ministry Bishop of Brownsville On April 14, 1966, Medeiros was appointed Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal ordination on June 9 from Bishop James Louis Connolly, with bishops James Joseph Gerrard and Gerald Vincent McDevitt serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral. His appointment to the Southern Texas diocese came at the time of a threatened farm workers' strike. Many of the lay faithful of the diocese were Mexican-American migrant workers. Medeiros was an advocate on behalf of workers, supporting their demands for a minimum wage at $1.25 an hour. He also became known as an outspoken opponent of capitalism, denouncing an economic system that "considers profit the key motive for economic progress, competition the maximum law of economics, and private ownership of the means of production an absolute right that carries no corresponding social obligations." During his tenure, Medeiros sold the episcopal limousine, converted all but one room of the episcopal residence into a dormitory for visiting priests, and often traveled with migrant workers to celebrate Mass in the fields during the harvest season. He spent Christmas and Easter visiting prisoners in Texas jails. He also served as the chaplain of the Texas state council of the Knights of Columbus. Archbishop of Boston Medeiros was appointed Archbishop of Boston on September 8, 1970 at the request of and in succession to Richard Cushing. He was installed on October 7 of that year. The appointment of Medeiros, a Portuguese-American, surprised Irish Catholics in Boston, as the Irish had long dominated the local clergy and some Irish Catholics in Boston looked down on the Portuguese as "third-class Catholics". In the days leading up to and following Medeiros' arrival, local Catholic institutions were targeted by vandals on several occasions. In one instance a cross was burned on the lawn of the diocese's chancery. In 1971, Medeiros described abortion as "the new barbarism". As in Brownsville, he became an advocate for the poor: his Pastoral Letter "Man's Cities God's Poor" Boston 1972 reflects his passion for the poor. An opponent of the Vietnam War, the Archbishop condemned the bombing of Hanoi in a 1972 Christmas homily. Pope Paul VI created him Cardinal Priest of Santa Susanna in the consistory of March 5, 1973. Medeiros pleaded with the Vatican to lift the excommunication of the Rev. Leonard Feeney, SJ, who disobeyed Church authority and took a strict interpretation