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Styles of Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop

Raymond Gerhardt "Dutch" Hunthausen (August 21, 1921 – July 22, 2018) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Helena from 1962 to 1975 and as Archbishop of Seattle from 1975 to 1991.

Biography

Early life and education

The oldest of seven children, Raymond Hunthausen was born in Anaconda, Montana, to Anthony Gerhardt and Edna Marie (née Tuchscherer) Hunthausen. His parents owned and operated a local grocery store. He grew up helping with the grocery business and working in the Tuchscherer brewery.

Nicknamed "Dutch", Hunthausen received his early education from the Ursuline nuns at the parochial school, and excelled both academically and athletically during high school.

Hunthausen attended Carroll College in Helena, majoring in chemistry and graduating cum laude in 1943. He considered pursuing a career as a chemical engineer or as a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force. However, he was persuaded by Bernard Topel, his spiritual director and mathematics professor at Carroll who later became Bishop of Spokane, to enter the priesthood. Hunthausen began his studies at St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington, in the fall of 1943.

Priesthood

Hunthausen was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Gilmore on June 1, 1946. He returned to Carroll College, where he served as a professor of chemistry (1946–57) and a football and basketball coach (1953–57). In 1953 he earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame. Hunthausen served as president of Carroll College from 1957 to 1962. He was named a domestic prelate in 1958.

Bishop of Helena

On July 8, 1962, Hunthausen was appointed the sixth Bishop of Helena by Pope John XXIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 30 from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Bernard Topel and William Condon serving as co-consecrators. As Bishop of Helena, Hunthausen was a council father at all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. He was the newest and youngest American bishop at the start of the council.

Starting in 1976, Hunthausen worked with Call to Action and sought to implement their program. His tenure as Bishop of Helena was marked by increased lay involvement in church matters, the establishment of a mission in Guatemala, the closure of several Catholic elementary and high schools, and the strengthening of religious education programs.

Archbishop of Seattle

Hunthausen was appointed Archbishop of Seattle, Washington by Pope Paul VI in 1975. In 1982, Hunthausen withheld half of his income tax to protest the stockpiling of nuclear weapons and the Trident missile program which had a base nearby, in Puget Sound. In a speech, he said, "Trident is the Auschwitz of Puget Sound." This tax resistance prompted the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to garnish his wages.

Church investigation

As a result of the complaints surrounding Hunthausen's alleged deviations from church doctrine, in 1983 the Vatican authorized Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to launch an investigation. Archbishop (later Cardinal) James Hickey of Washington, DC, was named apostolic visitor to the Archdiocese of Seattle. Hickey's delegation met with Hunthausen and others to investigate his administrative and pastoral practices. The investigation concluded that Hunthausen had exercised "weak doctrinal leadership" in a number of areas, including allowing children to receive the sacrament of Communion without first having received the sacrament of penance.

Donald Wuerl, later Archbishop of Washington, was controversially named an auxiliary bishop with special powers. According to Thomas Bokenkotter,

"A resolution of the affair was finally announced by the Vatican in April after it accepted the report of a commission that recommended that Hunthausen's authority be restored and a coadjutor bishop be appointed. Hunthausen stoutly maintains that his archdiocese has remained fundamentally the same and was never in violation of Vatican doctrine; nor has he had to alter the general direction of his ministry or compromise his liberal beliefs."

Thomas Murphy, Bishop of Great Falls–Billings, was appointed coadjutor bishop in 1987.

Hunthausen is remembered most for his support of the poor and disenfranchised. He was also an advocate for the youth and encouraged better catechesis in Catholic parishes and Catholic parochial schools despite waning enrollment. In 1985, he helped establish the Institute for Theological Studies at Seattle University, which in 1996 evolved into the School of Theology and Ministry.

Retirement and legacy

On August 21, 1991, Pope John Paul II accepted Hunthausen's resignation as archbishop of Seattle. He then moved to Helena, Montana, to live with his brother, Jack Hunthausen. Raymond continued to hear confessions once a week in East Helena, Montana, and led retreats in the Diocese of Helena.

