[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E905-E907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MONSIGNOR JOHN J. EGAN, 1916-2001

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 23, 2001

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of 
Monsignor John J. Egan, a man who never wavered in his mission to 
promote justice and to better the lives of so many people. He struggled 
on behalf of the poor and working men and women, gave voice to the 
voiceless, and cared for those pushed aside by our society.
  I personally called him a friend and am proud to have worked with him 
for many years. He was also a friend of every man, woman or child who 
needed a helping hand, a voice, or simply a sympathetic ear.
  Monsignor Egan, a leader who has spoken so eloquently against racism 
and bigotry, was among the first Catholic priests to join the civil 
rights movements. He marched in Alabama in the 1960s for equal rights 
for all people. He was a man who led by example. Monsignor Egan was 
also instrumental in saving countless families from eviction and life 
on the streets. He understood that being poor should not translate to 
being homeless. He stood on many picket lines supporting workers 
struggling for their right to organize and improve their working 
conditions.
  People throughout the nation knew Monsignor Egan. He was admired by 
so many from a wide cross section of our society. He has left a lasting 
impression on those he has met during his years. He received a 
religious leaders award from Rainbow/PUSH and was honored by the 
Chicago chapter of the American Jewish Committee, the Travelers and 
Immigrants Aid, Citizen Action of Illinois to name only a few. Those 
awards are a testament to his effective social activism.
  In honor of his life, I urge that we continue to follow in his steps, 
learn from his example, and organize for public policies that are fair 
and equitable. I urge all my colleagues to read the following accounts 
from the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and New York Times 
celebrating Monsignor Egan's life.

                [From the Chicago Tribune, May 20, 2001]

  Monsignor John Egan 1916-2001; Priest Was ``Conscience'' of the City

                           (By Noah Isackson)

       Monsignor John ``Jack'' Egan, a priest whose battles for 
     social justice made him one of Chicago's most influential 
     religious leaders, died Saturday, May 19, in the rectory of 
     Holy Name Cathedral.
       ``A great priest has gone back to God,'' said Cardinal 
     Francis George, Catholic archbishop of Chicago.
       An archdiocese spokeswoman said Egan, 84, died of 
     cardiovascular disease.
       Egan served the Roman Catholic Church for 58 years, 
     bringing his ecumenical approach to Chicago's grittiest 
     haunts and the nation's toughest social problems.
       ``He was eager to help people,'' said Bishop Timothy J. 
     Lyne, a friend for more than 65 years. ``Especially people 
     who were treated unjustly.''
       Egan was born in New York but moved to Chicago early and 
     grew up in the Ravenswood neighborhood. He attended DePaul 
     University, then studied for the priesthood at St. Mary of 
     the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. He was ordained in 1943.
       In 1965, Egan marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 
     Selma, Ala. Later, a photo of him walking with King and other 
     protesters became a call for clergymen across the country to 
     join the civil rights movement.
       As director of the Archdiocesan Office of Urban Affairs 
     from 1958 to 1969, Egan became a powerful voice in promoting 
     subsidized housing as a way to fight urban segregation. 
     Later, Egan became an outspoken opponent of public housing 
     and called Cabrini-Green ``a concrete monument to the city's 
     racism.''
       From 1970 to 1983, he was the special assistant to the 
     president at the University of Notre Dame. He returned to 
     Chicago in 1983 as the archdiocese's director of human 
     relations and ecumenism.
       ``He was the city's conscience,'' said Rev. Robert 
     McLaughlin, pastor of Holy Name Cathedral. ``He was a 
     conscience not only to the politicians and the people, but 
     the church as well, a man who dared to be a gadfly and raise 
     important issues.''
       ``He really had a way of challenging people on very serious 
     moral issues without alienating them,'' said Rev. John 
     Minogue, president of DePaul University. ``And with that, he 
     kept the dialogue open so that change could actually 
     happen.''
       Egan had headed DePaul's Office of Community Affairs for 
     four years at the time of his death. The university honored 
     Egan by naming its urban think tank and community service 
     organization after him, calling it the Egan Urban Center.

[[Page E906]]

       In 1993, thousands of people attended a celebration at Holy 
     Name Cathedral marking the 50th anniversary of Egan's 
     ordination to the priesthood. Plumbers hosted a similar 
     celebration at Plumbers Hall on the West Side. Buses were 
     chartered to bring the monsignor's admirers to and from the 
     event.
       He is survived by his sister, Kathleen Egan Martin.
       His body will lie in state at Holy Name Cathedral from 3 to 
     9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. 
     Wednesday at the cathedral.

