Bishops, he became a member of the Committee on Doctrine in 1976 and chairman of the Committee on Education in 1978. Archbishop of Cincinnati He was appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati—succeeding Joseph Cardinal Bernardin who had been named Archbishop of Chicago—on October 30, 1982. Archbishop Pilarczyk served as vice president (1986–1989) and president (1989–1992) of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. During Pilarczyk's tenure there were cases of sexual abuse which were covered up. In 2003, Pilarczyk pleaded no contest to five misdemeanor counts of failing to report felonies and admitted facts that constituted guilt; the archdiocese was found guilty of failing to report its crimes, and the judge said that church leaders had placed self-preservation ahead of their moral duty to minister to the victims. In October 2008, Bishop Dennis Marion Schnurr of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, was named by Pope Benedict XVI as Pilarczyk's coadjutor archbishop. This means Schnurr served as the auxiliary bishop and chief vicar general to Pilarczyk, but unlike other auxiliary bishops that had served, he had the right as coadjutor to immediately succeed him as archbishop when Pilarczyk retired. On August 12, 2009, Pilarczyk officially handed in his resignation on his 75th birthday, as mandated by the Vatican. It was formally accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on December 21, 2009 (the day after he celebrated both 50 years as a priest and 35 years as a bishop). He was immediately succeeded as Archbishop of Cincinnati by Coadjutor Archbishop Schnurr. After retirement Pilarczyk continued to be involved in the Greater Cincinnati community, specifically with the growth of the archdiocese in multiple counties. He expressed a fondness for preaching and worked to address what he considered misconceptions regarding Catholicism. In January 2006, his book entitled Being Catholic: How We Believe, Practice, And Think was published. Pilarczyk wrote at least 12 books on the Catholic faith. After years of declining health, he died on March 22, 2020. His funeral mass, which was streamed online and closed to public attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was held in St. Peter in Chains Cathedral on March 27, 2020. See also 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 References External links Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati official website 12 Questions With Archbishop