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 and Saints Simon & Jude Parish in Bethlehem, both in 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, and as a member of the board of directors of Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In Knoxville, he was a member of Association of Christian Denominational Leaders in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a member of the 2002 class of Leadership Knoxville.

At this time, Archbishop Kurtz serves on the boards of Catholic Relief Services, St. Charles Seminary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leadership Louisville. He is the episcopal advisor to the National Catholic Social Workers National Association and to the Cause for Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification. Archbishop Kurtz sits on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, and Youth (in which he chairs the sub-committee on Marriage and Family); the Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities; and the Bishops Committee on Budget and Finance. In November of 2008, he was elected the Treasurer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and serves on the Executive and Administrative Committees of that body.

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 (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.

June 2009