Office of the Bishop records

During their episcopacies in the Diocese of Charleston, Bishops Ernest Unterkoefler (1964-1990) and David Thompson (1990-1999) were responsible for fulfilling the obligation of spiritual welfare and secular administration in the South Carolina territory.  This included governing the church in which they held legislative, judicial, and executive power; representing the dioceses in legal affairs; traveling and visiting throughout the diocese; leading councils; bestowing offices in the diocese; teaching; fostering the ecumenical movement; and having solicitude for missionary work.  They were also responsible for being a minister of baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, confessions, holy orders, blessing and consecrating holy oils, and performing consecrations, dedications, and blessings.              Ernest Leo Unterkoefler (1917-1993) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ernest L. Unterkoefler and Anna Rose Chambers.  In 1944, Unterkoefler became an ordained priest for the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. He then served as a curate in Richmond until 1947, when he was transferred to Arlington, Virginia.  He returned to Richmond in 1950, and in 1954 became secretary of the diocesan tribunal. He served numerous positions for the Diocese of Richmond including chancellor, vicar general, notary, and tribunal secretary.  In 1961, he was named a papal chamberlain as well as titular bishop of Latopolis.  In 1964, Unterkoefler was named and installed as South Carolina's tenth bishop of Charleston.  Unterkoefler served as South Carolina's bishop for twenty-six years, retiring in 1990.  He died in 1993. David Bernard Thompson (born 1923) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In 1950 he became an ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  He was appointed and ordained as coadjutor bishop of Charleston in 1989, and in 1990 he succeeded Bishop Unterkoefler as the eleventh bishop of Charleston. Bishop Thompson resigned in 1999.

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