                                  ____
                                  

                [From the Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2001]

   Priest Recalled as Tireless Fighter; His Kindnesses Are Remembered

                            (By Kevin Lynch)

       When Mary Louise Kurey moved to Chicago four months ago, 
     she was overwhelmed by the size of the city and the scope of 
     its social problems.
       But then Monsignor John Egan delivered a sermon one Sunday 
     encouraging parishioners at Holy Name Cathedral to take an 
     active approach to their religion.
       Within a few weeks, Kurey had joined the fight against 
     Chicago's social ills, starting with a single boy. She began 
     tutoring a 4th grader at St. Joseph School, and she now can't 
     imagine life without their weekly study sessions.
       ``I was new to the city, and I felt a little shy about 
     getting involved,'' said Kurey, 26. ``He made me feel very 
     much at home . . . and inspired me to reach out like he did 
     in his life.''
       Kurey was one of hundreds at Holy Name Monday to pay 
     respects to Egan, 84, who died Saturday in the church 
     rectory.
       His body lay in state Monday during visitation, which will 
     continue Tuesday from 3 to 9 p.m. A funeral mass will be said 
     at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the cathedral.
       Mayor Richard Daley said the city has lost ``one of its 
     most courageous moral and spiritual leaders.'' Egan ``never 
     wavered in his commitment to the poor and underprivileged and 
     to equal rights for all,'' Daley said in a statement.
       ``Jack Egan didn't just talk about social change; he worked 
     hard for social change for his entire life, and he helped 
     make Chicago a better city.''
       Though Egan was best known for championing desegregation 
     and organized labor and improving education and housing for 
     the city's poor, many who filed past his casket Monday 
     remembered his small acts of kindness.
       ``I bumped into him in the hall one day and introduced 
     myself,'' said Dan Ursini, 48, a library clerk at DePaul 
     University, where Egan headed the Office of Community Affairs 
     since 1997. ``He was a very approachable, down-to-earth 
     person. I doubt that he would have remembered my name, but 
     whenever I saw him after that, he'd take the time to chat.''
       It was Egan's seemingly inexhaustible dedication to social 
     causes that set him apart from other activists, Ursini said.
       ``It's one thing to see a person help engineer an important 
     social change during one part of his life, but to see him 
     keep it up 20 or 30 years later, that's even more impressive. 
     In that way, he was a deeply inspiring individual'' Ursini 
     said.
       Last year, Egan decided to take on the payday loan industry 
     after meeting a parishioner who became trapped in a long 
     cycle of debt after borrowing $100, said Rev. Robert 
     McLaughlin, pastor of Holy Name and a longtime friend of 
     Egan's.
       His efforts led to a bill introduced in Springfield this 
     year that would set caps on payday loan interest rates.

                                  ____
                                  

               [From the Chicago Sun-Times, May 21, 2001]

                         Holy Name Mourns Egan

                         (By Maureen O'Donnell)

       Reflecting on his life, Monsignor John J. Egan would say: 
     ``You know, I didn't leave any enemies behind.''
       And then, with a little smile: ``They all died before me.''
       ``Jack'' Egan was remembered Sunday at Holy Name Cathedral 
     by some of the people who knew him best as a man of courage, 
     compassion and wit.
       Usher Bob Gowrylow, 64, marched for civil rights alongside 
     Egan in the 1960s.
       ``They threw rocks at us and called us the 'n'-word,'' said 
     Gowrylow. ``It was the most frightening thing.''
       Bystanders spat on marching priests and nuns, but Egan 
     never faltered.
       ``He kept walking, linking arms, walking together,'' 
     Gowrylow said. ``He never would falter in anything. The man 
     was unbelievable.''
       Egan, who died Saturday at age 84, was part of a group of 
     priests whose commitment to justice and civil rights made the 
     Chicago priesthood one of the most exciting in the country, 
     said Father Jack Farry, associate pastor at Holy Name. The 
     monsignor became a hero to Farry while he was in the 
     seminary.
       ``Before that, priests and sisters kind of stayed out of 
     things,'' Farry said. ``But he made it very clear to people 
     this was something we needed to be involved in.''
       Egan's commitment to the poor kept him an activist until 
     the end, as he campaigned against payday loan operations. His 
     interest in the issue was stirred when a woman came to Holy 
     Name for help. She couldn't get out from under her debt 
     because of excessive interest.
       Egan hopped on a bus to pay off her loan.
       ``Here's this little 83-year-old guy going to the West Side 
     on a bus with somebody he didn't even know to help them 
     out,'' said parishioner Ralph Metz, 46, an investigator with 
     the Cook County Public Defender's office.
       But he wasn't just a big-picture priest, friends and 
     associates said. A rapt listener, he made each person he 
     spoke with feel like they were the only person in the world.
       He used the same conversational starter for everyone, be 
     they a celebrity or everyday Chicagoan: ``So, where did you 
     come from?''
       People would launch into stories of their childhoods and 
     where they grew up and where they went to school, said Peggy 
     Roach, his administrative assistant of 35 years.
       Soon after asking actor Joe Mantegna ``Where do you come 
     from?'' he had his whole life story, Roach said. He and the 
     actor became fast friends.
       Egan would even start conversations on elevators, said 
     Margery Frisbie, who wrote a book about Egan titled An Alley 
     in Chicago: The Ministry of a City Priest.
       He made Holy Name feel like a home.
       ``He used to stop mass to say, `Hey, you in the back, 
     there's a seat up here,' '' said Florence Agosto. ``He didn't 
     take it too seriously, even though it was a cathedral. He was 
     an old-time, wonderful priest.''
       Even when it was 10 below, he was out on the steps in his 
     fedora and topcoat shaking people's hands, said Beverly 
     Todhunter, 73, a downtown retiree.
       Sister Anne Marie Dolan remembered his kindness to the 
     homeless people he met on the street.
       ``I don't think he ever passed any one of them without 
     giving them a donation,'' she said.
       Egan loved classical music and chocolate milk, which 
     enabled him to get all his medications down, Roach said.
       Until the very end of his life he interceded on behalf of 
     others. On the day he died he was in great pain, but he knew 
     there were ordinations going on at Holy Name. Despite his 
     discomfort, Roach recounted, Egan asked God to help the new 
     priests:
       `` `Lord, I want to pray for the 10 men being ordained 
     today. Give them courage.' ''
       Visitation will be at Holy Name from 3 to 9 p.m. today and 
     Tuesday. His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the 
     cathedral, with burial at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.

