George Edward Rueger (September 23, 1929 – April 6, 2019) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

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 ...

who served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Worcester in Massachusetts from 1987 to 2005.George Edward Rueger
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Biography

Early life

George Rueger was born on September 23, 1929, in Framingham, Massachusetts, the son of Edward G. and Mary T. (Reddy) Rueger. He attended Framingham South High School and St. Peter High School in Worcester. After attending the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

in Worcester from 1949 to 1950, he entered Cardinal O’Connor Minor Seminary in Boston. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint John's Seminary in Boston. He also did post-graduate studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Priesthood

Rueger was ordained a priest by then Bishop John J. Wright on January 6, 1958, for the Diocese of Worcester at St. Paul Cathedral in Worcester. After his ordination, Rueger was appointed as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Millbury, Massachusetts. He was later transferred to St. Peter Parish in Worcester. In 1965, Rueger was appointed as headmaster of Marian Central Catholic High School, Worcester. He became assistant pastor in 1974 of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both ...

. In 1976, Rueger was elected president of the diocesan Senate of Priests and appointed pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hopedale, Massachusetts, in 1977. On August 1, 1978, Rueger became superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese while continuing his pastoral assignment in Hopedale. On Dec. 1, 1980 he returned to full-time ministry in Hopedale. In 1981, he was named pastor of St. Peter Parish.

Auxiliary Bishop of Worcester

On January 16, 1987,

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 ...

appointed Rueger as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Worcester and titular bishop of Maronana. He was consecrated by Bishop

Timothy Harrington Timothy Charles Harrington (1851 – 12 March 1910), born in Castletownbere, Castletownbere, County Cork, was an Ireland, Irish journalist, barrister, Irish nationalism, nationalist politician and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member o ...

on February 25, 1987. He was appointed as

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 ...

for the diocese and1998 also became

moderator of the curia Moderator of the curia is a top administrative position held by a Catholic priest in a diocese under the supervision of the bishop. The moderator coordinates the exercise of the administrative duties and oversees the office holders, or curia, in ...

. In July 2002, Rueger was sued by a man who claimed he sexually abused him when he was a 13 year old altar boy. Rueger denied all the charges. Sime Braio claimed that Rueger started abusing him when he was a priest at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. The diocese had previously investigated the allegations and determined them to be false. Notified of the allegations, the district attorney declined to prosecute Rueger. Braio dropped the lawsuit in 2003.

Retirement

In 2004, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops, Rueger submitted his resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Worcester to Pope John Paul. That same year, the Vincent de Paul Society gave Rueger its Collaborative Award for Education and Ministry award. On January 25, 2005, Pope Benedict VI accepted Rueger's resignation. George Rueger died on April 6, 2019, at the age of 89.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester

Episcopal succession

1929 births 2019 deaths People from Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester Religion in Worcester County, Massachusetts Catholic Church in Massachusetts 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Massachusetts Catholics from Massachusetts 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States {{US-RC-bishop-stub