--- alias: - John Joseph Krol - Cardinal Krol - Cardinal John Krol born: 1910-10-26 category: Historical Figure created: 2026-09-23 died: 1996-03-03 location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania relations: - end: 1988-02-11 fn: 1 role: archbishop start: 1961-03-22 type: head_of with: '[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]]' - fn: 1 reverse: true start: 1961-02-11 type: appointed with: '[[Pope John XXIII]]' - end: 1974 fn: 1 role: president start: 1971 type: head_of with: '[[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]' summary: Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988 and cardinal from 1967, who led sixteen religious leaders in condemning R.C. Horsch's film Black Mass in 1975. tags: - Person - CatholicChurch - Cardinal - Philadelphia - Censorship - RCHorsch updated: 2026-09-23 --- John Joseph Krol (October 26, 1910, to March 3, 1996) was archbishop of the [Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia](/organizations/roman-catholic-archdiocese-of-philadelphia/) from 1961 to 1988 and a cardinal from 1967. He was known both as a conservative and as an opponent of the nuclear arms race. In 1975 he led the religious leaders of Philadelphia who condemned the film [Black Mass](/misc/black-mass-1975-film/) by Ray Hoersch, later [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/).[^1][^2] ### Cleveland and Rome Krol was born in Cleveland to Polish immigrants, the fourth of eight children, and managed the meat department of a Kroger store before entering the priesthood. Bishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland ordained him on February 20, 1937, and he earned a licentiate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in [Rome](/places/rome/) in 1940. He was auxiliary bishop of Cleveland from 1953 to 1961.[^1] ### Philadelphia Pope John XXIII named him the tenth archbishop of Philadelphia on February 11, 1961, and he was installed on March 22, succeeding John Francis O'Hara. He cleared several million dollars of archdiocesan debt within two years and opened 34 parishes over the following fifteen years. At the Second Vatican Council he was an undersecretary who organized its debates and votes. Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal on June 26, 1967, in the same consistory as Karol Wojtyła, later [Pope John Paul II](/people/pope-john-paul-ii/), and both voted in the two conclaves of 1978. He was president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1971 to 1974. He retired on February 11, 1988, and was succeeded by Anthony Bevilacqua.[^1] ### Black Mass In February 1975 a midnight run of *Black Mass*, a film of a satanic mass, was cancelled at the [Arcadia](/organizations/arcadia-theatre-philadelphia/) in Center City "after reported pressure by the Philadelphia Archdiocese," according to [Art Carduner](/people/art-carduner/), whose [Bandbox Theater](/organizations/bandbox-theater/) in Germantown showed it instead on March 1.[^3] Krol led sixteen Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish leaders in a joint statement that called the film "a blasphemous attack on the religious rites held in sacred reverence by millions of Christian believers" and "a frontal attack on the sacred itself," said that it was "obviously intended not to be viewed as a film, but as a blasphemous ritualistic observance," and asked everyone in the local film industry "to resist and reject every attempt to market or portray this film." The signers included Rabbi Charles Lacks of the Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis and Francis G. Brown of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.[^4] Eleven weeks before the Bandbox screening, on December 10, 1974, Hoersch had been arrested by the United States Secret Service for counterfeiting ten-dollar bills.[^5] ### Death Krol, who had diabetes and a heart ailment, was hospitalized on February 14, 1996, and failed to respond to treatment for kidney problems and a blood clot in a lung, according to the Associated Press. He died at his home on March 3, 1996, aged 85.[^2] He was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul after a funeral attended by seven cardinals, sixty bishops, and 1,500 priests, at which Cardinal John O'Connor of [New York](/places/new-york-city/) preached.[^6] [^1]: Weil, Martin. "Cardinal John Krol Dies; Philadelphia Archbishop," *The Washington Post,* March 4, 1996; "Cardinal Krol laid to rest," United Press International, March 8, 1996. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/03/04/cardinal-john-krol-dies/8d845f35-61a2-4b44-934a-0bdc39ca14df/ ; https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/08/Cardinal-Krol-laid-to-rest/8760826261200/ [^2]: Weil, Martin. "Cardinal John Krol Dies; Philadelphia Archbishop," *The Washington Post,* March 4, 1996. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/03/04/cardinal-john-krol-dies/8d845f35-61a2-4b44-934a-0bdc39ca14df/ [^3]: [Society and nightlife column], *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* February 28, 1975, p. 21. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173366667/ [^4]: "Offensive Material: Leaders Condemn Black Mass Film," Religious News Service, *Lake Shore Visitor* (Erie), March 7, 1975, p. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/951794835/ [^5]: "[...] bogus $180,000 in Bucks raid," *The Morning Call* (Allentown), December 11, 1974, p. 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/275702319/ [^6]: "Cardinal Krol laid to rest," United Press International, March 8, 1996. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/03/08/Cardinal-Krol-laid-to-rest/8760826261200/