On July 22, 2018, Hunthausen died in his home in Helena at age 96. He is the second archbishop to be interred in the crypt at St. James Cathedral.

Awards

• The 1982 Thomas Merton Award by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice
• Election to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Collegiate Hall of Fame

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

1. ^ Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
2. ^ Capace, Nancy (2000). Encyclopedia of Montana. Somerset Publishers, Inc.
3. ^ "Ordination Milestones". The Montana Catholic. May 20, 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011.
4. "Raymond Hunthausen". People. December 22, 1986.
5. ^ "Archbishop Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
6. Amundson, Mavis "Local professor notes Hunthausen's influence" West Seattle Herald January 11, 1984
7. Fromherz, Frank. "Raymond Hunthausen, retired archbishop of Seattle, dies at age 96", National Catholic Reporter, July 22, 2018
8. Chandler, Russell. "Pope Restores Full Powers to Hunthausen", The Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1987
9. A Concise History of the Catholic Church, Rev. and exp. ed. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 447.
10. "Men's Basketball; All-time records". Carroll College. Retrieved January 4, 2025.

Further reading

• John A. McCoy, A Still and Quiet Conscience: The Archbishop who Challenged a Pope, a President, and a Church, Orbis Books, 2015

External links

• "Funeral Homily", August 3, 2018

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle
Ordinaries	Bishops of Nesqually Augustin-Magloire Blanchet Egidius Junger Bishops of Seattle Edward John O'Dea Gerald Shaughnessy Archbishops of Seattle Thomas Arthur Connolly Raymond Hunthausen Thomas Joseph Murphy Alexander Joseph Brunett J. Peter Sartain Paul D. Etienne
Auxiliary bishops	Thomas Edward Gill Nicolas Eugene Walsh Donald Wuerl George Leo Thomas Joseph J. Tyson Eusebio Elizondo Almaguer Daniel Henry Mueggenborg Frank R. Schuster
Churches	Cathedral St. James Cathedral Proto-cathedral Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater, Vancouver Parishes Blessed Sacrament, Seattle Holy Rosary, Tacoma North American Martyrs, Edmonds St. Rose de Viterbo, Longview Missions St. Anne, Marysville St. Francis Xavier, Toledo Immaculate Conception, Steilacoom
Education	Higher education Seattle University Saint Martin's University, Lacey High schools Archbishop Murphy High School, Everett Bellarmine Preparatory School, Tacoma Bishop Blanchet High School, Seattle Eastside Catholic School, Sammamish Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bellevue Holy Names Academy, Seattle John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, Burien O'Dea High School, Seattle Pope John Paul II High School, Lacey Seattle Preparatory School, Seattle Seton High School, Vancouver
Priests	Jean-Baptiste Brondel Joseph Patrick Dougherty Joseph Francis McGrath Cornelius Michael Power Francis X. Prefontaine
Miscellany	Calvary Cemetery, Seattle Camp Gallagher, Lakebay St. Edward Seminary, Kenmore House of Providence, Vancouver PeaceHealth Providence Health & Services Virginia Mason Franciscan Health division of Catholic Health Initiatives
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v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena
Bishops	Ordinaries Jean-Baptiste Brondel John Patrick Carroll George Joseph Finnigan Ralph Leo Hayes Joseph Michael Gilmore Raymond Hunthausen Elden Francis Curtiss Alexander Joseph Brunett Robert C. Morlino George Leo Thomas Austin Anthony Vetter
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Helena Parishes St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Laurin St. Francis Xavier Church, Missoula St. Ignatius Church, St. Ignatius St. Mary's Mission Church, Stevensville Former St. Joseph's Church, Moiese St. Joseph's Mission Church, Townsend
Education	Higher education Carroll College High schools Butte Central Catholic High School, Butte Loyola Sacred Heart High School, Missoula
Miscellany	Holy Rosary Church Rectory, Bozeman
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