A vigil is being held for Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, who served as Archbishop of Washington from 1973 to 1980, and died July 23.
A vigil Mass will be held Thursday evening at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. A funeral Mass will be held Friday at the cathedral before Baum is interred in the cathedral's crypt. Baum, who was 88, was the third Archbishop of Washington and the longest-serving cardinal in American history. He was born in Texas.
As archbishop, Baum also served as chancellor of the Catholic University of America. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1976. Later, he served in Rome as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican office for matters of conscience.
