Full Text of SR0784 97th General Assembly
SR0784 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert, O.S.B., of | 4 | | Marmion Abbey in Aurora, who passed away on May 16, 2012; at | 5 | | the time of his passing he was the oldest known Benedictine | 6 | | Abbot in the world; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Abbot Gerald was born on October 24, 1909, in | 8 | | Louisville, Kentucky; he was the second of 6 children born to | 9 | | Constantine and Pauline Benkert; after completing his | 10 | | elementary education at Holy Name School in Louisville, Francis | 11 | | Benkert entered St. Meinrad Minor Seminary in southern Indiana | 12 | | in September 1923, where he had 2 uncles in St. Meinrad Abbey | 13 | | and a great-uncle, Abbot Athanasius Schmitt, who was the abbot | 14 | | of St. Meinrad; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, After a 5-year course of studies in the Minor | 16 | | Seminary, he was accepted into the novitiate of St. Meinrad | 17 | | Abbey in 1928; two of his 6 fellow novices, Raymond Battaglia | 18 | | (Father Joseph) and John Schuck (Father Hugh), would later join | 19 | | him as founding members of Marmion Abbey; on August 16, 1929, | 20 | | Francis made his first profession of vows, taking the name | 21 | | Gerald; on November 30, 1932, he made his solemn profession of | 22 | | vows as a Benedictine monk; he was ordained to the priesthood | 23 | | by Bishop Joseph Ritter of Indianapolis on May 22, 1934; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Father Gerald's first assignment was to pursue | 2 | | graduate studies at DePaul University, Chicago; he was assigned | 3 | | to reside at Marmion Academy in Aurora, where the monks of St. | 4 | | Meinrad had taken over the school in 1933; Father Gerald | 5 | | returned to St. Meinrad in 1935 to teach in the Minor Seminary; | 6 | | he also began summer studies in philosophy at The Catholic | 7 | | University in Washington, D.C., obtaining a Master's Degree in | 8 | | 1938; in the same year, he was appointed Headmaster of Marmion | 9 | | Military Academy; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, He remained headmaster at Marmion Military | 11 | | Academy from 1938 to 1940, before returning to The Catholic | 12 | | University to continue his doctoral studies in philosophy, | 13 | | obtaining his Ph.D. in 1944; he was then appointed as Rector of | 14 | | the Minor Seminary at St. Meinrad; on March 21, 1947, Father | 15 | | Gerald Benkert was named the first abbot of Marmion Abbey when | 16 | | it was raised to the status of an independent Benedictine | 17 | | Abbey; he was blessed as abbot on May 22, 1947 by Bishop John | 18 | | Boylan of Rockford; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, For the next 22 years, Abbot Gerald guided the | 20 | | Marmion monastic community in its founding decades; he was | 21 | | responsible for the purchase of the property on Butterfield | 22 | | Road and the construction of the present monastery building in | 23 | | 1952; he oversaw the construction of the resident campus of |
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| 1 | | Marmion Military Academy on Butterfield Road that opened in | 2 | | 1959; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Responding to the request of Pope John XXIII, he | 4 | | founded the mission Priory and Seminary of San Josč in Sololį | 5 | | (and later in Quetzaltenango), Guatemala in 1965; in 1969, | 6 | | Abbot Gerald decided to resign as Abbot of Marmion Abbey; he | 7 | | chose to begin a new period in his life as teacher and | 8 | | spiritual director in the Priory and Seminary of San Josč in | 9 | | Guatemala; from 1970 to 2002 he taught philosophy and theology; | 10 | | after 1989, Abbot Gerald played a key role in helping to raise | 11 | | funds for the construction of a new complex of buildings for | 12 | | the Priory and Seminary in its move to Quetzaltenango, | 13 | | Guatemala; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, In 2002, Abbot Gerald returned to Marmion Abbey on | 15 | | a permanent basis; he continued to contribute to the spiritual | 16 | | life and public witness of the monastery, and to raise funds | 17 | | for the Guatemala mission; on the occasion of his 100th | 18 | | birthday in 2009, he published his book " Memoirs of the | 19 | | Founding Abbot of Marmion Abbey "; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents and 5 | 21 | | brothers and sisters; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert is survived by the |
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| 1 | | members of his monastic community and many nieces and nephews; | 2 | | therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 4 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 5 | | his family, friends, and members of his monastic community, the | 6 | | passing of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert, O.S.B.; and be it | 7 | | further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 | | presented to the family of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert, | 10 | | O.S.B., as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.
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