MOST REVEREND JOSEPH E. KURTZ, D.D.
ARCHBISHOP OF LOUISVILLE

His Holiness Benedict XVI appointed Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D., as the fourth Archbishop and ninth bishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville on June 12, 2007. He was installed as Archbishop of Louisville on August 15, 2007. Before coming to Louisville, Archbishop Kurtz served as Bishop of Knoxville from 1999 to 2007.

Born on August 18, 1946, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz earned bachelor (1968) and master of divinity (1972) degrees from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and a master’s degree in social work from the Marywood School of Social Work in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1976. Archbishop Kurtz was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Allentown on March 18, 1972.

Before becoming Bishop of Knoxville, Archbishop Kurtz served for 27 years in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in charge of social services, diocesan administration and parish ministry. He was pastor of Notre Dame of Bethlehem Parish in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from 1996 to 1999; diocesan director of Catholic Charities from 1988 to 1998, diocesan coordinator for health affairs from 1994 to 1998, associate director and later executive director of Catholic Social Agency and Family Life Bureau from 1984 to 1994; pastor of St. Mary Parish in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, from 1988 to 1996; assistant director of vocations from 1973 to 1976; and associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Limport, Pennsylvania, and SS Simon & Jude Parish in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He served as an instructor in marriage and family therapy at Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northhampton, Pennsylvania, from 1978 to 1982 and as a professor and counselor at St. Pius X Seminary from 1973 to 1976. Archbishop Kurtz received the distinguished title of Monsignor in 1986.

Archbishop Kurtz has served on numerous boards, including as the personal representative of the bishop to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference from 1992 to 1998, as the president of the board of directors of the Catholic Social Agency from 1988 to 1999, as a member of the board of directors of Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and as a member of the United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry from 2003 to 2005. In Knoxville, he was a member of the Association of Christian Denominational Leaders and a member of the 2002 class of Leadership Knoxville.

As Treasurer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Kurtz serves on the executive and administrative committees of that body and is chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Finance and Vice Chair of the Committee on Priorities and Planning. He also is the chair of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. At this time, he is the vice chancellor of the board of the Catholic Extension Society and the episcopal advisor to the Catholic Social Workers National Association. He also serves on the boards of St. Charles Seminary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leadership Louisville and on the Advisory Board to the Cause for Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification.

Archbishop Kurtz is the son of (the late) George and Stella (Zmijewski) Kurtz and the brother of (the late) Rosemarie Quinn, Patricia Cameli, Theresa Bakos, and (the late) George S. Kurtz.

The oldest Roman Catholic Archdiocese west of the Appalachians, the Archdiocese of Louisville was founded as the Diocese of Bardstown in 1808, transferred to Louisville in 1841 and elevated to Archdiocese in 1937. The Archdiocese covers 24 counties and hosts a Catholic population of more than 200,000 individuals.

December 2009