Ernest Leo Unterkoefler (August 17, 1917 – January 4, 1993) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church who served as bishop of the

Diocese of Charleston The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Roman Catholic Church in the Southern United States that comprises the entire state of South Carolina. Currently, the diocese consists of 96 parishes an ...

in South Carolina from 1964 to 1990. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads ...

in Virginia from 1961 to 1964.

Biography

Early life

Ernest Unterkoefler was born on August 17, 1917, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to Ernest L. and Anna Rose (née Chambers) Unterkoefler. An avid

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

fan, he once considered a professional career in the sport before studying for the priesthood; he later said, "If I couldn't be bishop of Charleston, I'd love to be commissioner of baseball." Unterkoefler graduated ''summa cum laude'' in

pre-law In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or it ...

from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. in 1940. He also earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1944) and Doctor of Canon Law (1950). On May 18, 1944, Unterkoefler 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 Auxiliary Bishop John McNamara for the Diocese of Richmond. He then served as a curate for a diocese in Richmond until 1947, when he was transferred to another one in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. Unterkoefler returned to Richmond in 1950, and became secretary of the diocesan tribunal in 1954. He also served as chancellor (1960–1964) and

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' ...

(1962–1964). The Vatican named Unterkoefler a

papal chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

in 1961.

Auxiliary Bishop of Richmond

On December 13, 1961, Unterkoefler was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Richmond 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 ...

of ''

Latopolis Esna ( ar, إسنا , egy, jwny.t or ; cop, or ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; grc-koi, Λατόπολις ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato''), is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of ...

'' by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on February 22, 1962, from Archbishop

Egidio Vagnozzi Egidio Vagnozzi (26 February 1906 – 26 December 1980) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the second president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See from 1968 until his death, and was elevated to ...

, with Bishops Vincent Waters and Joseph Hodges serving as co-consecrators. Unterkoefler adopted as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''Deo Placere'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "To Please God"). Between 1962 and 1965, he attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

in Rome, where he served as secretary of the American delegation of bishops.

Bishop of Charleston

Unterkoefler was named the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Charleston on December 12, 1964 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

. An active participant in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

, he worked alongside Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and ended

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

in all Catholic institutions in the diocese. He served as chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs from 1978 to 1981. In 1987, Unterkoefler hosted

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 ...

during his visit to

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

. Unterkoefler was also a prominent advocate for restoring the permanent

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in the United States, and ordained Joseph Kemper in 1971 as the first permanent deacon in the nation. In a 1985 interview, he said that his greatest satisfaction was in ordaining new priests, but also expressed his concern that a materialistic culture was making it more difficult to attract young men to the priesthood. "We can't go out and recruit them with high salaries," he said. "We must wait for the Lord to call them." Unterkoefler's resignation as bishop of Charleston was accepted by John Paul II on February 22, 1990. Unterkoefler died on January 4, 1993, at

Providence Hospital Providence Hospital may refer to: *Providence Hospital (Columbia, South Carolina) *Providence Hospital (Mobile) in Mobile, Alabama *Providence Hospital (Southfield), Michigan *Providence Hospital (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. *Providence Al ...

in Columbia at age 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unterkoefler, Ernest Leo 1917 births 1993 deaths Catholic University of America alumni Clergy from Philadelphia Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Charleston 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond Religious leaders from Pennsylvania American people of German descent