O’Brien, Edwin (1939-…), was appointed a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinals are high-ranking clergymen in the church. They advise the pope and elect the pope’s successor after he dies or resigns. Since 2012, O’Brien has served as grand master of the Roman Catholic Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. In that post, he leads a Vatican institution that supports Catholicism in the Middle East.
Edwin Frederick O’Brien was born in the Bronx, a borough (district) of New York City, on April 8, 1939. He received a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York, in the 1960’s. O’Brien also received a doctorate in sacred theology from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (also called the Angelicum) in Rome in 1976.
In 1965, O’Brien became a priest in the archdiocese of New York. The same year, he began serving as a civilian chaplain at the United States Military Academy at West Point. From 1970 to 1973, O’Brien was a U.S. Army chaplain with the rank of captain. He served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1957-1975). There, he flew by helicopter to jungle outposts to minister to American soldiers.
During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, O’Brien served the archdiocese of New York in various roles. These included vice chancellor and communications director of the archdiocese and associate pastor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. From 1985 to 1997, he served at different times as rector (head) of St. Joseph’s Seminary and of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. In 1996, O’Brien became auxiliary (assisting) bishop of New York. From 1997 to 2007, he was archbishop for the military services, helping to support Roman Catholic members of the U.S. armed forces.
O’Brien served as archbishop of Baltimore from 2007 to 2011. An archbishop usually governs a church district called an archdiocese. As archbishop of Baltimore, O’Brien worked to improve the quality of life in that city and to restructure the Catholic school system.
