{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}} {{short description|American Catholic bishop (1933–2023)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Edward Peter Cullen | title = Bishop of Allentown | image = Edward Cullen (bishop).jpg | alt = | caption = | church = Roman Catholic | archdiocese = | diocese = Diocese of Allentown | see = | appointed = December 16, 1997 | enthroned = February 9, 1998 | ended = May 27, 2009 | predecessor = Thomas Jerome Welsh | successor = John Barres <!-- Orders --> | ordination = May 19, 1962 | ordained_by = John Krol | consecration = April 14, 1994 | consecrated_by = Anthony Bevilacqua, John Patrick Foley, and Francis B. Schulte | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|3|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|05|09|1933|3|15|mf=y}} | death_place = Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest, Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | previous_post = {{bulleted list| Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Paria in Proconsolare (1994–1998) }} | coat_of_arms = | motto = Christ - church - compassion | education = Drexel Institute of Technology<br>St. Charles Borromeo Seminary<br>University of Pennsylvania<br>La Salle University }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Edward Peter Cullen | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Edward Peter Cullen.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Edward Peter Cullen''' (March 15, 1933 – May 9, 2023) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1994 to 1998.
==Early life and education== Cullen was born on March 15, 1933, to an Irish Catholic family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Edward Peter and Julia Catherine (née Leahy) Cullen. He was raised in the Yeadon section of Philadelphia, along with his older sister, Joan, and three younger brothers, Joseph, James, and John. Cullen attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, where he played football, participated in track and field athletics and was involved in the school newspaper. After school, Cullen worked as a cashier at an Acme Market.<ref name=bishop>{{cite web |work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown |title=The Diocese of Allentown: The Bishop {{!}} Biography: The Most Reverend Edward P. Cullen, D.D. |url=http://www.allentowndiocese.org/bishop.html |access-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129184752/http://www.allentowndiocese.org/bishop.html |archive-date=29 January 2009 |url-status=usurped |location=Archived by the Wayback Machine}}</ref>
Following his graduation from West Catholic, Cullen studied engineering at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. In 1953, he entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958.<ref name=bishop/>
==Career== ===Ordination and ministry=== On May 19, 1962, Cullen was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Archbishop John Krol in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. After his ordination, Cullen served as an assistant pastor at St. Maria Goretti Parish<ref>[http://www.stmariagoretti.net/ St. Maria Goretti Church, Hatfield]</ref> in Hatfield, Pennsylvania for three years, then went to St. Bartholomew Parish in Philadelphia.{{cn|date=May 2023}}
Krol sent Cullen to study at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded a Master of Social Work degree in 1970.<ref name=bishop/> This was followed by a Master of Religious Education degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia (1971) and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (1974).<ref name=usccb>{{cite news|date=December 15, 1997|work=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|title=Bishop Welsh's Resignation Accepted; Bishop Cullen to Allentown|url=http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/1997/97-267.shtml}}</ref> From 1979 to 1993, Cullen served as a chaplain at St. Edmond's Home for Children in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.<ref name=cathedral>{{cite news|work=Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena|title=Bishop of the Diocese of Allentown|url=http://www.cathedral-church.org/bishop.html}}</ref>
The Vatican raised Cullen to the rank of honorary prelate in April 1982.<ref name=bishop/> He served as director of Catholic Social Services from 1983 to 1988.<ref name=usccb/> In August 1988, Cullen was named vicar general of the archdiocese.{{cn|date=May 2023}}
===Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia=== On February 8, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Cullen as an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia and titular bishop of Paria in Proconsolare. He received his episcopal consecration on April 14, 1994, at Saints Peter and Paul from Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, with Archbishops John Foley and Francis Schulte serving as co-consecrators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bishop Edward Peter Cullen [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcullen.html |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> Cullen selected as his episcopal motto: ''"Christ, Church, Compassion"''.<ref name=bishop/>
===Bishop of Allentown=== Pope John Paul II appointed Cullen as bishop of Allentown on December 16, 1997, replacing the retiring Bishop Thomas Welsh. Cullen was installed on February 9, 1998.<ref name="hierarchy">{{cite news |title=Bishop Edward Peter Cullen |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcullen.html |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org}}{{Self-published source|date=March 2015}}</ref> In 2003, he was appointed to the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America.<ref name=bishop/>
In January 2004, Cullen stopped allowing the celebration of mass and other sacraments at The National Centre for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania, located in the diocese. Cullen had previously expressed concern over the Centre's fundraising practices and lavish salaries for family members managing the Centre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Padre Pio is focus of religious turf war ** Allentown Diocese, Berks shrine fight over funds, leadership.|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-2004-02-08-3524496-story.html|access-date=January 26, 2022|website=The Morning Call|date=February 8, 2004 |language=en}}</ref> The Centre appealed Cullen's ruling to the Vatican, which rejected its appeal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vatican backs diocese ban on Masses at Padre Pio center ** Bishop Cullen said shrine in Berks County violated church law.|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-2004-11-03-3574262-story.html|access-date=January 26, 2022|website=The Morning Call|date=November 3, 2004 |language=en}}</ref> In September 2020, Bishop Alfred A. Schlert lifted the sacrament ban on the Centre.
