William George Curlin (August 30, 1927 – December 23, 2017) 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 bishop of the

Diocese of Charlotte The Diocese of Charlotte (''Dioecesis Carolinana'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Southern United States. It consists of 46 counties in western North Carolina, divided into ten vicariates. ...

in North Carolina from 1994 to 2002. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, P ...

from 1988 to 1994.

Biography

Early life

William Curlin was born on August 30, 1927, in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

. Curlin was the son of Mary and Stephen Curlin. He attended St. John's College and later

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in Washington, D.C. Curlin then entered

St. Mary's Seminary and University St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by the ...

in Baltimore, Maryland.

Priesthood

Curlin was ordained a priest by Cardinal Patrick O'Boyle in Washington D.C., on May 25, 1957. He served in mostly poor parishes, opened a women's shelter and 20 kitchens for the poor and homeless throughout the Washington area. Curlin and

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

championed the opening of the Gift of Peace Home, a residence in Washington for people with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

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 Curlin as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. and

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 an ...

of Rossmarkaeum on November 2, 1988. He was consecrated by Cardinal James Hickey on December 20, 1988. Curlin served as vicar for the Theological College at 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. ...

from 1974 to 1980 and as chair of Associated Catholic Charities in Baltimore.

Bishop of Charlotte

John Paul II appointed Curlin as the third bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte on February 22, 1994; he was installed on April 13, 1994. Curtin started the first affordable housing initiative in the diocese and concentrated on ministry to the elderly, sick and dying. As bishop, Curlin continued his ministry to the poor, ordained 28 men to the priesthood and opened numerous Churches throughout the diocese. On June 13, 1995, Curlin invited Mother Teresa to speak at the

Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum was a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was operated by the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, which also oversees the operation of Bojangles' Coliseum (which was called Charlott ...

, drawing a crowd of over 19,000. In 1995, Curlin stated that any priest in the diocese who had been accused of sexual abuse of a minor would be immediately removed from ministry. When Mother Teresa died in 1997, Curlin travelled to

Calcutta, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, to attend her funeral as a representative of the

US 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 ...

. On September 10, 2002, John Paul II accepted Curlin's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte. William Curlin died in Charlotte on December 23, 2017 at age 90.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Official SiteCatholic News Herald story
1927 births 2017 deaths People from Portsmouth, Virginia 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Catholics from Virginia Roman Catholic bishops in North Carolina 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States {{US-RC-bishop-stub