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Joseph Louis Bernardin (originally '''Bernardini'''), later '''Joseph Louis Cardinal Bernardin''', ( April 2 , 1928 – November 14 , 1996 ) was the twelfth bishop (seventh archbishop) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Chicago , serving from 1982 to 1996 (succeeded John Cardinal Cody ). He was born on April 2 , 1928 in Columbia, South Carolina to a family of Italian immigrants, and ordained a priest on April 26 , 1952 , serving in the Diocese of Charleston , which is co-extensive with the State of South Carolina . On March 9 , 1966 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Ligura and Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia , and became the youngest bishop in the nation at the age of 38 when he was ordained a bishop on April 26 , 1966 . He was appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati, Ohio on November 21 , 1972 , where he was installed December 19 , 1972 , before being appointed Archbishop of Chicago, on July 10 , 1982 and installed August 25 , 1982 . He was elevated to Cardinal on February 2 , 1983 , and served as archbishop until his death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 68. Until the early 1990s he was considered a Possible Candidate to become the first American Pope . He also served as head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is interred in the Bishops Mausoleum at Mt. Carmel Cemetery , Hillside, Illinois . PHILOSOPHY Bernardin is best known for being the father of the Seamless Garment of Life philosophy, which combined activism against abortion with activism against the death penalty. The phrase is a somewhat arcane reference from John 19:23 to the robe worn by Jesus on the day of his execution. Since Bernardin's death, the "seamless garment" identification has been largely replaced by the phrase Consistent Ethic Of Life , which views opposition to capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice, economic injustice, and abortion as being inter-related. CONTROVERSY A few years before his death, Bernardin was accused of sexual impropriety by Stephen Cook, a former seminarian who claimed to have been abused by Bernardin and another priest in the 1970s. However, Cook recanted and before he died in 1995 from AIDS , he and Bernardin reconciled. See also List Of Roman Catholic Bishops And Archbishops Of Chicago .
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