William Wakefield Baum

Personal

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Notable

Family

American cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau (1970–73) and Archbishop of Washington (1973–80) before serving in the Roman Curia as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education (1980–90) and Major Penitentiary (1990–2001). He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1976. At the time of his 1980 appointment as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, he was the highest-ranking American ever in the Church. Cardinal Baum was the longest-serving American cardinal in history. He was born to Harold E. and Mary Leona (née Hayes) White. His father, a Presbyterian, died when William was a young child, and he and his mother moved to Kansas City, Missouri. His mother married Jerome Charles Baum, a Jewish businessman, who adopted William and gave him his last name; Jerome Baum died when William was 12. On 26 July 2015 Baum died in Washington, DC, at the age of 88. Link to Wikipedia biography