Cardinal Bevilacqua of Philadelphia dies PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Cardinal Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia in an era of decline, died Tuesday in Wynnewood, Pa. He was 88. The cardinal died in the apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he had lived since his retirement in 2003, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Bevilacqua, who served as archbishop of Philadelphia for 15 years, had to deal with dwindling congregations in inner-city parishes and a drop in the number of men entering the priesthood. He shut down 20 parishes and closed six high schools and 28 parochial schools in the early 1990s. He was also faulted for his handling of sexual abuse by priests. A grand jury report in 2005 said both Bevilacqua and his predecessor, Cardinal John Krol, had allowed abusive priests to go unpunished. Bevilacqua's tenure as archbishop had its high points, the newspaper noted, especially Pope John Paul II's visit to Philadelphia in 2000. The pope canonized Mother Katherine Drexel, a member of a prominent Philadelphia family and founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Bevilacqua was born in New York, the son of poor Italian immigrants. He entered a junior seminary at 14 and was ordained in 1949. In the Brooklyn diocese, Bevilacqua was known for his work with immigrants. He was named bishop of Pittsburgh in 1983 and archbishop of Philadelphia five years later. In Philadelphia, he spent at least a day in every one of the 302 parishes in the city and suburbs. He enjoyed meeting children and liked tossing his skullcap into a crowd, allowing them to catch it.