Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Maida, Cardinal Adam
Detroit Archbishop Adam Joseph Maida was born on March 18, 1930 in East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. He moved to Michigan as a teenager and graduated from St. Mary’s Preparatory High School in Orchard Lake, Michigan in 1948. Four years later, Maida graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Pennsylvania’s St. Vincent College. In 1956, he received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from St. Mary’s University in Maryland. On May 26, 1956, Maida was ordained as a priest in St. Paul Cathedral of Pittsburgh. He served as an associate pastor and as Vice Chancellor for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
In 1960, Maida was awarded a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. Four years later, he obtained a Doctorate in Civil Law from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Law School, earning his qualifications to practice law. He served as an adjunct professor at the school in following years.
Maida was ordained as a bishop on January 25, 1984, becoming the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1990, Maida was selected to be Detroit’s Archbishop by Pope John Paul II, succeeding Cardinal Edmund Szoka. The pope named Maida Cardinal four years later, on November 26, 1994.
Maida is also the founder and President of the interfaith Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. Cardinal Maida has been an active member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is on the Board of Trustees for the Catholic University of America, is the Ecclesial Advisor for the National Fellowship of Catholic Men, and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. Cardinal Maida also serves as a member of numerous other educational and Catholic organizations in the United States and in Rome. He has authored and edited several church handbooks and other religious literature.
Following the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Maida participated in the conclave that selected the subsequent pope, Benedict XVI. The fiftieth anniversary of Cardinal Maida’s priesthood was celebrated on June 8, 2006. On January 5, 2009, the Holy See announced acceptance of Maida's retirement and the appointment of Allen Henry Vigneron, then Bishop of Oakland, as his successor as Archbishop of Detroit. Maida celebrated his final mass at the cathedral on January 25, 2009.
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