the Josephites.

Episcopacy

From September 12, 1974 until 1988 he was an auxiliary bishop for the Washington archdiocese, the first of four African Americans to hold this position, as well as becoming the secretary of the

in 1985, the first African American to hold that position. In 1987 he organized a trip for a number of African American Catholics to see

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 ...

, and during a talk with these men and women, he stated: Marino went on to become the first African American archbishop in American history when he was installed as Archbishop of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

on May 5, 1988, becoming involved in efforts to address the sexual misconduct of priests.

Sexual misconduct

Marino, however, was himself engaged in an affair with a female lay minister during this period, which became public knowledge in 1990. The lay minister, Vicki Long, revealed that she had been secretly married to Marino in 1988. Following these events, after just two years as archbishop of Atlanta, Marino, who had been in seclusion since June 1, 1990, resigned on 10 July 1990 and cited "spiritual renewal, psychological therapy and medical supervision" as the reason. He then took a six-week-long period of counseling. Retaining his title of archbishop, Marino quietly went to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and took a post as chaplain at the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

up until 1995. From then until 2000, he worked in a counseling program at St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester in

Harrison, New York Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, northeast of Manhattan. The population was 28,218 at the 2020 census. History Harrison was established in 1696 by a patent granted by the British government to John Harrison a ...

, counseling on sexual behavior and substance abuse.

Death

In the early morning hours of November 12, 2000, while ministering at Salesian High School in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

as a counselor and confidant for the personal problems of fellow priests and nuns, Marino died at age 66 at the St. Ignatius Retreat House in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

. He was discovered in bed by the housekeeper and it was established that he had died of a heart attack. He was buried in

. Of his eight siblings, one brother and four sisters survived him.''Eugene Marino, 1st Black Catholic Archbishop, Dies Of Heart Attack In Atlanta''
Obituary
December 4, 2000. Retrieved on April 3, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marino, Eugene Antonio 1934 births 2000 deaths People from Biloxi, Mississippi 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Loyola University Chicago alumni Fordham University alumni American people of Puerto Rican descent Burials in Mississippi Roman Catholic archbishops of Atlanta Catholics from Mississippi African-American Roman Catholic archbishops Josephite bishops Epiphany Apostolic College St. Joseph's Seminary (Washington, DC) Afro-Latino culture in the United States Latin American people of African descent Puerto Rican people of African-American descent Puerto Rican people of African descent African-American Catholic consecrated religious