HR0236 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0236 LRB096 12187 KXB 24671 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor Father John Trout for his service to Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Father John Trout began his current appointment as Associate Pastor at Queen of All Saints Basilica on March 10, 2005; his duties as Associate Pastor include: presiding at liturgical celebrations, including Sunday Mass, weekday Mass, funerals, weddings, and special liturgical celebrations; serving as Director of Rite of Christian Initiation, teaching religious education to adults wishing to become members of the Catholic Church; visiting those in hospitals or homebound; responding to emergency calls for those in in need of the last rites and offering spiritual comfort and support to the elderly and infirm homebound; assisting the Pastor in various pastoral projects; serving as Spiritual Director to the Men's Group and acting as liaison for the mentors group with Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program; and developing neighborhood Christian Communities, including meeting with neighborhood groups on a weekly basis; and

WHEREAS, After studying for the priesthood at St. Patrick's Missionary Society seminary in Kiltegan, Ireland, he was ordained in his hometown of Athy Town, County Kildare, Ireland, in June of 1989; his first position was as Pastor of a parish in a rapidly developing suburb of Lagos, Nigeria called Ketu; and

WHEREAS, The parish community in Ketu, which comprised approximately 5,000 families, did not have any parish buildings in place; situated in a sprawling low income swampy area, most of the land had to be sand-filled before basic buildings could be erected; and

WHEREAS, During his ten years in Ketu, he had the opportunity to initiate some new approaches to parish development, including the Small Christian Community movement; today, the parish of Ketu has started four other churches, and the parishioners are in the process of building a very fine church; and

WHEREAS, His involvement in the HIV/AIDS pandemic emerged during his next position, which was at Queen of All Saints as a resident Priest from 2000 to 2003; he was in Chicago studying for a Master's degree at Loyola University, in conjunction with Vanderbilt University; his research in the area of African community development focused on the breakdown of family and tradition as one of the driving forces behind the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Sahara Africa; this research was subsequently published in the Journal of Community Psychology; and

WHEREAS, As a result of the generosity of the people of Queen of All Saints, Father Trout returned to Africa five years ago; he began operating a chicken farm, and today the chicken farm is providing a sustainable livelihood for 12 women who have been widowed because of the HTV/AIDS pandemic; it is among one of several successful projects he was able to initiate; others include a craft business for people living with HIV, vegetable gardens for food security, and a bead shop for young unemployed people to raise funds for their education; and

WHEREAS, Father Trout returned to Queen of All Saints Basilica with the aid of Father Prist and will work there until June of this year; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Father Trout for his hard work and devotion to others, both in the United States and abroad; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Father John Trout as a symbol of our respect and esteem.