Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl was installed in June 2006 as the sixth Archbishop of Washington, which includes the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties.
He is chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catechesis and chairman of the board of the National Catholic Educational Association. He was involved in developing the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults and is the author of numerous articles and books, including the best-selling Teaching of Christ.
Archbishop Wuerl also serves on numerous national and international bodies and is an elected member of the council for the Vatican office for the Synod. He is chairman of the board of directors of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, chancellor of The Catholic University of America and the former chairman of the board of the National Catholic Bioethics Center. In the past he served as chairman of the USCCB committees on Priestly Life and Ministry, Priestly Formation and Education. Archbishop Wuerl was an elected member to the Synod in Rome on the Eucharist in 2005.
He is active in community and interfaith activities, joining with civic and business leaders to promote education, service to the poor, pastoral assistance to refugees and immigrants as well as interfaith understanding. Archbishop Wuerl regularly visits schools, parishes and social service programs. He is known nationally for his commitment to finding new and innovative ways to keep Catholic education affordable for parents and to ensuring all children have access to a quality education. He also has made renewing sacramental life a priority, introducing a successful initiative on the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 2007 that quickly became a model for other dioceses.
The archbishop was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received graduate degrees from The Catholic University of America, the Gregorian University while attending the North American College, and a doctorate in theology from the University of St. Thomas in Rome in 1974. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1966, and ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II on January 6, 2022 in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. He served as Bishop of Pittsburgh for 18 years until his appointment to Washington.