young priest, he supported the election of Jimmy Carter as US president in 1976. Chaput was appointed pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton, Colorado. Chaput was elected vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America in 1977 and became secretary and treasurer for the province in 1980 and chief executive and provincial minister in 1983. He was among a group of Native Americans who greeted Pope John Paul II when he visited Phoenix, Arizona, in 1987. Episcopal career Bishop of Rapid City On April 11, 1988, Chaput was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City by John Paul II. He was consecrated on July 26, 1988, by Archbishop Pio Laghi, with Archbishop John Roach and Archbishop James Stafford serving as co-consecrators. He was the second priest of Native American ancestry to be consecrated a bishop in the United States, after Donald Pelotte. He was the first Native American to be consecrated as an ordinary bishop rather than a titular bishop. He chose as his episcopal motto: "As Christ Loved the Church" from Ephesians 5:25. Archbishop of Denver On February 18, 1997, Chaput was appointed by John Paul II as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver, replacing Archbishop James Stafford. In 2007, Chaput delivered the commencement address at Denver's Augustine Institute, a lay-run graduate school that he has actively supported. Since 2008, he has served as episcopal moderator of the Tekakwitha Conference. In 2007, Chaput conducted an apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Toowoomba, in Queensland, Australia, on behalf of the Congregation for Bishops. The Vatican was concerned by statements made by Bishop Bill Morris asking the church to discuss the ordination of women. At the conclusion of the visitation Chaput told a senior priest of the diocese that he thought Bishop Morris had nothing to worry about. In May 2011, Bishop Morris was removed from his diocesan leadership role, having refused invitations from the Vatican to resign. He remains a retired Bishop in good standing with the Vatican and well regarded by the people and clergy of Toowoomba Diocese. Chaput was one of five bishops who conducted a Vatican-ordered investigation into the Legionaries of Christ in 2009 to 2010, following sexual abuse accusations levied against the group's founder, Marcial Maciel. Archbishop of Philadelphia On July 19, 2011, Chaput was appointed as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Pope Benedict XVI. He succeeded Cardinal Justin Rigali, who had