{{Short description|American Roman Catholic prelate (1932–2021)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific_prefix = The Most Reverend | name = Anthony Michael Pilla | title = Bishop of Cleveland | image = | alt = | caption = April 17, 1982 | church = Roman Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = Diocese of Cleveland | appointed = November 13, 1980 | enthroned = January 6, 1981 | ended = April 4, 2006 | term = | predecessor = James Aloysius Hickey | successor = Richard Gerard Lennon | ordination = May 23, 1959 | ordinated_by = | consecration = August 1, 1979 | consecrated_by = James Aloysius Hickey, Clarence George Issenmann, and Joseph Abel Francis | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|11|12}} | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, USA | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|9|21|1932|11|12}} | death_place = Cleveland | previous_post = Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland<br>1979 - 1980 | motto = Live on in my love }} {{Ordination | consecrated by = James Aloysius Hickey (Cleveland) | date of consecration = August 1, 1979 | bishop 1 = Anthony Edward Pevec | consecration date 1 = July 2, 1982 | bishop 2 = Alexander James Quinn | consecration date 2 = December 5, 1983 | bishop 3 = Roger William Gries | consecration date 3 = June 7, 2001 | bishop 4 = Martin John Amos | consecration date 4 = June 7, 2001 }} '''Anthony Michael Pilla''' (November 12, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1979 to 1981 and as bishop of the same diocese from 1981 to 2006.
==Biography==
=== Early life === Anthony Pilla was born on November 12, 1932, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cathedral Latin High School in Cleveland for several years before the family moved to Cincinnati. Pilla graduated in 1951 from Saint Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati, then went to study at Borromeo College in Wickliffe, Ohio, until 1955. Pilla completed his preparation for the priesthood at Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland.<ref name=":0" />
Pilla was ordained a priest by Bishop Floyd Begin for the Diocese of Cleveland on May 23, 1959.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy" />
=== Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland === On June 30, 1979, Pope John Paul II named Pilla as titular bishop of ''Scardona'' and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. He was consecrated by Bishop James Hickey on August 1, 1979. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Clarence Issenmann and Joseph Francis.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy" />
Pilla was named apostolic administrator of the diocese on July 29, 1980, after Hickey was named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.
=== Bishop of Cleveland === Pilla was named bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland on November 13, 1980, by Pope John Paul II.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy">{{cite web | url = http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpilla.html|title=Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla|publisher=www.catholic-hierarchy.org|access-date=2010-07-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1980-11-24 |title=New Cleveland Bishop Selected |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/24/archives/new-cleveland-bishop-selected.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Pilla was installed on January 6, 1981.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy" /> He was elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in November, 1995, serving until 1998.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/conference/107.htm|title=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|publisher=www.gcatholic.org|access-date=2010-07-21}}</ref>
In March 2002, Pilla published a list of 28 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. Fifteen of them were 15 active priests, who Pilla suspended from ministry. Earlier that year Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason announced an investigation to sexual abuse of minors by diocesan priests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shaffer |first=Cory |last2=clevel |last3=.com |date=2018-10-02 |title=Catholic Priest Sex Scandal: Will Cleveland-area residents ever get to know the names of priests accused in the past? |url=https://www.cleveland.com/news/erry-2018/10/ef02acccf92394/catholic-priest-sex-scandal-wi.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref>
In 2005, 36 lay members of the diocese sued Pilla, accusing him of allowing $2 million in diocesan funds to be stolen. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the plaintiffs did not have the legal standing to sue in this case.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Maag |first=Christopher |date=2007-08-20 |title=Cleveland Diocese Accused of Impropriety as Embezzlement Trial Nears |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/us/20cleveland.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
=== Retirement and legacy === On April 4, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Pilla's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy" /> He was replaced by Auxiliary Bishop Richard Lennon on the same day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/blennon.html|title=Bishop Richard Gerard Lennon|publisher=www.catholic-hierarchy.org|access-date=2010-07-21}}</ref>
In May 2008, Pilla testified for the prosecution in the embezzlement trial of Joseph Smith, the assistant treasurer for the Diocese of Cleveland. Smith had been accused of stealing $784,000 from the diocese through a kickback scheme with an accomplice. Smith's lawyers claimed that Pilla and other diocesan clergy were guilty of that theft. Pilla said that in 2004 he had received an anonymous letter accusing Smith of theft. After meeting with Pilla, Smith went on administrative lead and later resigned. In his testimony, Pilla praised Smith and said that he left the financial management of the diocese up to him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobin |first=Mike |last2=Dealer |first2=The Plain |date=2008-05-30 |title=Former Bishop Pilla testifies in kickback trial |url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/former_bishop_pilla_testifies.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Sheeran |first=Thomas J. |title=Former Bishop Pilla Takes Stand in Kick-Back Trial |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/wjw-iteamformerbishoppillata-6653212,0,6477998.story |access-date=2010-07-21 |publisher=www.chicagotribune.com}}</ref> Smith was acquitted of embezzlement, but convicted of tax evasion; he received one year in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neff |first=Martha Mueller |last2=Dealer |first2=The Plain |date=2008-12-12 |title=Diocese finance officer gets year Joseph Smith also must pay restitution |url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/diocese_finance_officer_gets_y.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref>
In July 2011, an Ohio man sued Pilla and the Diocese of Cleveland, saying that their negligence allowed a priest to sexually abuse him when he was a boy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2011-07-02 |title=Diocese to face sexual battery allegations |url=https://www.morningjournal.com/news/diocese-to-face-sexual-battery-allegations/article_096b04ea-3f77-5f94-b68f-f0fa5bfea39c.html |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=Morning Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> The plaintiff claimed that Patrick O’Connor, a diocesan priest at St. Jude Parish in Elyria, Ohio, abused him from 1997 to 1999 when he was a boy. Pilla knew that O'Connor had previously abused a child at St. Joseph Parish in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The diocese had settled with that victim and sent O'Connor to Elyria. O'Connor pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor in 2009.<ref name=":2" />
Anthony Pilla died in Cleveland on September 21, 2021, at age 88.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=DeNatale |first1=Dave |title=Bishop Anthony Pilla, who led Diocese of Cleveland from 1981-2006, passes away at age 88 |url=https://www.wkyc.com/article/life/faith/former-cleveland-bishop-anthony-pilla-passes-away-age-88/95-834dbc64-284a-4b2b-b8da-e4cf8d27ca74 |website=www.wkyc.com |access-date=21 September 2021 |language=en |date=21 September 2021}}</ref>
==See also== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} * [http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/ Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Official Site]
{{S-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title= President of the NCCB/USCC | before= William H. Keeler | after= Joseph Fiorenza | years= 1995–1998}} {{succession box | title = Bishop of Cleveland | before = James Aloysius Hickey | after = Richard Lennon | years = 1980–2006}} {{succession box | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland | before = - | after = - | years = 1979–1980}} {{S-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland|state=collapsed}} {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Ohio}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilla, Anthony}} Category:Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Cleveland Category:American people of Italian descent Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:John Carroll University alumni Category:1932 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Presidents of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops