[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 150 (Monday, September 25, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1835-E1836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARCHBISHOP JOHN R. ROACH TO THE TWIN 
                          CITIES OF MINNESOTA

                                 ______


                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 25, 1995

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a fellow 
Minnesotan and a friend who has made momentous contributions to my home 
city of St. Paul, MN, and the entire Twin Cities area, Archbishop John 
R. Roach. On September 8, 1995, Archbishop Roach's retirement from the 
Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul became official and the Twin Cities 
noted the service and invaluable leadership of one of their most 
beloved citizens as he relinquished the post he has ably ministered for 
over 20 years.
  Even before he took on this challenging role as archbishop, he was 
striving to strengthen the Twin Cities community by working to support 
our most valuable resource, our children. His years teaching at St. 
Thomas Academy and serving as headmaster of Mendota Heights Military 
School formed a solid foundation from which he later served as chair of 
the National Catholic Educational Association.
  In addition to this role, Archbishop Roach led other groups which 
involved him in a variety of issues within and outside of the Twin 
Cities community. Archbishop Roach's leadership was especially 
significant in the past decade as he served as president of the 
National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Rural 
Life Conference, and he chaired the U.S. Bishops' Food and Agriculture 
Task Force. As the president of the National Conference during a key 
point in the 1980's, Bishop Roach took on the role of spokesman for 
strong statements concerning the curtailment of nuclear weapons and the 
global buildup of such weapons. His efforts involved the crucible of 
debate and moral teaching and renewed a successful effort, first among 
the people and the Congress and finally with the administration, to 
bring about massive reductions of nuclear weapons.

  As chair of the International Policy Committee, Bishop Roach traveled 
to other nations including Ireland, Israel, and South American nations 
to promote peaceful solutions to the violence raging in these troubled 
lands. Where there was a problem, he rose as a voice for social justice 
and as a witness and teacher.
  I have worked with Archbishop Roach and his administration on 
numerous issues during his service to the church in the Twin Cities 

[[Page E 1836]]
area. His sincere effort and interest in education, nuclear 
disarmament, and especially the homeless and others in need in 
Minnesota, and people of other nations merits the highest recognition 
and gratitude. It is my honor to have worked with him and call him 
friend and bishop. I'm certain that I voice the sentiments of the 
entire Twin Cities community in wishing him a pleasant and healthy 
well-earned retirement and thanking him for his efforts to support our 
community. His presence at the helm of the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
Archdiocese has been cherished as extraordinary and will be deeply 
missed.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to add to the Record an article from 
the Catholic Bulletin regarding Archbishop Roach.

                      [From the Catholic Bulletin]

                       The Archbishop We'll Miss

                           (By Bob Zyskowski)

       The Archbishop John R. Roach we will miss as the leader of 
     the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is a brilliant 
     man who understood that life's journey back to God includes 
     ups and downs. But he refused to lose hope when he was in the 
     valleys. He sought God's help, then tapped humankind's 
     creative, God-given talents to climb the hills.
       The Archbishop Roach we will miss as he begins his 
     retirement years took a can-do attitude against the 
     challenges of church and society. Presented with 
     difficulties, he took the view that God would not put any 
     obstacles in our way if that same God did not give us the 
     means to overcome them. Archbishop Roach's tools were 
     intellect, imagination and organizing, always organizing. Got 
     a need? Think about it, pray about it, get advice about it, 
     then put a structure in place to meet it.
       The Archbishop Roach we will miss was the consummate 
     analyzer. Watching him at a council or commission or board 
     meeting was like poetry. He would hear the varied concerns 
     and opinions, then, like a poet, synthesize the data, 
     condense it and express a consensus of the voices that 
     focused on the vital points.
       The Archbishop Roach we will miss had the critical concerns 
     of the key issues of the day on the tip of his tongue. Ask a 
     question and he would tick off the criteria Catholics need to 
     use to make a sound, morally based judgment, and, with those 
     principles as a base, he would explain why the church took 
     the position it did. On any issue. On every issue.
       The Archbishop Roach we will miss was at his best when he 
     spoke or wrote from his gut. You could always tell when he 
     had a personal interest in a subject, when it meant something 
     more to him because he knew the impact or he knew the stakes 
     involved or if people in the Upper Midwest were affected. 
     Whether in a column for the Catholic Bulletin, in a homily 
     from the Cathedral pulpit or from the microphone at a meeting 
     of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, John R. Roach 
     was passionate when he believed in a course of action, in a 
     way to meet a need, in a principle to uphold. He used down-
     to-earth language. He told the stories of how real-life 
     people were impacted. He came at it from the heart.
       The Archbishop John R. Roach who went into retirement Sept. 
     8 has been a source of pride for this archdiocese. We hope he 
     will have many years in retirement to pass along his wisdom 
     and his love of a very good local church.

                          ____________________