Anthony Michael Pilla (November 12, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

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 Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. 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. Pilla was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest by Bishop Floyd Begin for the Diocese of Cleveland on May 23, 1959.

Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland

On June 30, 1979, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named Pilla as

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Scardona'' and

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. Pilla was named

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

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. Pilla was installed on January 6, 1981. He was elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in November, 1995, serving until 1998. 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. 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.

Retirement and legacy

On April 4, 2006, Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

accepted Pilla's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. He was replaced by Auxiliary Bishop Richard Lennon on the same day. In May 2008, Pilla testified for the prosecution in the

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

trial of Joseph Smith, the assistant

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

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. Smith was acquitted of embezzlement, but convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

; he received one year in prison. In July 2011, an Ohio man sued Pilla and the Diocese of Cleveland, saying that their

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

allowed a priest to sexually abuse him when he was a boy. The plaintiff claimed that Patrick O’Connor, a diocesan priest at St. Jude Parish in

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black River in Northeast Ohio, southwest of Cleveland. The population was 52,656 at the 2020 United States cens ...

, 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. Anthony Pilla died in Cleveland on September 21, 2021, at age 88.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilla, Anthony Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati Roman Catholic bishops of Cleveland American people of Italian descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States John Carroll University alumni 1932 births 2021 deaths Presidents of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops