Appreciation Msgr. Jack Egan: activist, reformer, a
citys conscience
By TIM UNSWORTH
Special to the National Catholic Reporter Chicago
Soon after Chicagos archbishop, Cardinal Francis E. George,
was installed in May 1997, he hosted a reception for the archdiocesan clergy.
Although a native of Chicago, George is a member of the Oblates of Mary
Immaculate and had spent much time away from Chicago. He knew only a handful of
his priests.
When the reception ended, a staff member asked him: How did
you like it?
I enjoyed it, the future cardinal answered. I
met Jack Egan.
On May 19, Msgr. John J. Egan, the priest whose battles for social
justice, racial equality and a strong Catholic commitment to urban ministry
made him one of Americas best-known and admired priests, died of the
cardiovascular disease that had plagued him for two decades.
While the 84-year-old priest could barely breathe that day, it is
typical that he had talked about getting up to attend the ordination of 10 new
archdiocesan priests that morning at Holy Name Cathedral where he had lived
since 1982.
Though Egan in private would pointedly criticize some church
developments or omissions and churchmens actions, he was fiercely
loyal.
Ive survived. Ive hung in there, he told a
reporter in an interview a few years ago. I love being a priest.
Its been a great life. I love working the curb outside the church after
Mass. I dont like calculated moments.
But Fr. Jack did much more than work the curb.
According to Fr. Robert McLaughlin, pastor of the cathedral, He was the
citys conscience. In fact, his influence spread far beyond the vast
archdiocese. He cultivated seeds of social activism that would attack and in
some cases break down the barriers of racism across the country.
Born in New York City in 1916, he came to Chicago as a child.
After a few years of study at DePaul University, he entered the archdiocesan
seminary and was ordained in 1943.
During his seminary years, he came under the influence of the
legendary Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand, who transformed seminary education in
America. Hillenbrand in turn admired the work of the Belgian priest, Canon
(later Cardinal) Joseph Cardijn, founder of the Young Christian Workers and
Young Christian Students movements. Egan would serve both as chaplain.
Cardijn personally influenced Egan on Catholic social issues. The
other main sources of personal inspiration that shaped Egan were Pat and Patty
Crowley, founders of the Christian Family Movement, and Saul Alinsky, a
maverick community organizer.
Egan and the Crowleys were products of the Catholic Action
movement, brought together through the Pre-Cana and Cana Conferences and
Egans chaplaincy of both.
Alinsky, author of the pivotal book Reveille for Radicals
(University of Chicago Press, 1947) contacted Egan through his friend, Jacques
Maritain, the famous French convert and Thomist philosopher, who taught briefly
at the University of Chicago.
Alinsky and Egan initiated a friendship that would last until
Alinskys death in 1972.
Alinsky strengthened Egans resolve.
Make up your mind, Jack, Alinsky said, whether
you want to be a priest or a bishop. All other decisions will flow from that
one.
Not many years later, the priest took on the powerful Richard J.
Daley and the University of Chicago, both with deep pockets and media
influence. The issue was race. It was a sad chapter in the histories of a great
mayor and a great university. Egan was virtually isolated and pilloried. He
lost the battle but he ultimately won the war.
Jack Egan was the archdiocesan director of the Office of Urban
Affairs from 1958 until 1969. Under Cardinals Samuel Stritch (1939-1958) and
Albert Meyer (1958-1965) his work flourished. But when the autocratic Cardinal
John Cody (1965-1982) arrived, Egans budget dried up. He was assigned to
the ailing Presentation Parish on Chicagos Westside.
In 1965, Egan marched in Selma with the Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr. The picture of the two clergymen facing obvious danger inspired other
clergy to join the ranks. It was issues like that which kept me in the
priesthood, he would recall years later.
In 1970, during a chance meeting at Chicagos OHare
airport, Holy Cross Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, president of the University of Notre
Dame, invited Egan to South Bend, Ind., where he served as an assistant to the
president and director of the Institute for Pastoral and Social Ministry. When
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (1982-1996) was named archbishop, he asked Egan to
return to Chicago. Egan served as director of the Office of Ecumenism and Human
Relations until 1986. At 70, he retired from that office and went to DePaul to
work on urban issues.
Egan served for two terms on the National Catholic Reporter
board of directors, and was on numerous other boards until age and infirmity
forced his retirement. He continued, however, to speak and to write letters to
bishops, politicians, newspapers and other publications. The letters were
always pointed, and the phone calls were perfectly aimed. He always gave his
targets some wiggle room. At his death, he was organizing opposition to the
payday loan sharks who lend money to poor people at exorbitant rates of
interest in anticipation of a paycheck. (A $100, seven-day loan can easily cost
$140.)
Egan loved his priesthood but often stated that what sustained him
in his vocation was the laity. He worked with local and national groups and,
with his capacity for remembering names, stayed close to many people. He lived
long enough to see much of his work recognized. He was the recipient of over
half a dozen honorary degrees -- including one from Notre Dame and one from
DePaul. He received numerous awards from unions and other organizations.
I wanted to succeed, he said. I wanted to be
wanted. Now that Ive achieved everything I set out to achieve, Im
left with the question of whether or not Ive become a holy person.
Im not at all sure.
The people who came to his wake and funeral were more than
certain.
National Catholic Reporter, June 1,
2001
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