State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SR0158

 
                                               LRB9209018RHrh

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Illinois  Senate  wish  to
 3    express  their  sincere condolences to the family and friends
 4    of Monsignor John J. "Jack" Egan, who passed away on May  19,
 5    2001; and

 6        WHEREAS,  Monsignor  Egan  was a priest whose battles for
 7    social justice made him one  of  Chicago's  most  influential
 8    religious leaders; and

 9        WHEREAS,  Monsignor Egan was born in New York to the late
10    John and Mary Egan, but moved to Chicago early  in  life;  he
11    was raised in the Ravenswood neighborhood and attended DePaul
12    University; he then studied for the priesthood at St. Mary of
13    the Lake Seminary in Mundelein and was ordained in 1943; and

14        WHEREAS,  Monsignor Egan served the Roman Catholic Church
15    for 58 years; he brought his ecumenical approach to Chicago's
16    grittiest haunts and the nation's toughest  social  problems;
17    and

18        WHEREAS,  After  being  ordained  in 1943, Monsignor Egan
19    worked three years as an assistant priest at St.  Justin  the
20    Martyr  in  Chicago;  in  addition he began a ministry to the
21    Young Christian Workers and the  Christian  Family  Movement;
22    and

23        WHEREAS,  From  1946 through 1959, Monsignor Egan was the
24    first director of the Cana Conference of Chicago, a  ministry
25    to celebrate the sacrament of marriage and to serve the needs
26    of  Catholic  married couples; in 1957 the Holy See named him
27    monsignor; and

28        WHEREAS, From 1958 through 1969, Monsignor Egan served as
29    director of the Archdiocesesan Office of Urban Affairs  where
30    he became a powerful voice in promoting subsidized housing as
31    a way to fight urban segregation; he also became an outspoken
 
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 1    opponent  of  public  housing;  in  1965, he marched with the
 2    Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama that  later
 3    became  a  call  for clergyman across the country to join the
 4    civil rights movement; and

 5        WHEREAS, From 1970 through 1983, Monsignor Egan served as
 6    the special assistant to the president at the  University  of
 7    Notre  Dame  and  ran  its  Institute for Pastoral and Social
 8    Ministry; and

 9        WHEREAS, Monsignor Egan returned to Chicago  in  1983  as
10    the  archdiocese's  director of Human Relations and Ecumenism
11    under Cardinal Joseph Bernardin; in  1987  he  served  as  an
12    assistant  to  the  president for community affairs at DePaul
13    University; DePaul University honored him by naming its urban
14    think tank and  community  service  organization  after  him,
15    calling it the Egan Urban Center; and

16        WHEREAS,  In  1993,  thousands of well-wishers attended a
17    celebration at Holy Name Cathedral in  Chicago  to  mark  the
18    50th  anniversary  of  Monsignor  Egan's  ordinance  into the
19    priesthood;  in   addition,   plumbers   hosted   a   similar
20    celebration  at Plumber's Hall on the West Side; his life was
21    also profiled in a "1991 book,  "An  Alley  in  Chicago:  The
22    Ministry of a City Priest"; and

23        WHEREAS,   Among   his   many  honors  and  six  honorary
24    doctorates, Monsignor Egan and his aide,  Peggy  Roach,  were
25    given  honorary degrees by Lewis University in Romeoville; in
26    addition he was presented with Saint Xavier University's  top
27    honor,  a school where he served as a former advisory council
28    member; and

29        WHEREAS, The passing of Monsignor John J.  Egan  will  be
30    deeply  felt  by  all  who knew and loved him, especially his
31    sister, Kathleen Egan Martin; his  nieces  and  nephews;  his
32    great-nieces  and  great-nephews;  and  his  many friends and
 
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 1    acquaintances that he has met during his 58 years of  service
 2    to the Roman Catholic Church; and

 3        WHEREAS,  Monsignor  Egan served as a conscience not only
 4    to politicians and the people, but also to the Roman Catholic
 5    Church; he had the reputation of a  man  who  had  a  way  of
 6    challenging  people  on  very  serious  moral  issues without
 7    alienating them, thereby allowing change within  the  Church;
 8    therefore, be it

 9        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
10    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along  with
11    all  who  knew  him,  the  death of Monsignor John J. Egan of
12    Chicago, Illinois; and be it further

13        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
14    presented  to  the  family of Monsignor John J. Egan with our
15    sincere condolences.

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