                                  ____
                                  

                [From the New York Times, May 22, 2001]

        John J. Egan, Priest and Rights Advocate, Is Dead at 84

                          (By Peter Steinfels)

       Msgr. John J. Egan, a Roman Catholic priest in Chicago 
     whose work on issues of civil rights, changing neighborhoods 
     and poverty shaped church efforts in those areas nationally, 
     died on Saturday in Chicago in the rectory of Holy Name 
     Cathedral. He was 84.
       An influential figure for over four decades in both the 
     religious life and neighborhood politics of Chicago, 
     Monsignor Egan exerted an influence that stretched far beyond 
     that city.
       His work in the 1960's with Saul Alinsky and Mr. Alinsky's 
     Industrial Areas Foundation laid the groundwork for what is 
     now a national pattern of community organizing projects based 
     on interfaith coalitions of congregations.
       Ordained a priest in 1943, Monsignor Egan directed the Cana 
     Conference of Chicago from 1947 to 1958. The conference was a 
     ministry to married couples that developed a marriage 
     preparation program, Pre-Cana, that has also been influential 
     nationally.
       From 1958 to 1969, Monsignor Egan directed the Chicago 
     Archdiocesan Office of Urban Affairs, where he became deeply 
     engaged in struggles over racial integration and urban 
     renewal.
       In 1965, despite his doctor's orders to avoid stress to a 
     damaged heart, he responded to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther 
     King Jr.'s appeal to members of the clergy to march in Selma, 
     Ala.
       He was already known for publicly criticizing the effects 
     of urban renewal projects and public housing on established 
     neighborhoods. He tangled with Mayor Richard J. Daley of 
     Chicago, challenged the University of Chicago's neighborhood 
     renewal plans and complained of ``the dictatorial powers'' of 
     urban planners like Robert Moses in New York City.
       Some proponents of urban renewal and integrated housing 
     attacked Monsignor Egan in turn as a self-interested defender 
     of largely white Catholic neighborhoods. Conservatives, 
     including some pastors, recoiled at his working partnership 
     with Mr. Alinsky, a self-styled radical agitator.
       Eventually, Cardinal John Cody disbanded the Office of 
     Urban Affairs in 1969, and Monsignor Egan spent the years 
     from 1970 to 1983 at the University of Notre Dame. There he 
     directed the Institute for Pastoral and Social Ministry, and 
     with Peggy Roach, another veteran of struggles for racial 
     justice, he
       Many of those he influenced called him a ``surrogate 
     bishop'' for Catholics engaged in social and political 
     struggles.
       Brought back to Chicago in 1983 by Cardinal Joseph 
     Bernardin to direct the archdiocese's Office of Human 
     Relations and Ecumenism, in 1987 Monsignor Egan became head 
     of the Office of Community Affairs at DePaul University in 
     Chicago, a position he held until his death.

[[Page E907]]

       John McGreevy, a historian at Notre Dame and the author of 
     ``Parish Boundaries'' (University of Chicago Press, 1996), a 
     prize-winning study of the Catholic Church's handling of 
     racial issues in Northern cities, compared Monsignor Egan to 
     ``the classic parish priests early in the century who were 
     great politically skilled organizers.'' But Monsignor Egan, 
     Professor McGreevy said, ``made the transition to organizing 
     outside the church as well as within it.''
       Monsignor Egan did not shy from internal church 
     controversies. In the 1960's he led a group of reform-minded 
     priests in Chicago, and recalled painfully a single year in 
     Cardinal Cody's tenure when no fewer than 45 priests came to 
     tell him about their decisions to leave the priesthood.
       A month ago, he circulated for publication a plea for the 
     church to ordain women and married men and give women leading 
     roles in the Vatican.
       ``Why are we not using to the fullest the gifts and talents 
     of women who constitute the majority of our membership 
     throughout the world?'' he wrote. ``I realize that even to 
     raise aspects of this question, I label myself a dissenter. 
     Yet prayerful, responsible dissent has always played a role 
     in the church.''
       Despite his deep identification with Chicago, Monsignor 
     Egan was born in Manhattan, on 134th Street in what was then 
     an Irish section of Harlem. His father, a bus driver, and his 
     mother, a dressmaker, were immigrants from Ireland, and moved 
     to Chicago when John was 6.
       He is survived by a sister, Kathleen Egan Martin of 
     Rockford, Ill.

     

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