In 2008, Cullen carried out a restructuring of parishes in the diocese. The diocese closed 47 parishes for a new total of 104 parishes. Some of the closed churches were then sold.<ref>[https://www.pennlive.com/lvbreakingnews/2008/05/several_lehigh_valley_catholic.html Althouse, Steve. "Several Lehigh Valley Catholic churches consolidated by Diocese of Allentown", Pennlive.com, May 31, 2008]</ref>
=== Retirement and legacy === Cullen's letter of resignation as bishop of Allentown was accepted on May 27, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI. At the same time, the pope named Monsignor John Barres as his replacement.
On August 14, 2018, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a grand jury report on the handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests in Pennsylvania. The report showed that Cullen, as bishop of Allentown, instructed his vicar general, then Monsignor Alfred Schlert, to act as an "enabler" when handling abuse allegations.<ref name="WNEP_2018.08.14">{{cite web|url=https://wnep.com/2018/08/14/attorney-general-lists-dozens-of-priests-accused-of-sex-abuse-in-grand-jury-report/|title=Attorney General Lists Dozens of Priests Accused of Sex Abuse in Grand Jury Report|date=August 14, 2018|website=Wnep.com|access-date=August 16, 2018}}</ref>{{not in source given|date=August 2019}} Shapiro said that Schlert and others earned promotions from Cullen for their work in handling the allegations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Christine Schiavo, Emily Opilo, Riley Yates, Peter|title=Scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report accuses hundreds of priests of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-grand-jury-report-catholic-dioceses-20180612-story.html|access-date=January 26, 2022|website=mcall.com|date=August 14, 2018 }}</ref> By the time the grand jury report was released, many records on sex abuse in the diocese were missing. The grand jury report involved six Pennsylvania dioceses, and it stated that "we believe that the real number — of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward — is in the thousands."<ref name="aug14">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-grand-jury-report-catholic-dioceses-20180612-story.html|title = Scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report accuses hundreds of priests of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children| date=August 14, 2018 }}</ref>
Cullen died on May 9, 2023, at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at age 90.<ref name="WFMZ-Obit">{{cite news |last1=McHugh |first1=Blakely |url=https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/retired-allentown-bishop-edward-cullen-dies-at-90/article_c141590c-ee69-11ed-a63c-ab8107b6f9b0.html |title= Edward Cullen, former Allentown Diocese bishop, dies at 90 |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=WFMZ.com |date=9 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcullen.html Edward Peter Cullen at Catholic Hierarchy] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090129184752/http://www.allentowndiocese.org/bishop.html The Diocese of Allentown: The Bishop] * [http://archphila.org/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia] * [http://www.allentowndiocese.org/ Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown]
==Episcopal succession== {{S-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{Succession box | title = Bishop Emeritus of Allentown | before = – | after = – | years = 2009–2023}} {{Succession box | title = Bishop of Allentown | before = Thomas Jerome Welsh | after = John Barres | years = 1998–2009}} {{Succession box | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia | before = – | after = – | years = 1994–1998}} {{Succession box | title = Titular Bishop of Paria in Proconsolare | before = Post created | after = Jean-Paul Randriamanana | years = 1994–1998}} {{S-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}} {{subject bar|portal1=Biography|portal2=Catholicism|portal3=Pennsylvania}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Edward}} Category:1933 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Category:American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Category:Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Philadelphia Category:Diocese of Allentown Category:Roman Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania Category:Catholic University of America trustees Category:Drexel University alumni