Father John Kartje 2015-present Born in East Chicago, Indiana, Father John Kartje earned bachelor’s degrees in math and physics and a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Chicago before entering Mundelein Seminary. After being ordained in 2002, he earned a doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of America. He served in parishes, on the faculty at Mundelein and as chaplain of Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University before being named president/rector in 2015. Bishop Robert Barron 2012-2015 Bishop Robert Barron attended Fenwick High School in Oak Park and Benet Academy in Lisle before attending the University of Notre Dame for one year. He attended Mundelein Seminary for one year before being named a Basselin Scholar at the Catholic University of America, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy. He earned a licentiate in sacred theology at Mundelein and was ordained in 1986. After serving in parish ministry for three years, he earned a doctorate in sacred theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. From 1992 to 2012, he was a professor of systematic theology at Mundelein, and, starting in 2008, the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture. In 2000, he started Word on Fire, a media ministry. He served as rector/president of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary from 2012 to 2015, when he was named auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles. Msgr. Dennis J. Lyle 2006-2012 Msgr. Dennis Lyle attended Quigley South, Niles College Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He was an associate pastor and on the faculty of St. Joseph College Seminary (1994-1997) and Mundelein Seminary (2000-2006) before becoming rector/president of Mundelein. He later was director of Cardinal Stritch Retreat House and vicar for priests, He now serves as pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish. Msgr. John Canary 1995-2006 Msgr. John Canary was ordained a priest in 1969 after attending Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He was the dean of formation (1977-1988) and the vice rector (1984-1992) at Mundelein before serving as vicar for priests. He became the rector of the seminary in 1995, leaving in 2006 to become the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, a post he held until 2013. Now retired, he directs the Joseph and Mary Retreat House on the university’s campus. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas 1984-1995 Ordained a priest in 1967, Bishop Gerald Kicanas served as rector, principal and dean of formation at Quigley South before being named rector of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in 1984. In 1995, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Chicago. In 2001, he became coadjutor bishop of Tuscon, Arizona, and he became bishop of Tucson in 2003. He retired in 2017. Archbishop James P. Keleher 1978-1984 Archbishop James P. Keleher was the sixth rector of Mundelein Seminary. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1958. He taught and served as an administrator at Quigley, Niles College Seminary and Quigley South before being named rector/president of Mundelein in 1978. In 1984, he was appointed bishop of Belleville, and in 1993, he became archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas. He retired in 2005 and still occasionally teaches at the seminary. Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy 1973-1978 Born in Chicago, Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary before being ordained in 1958. He was named rector of the seminary in 1973 and served in that post until 1978, when he was appointed bishop of Great Falls, Montana. He became coadjutor archbishop of Seattle in 1987 and archbishop of Seattle in 1991. He died in 1997. Bishop John Gorman 1966-1973 Bishop John Gorman became Mundelein Seminary’s rector in 1966, 14 years after being ordained to the priesthood. Before becoming rector, he served as a faculty member of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s high school and college seminaries, Loyola Pastoral Studies Institute and the University of Notre Dame’s Summer School. He also served as an associate pastor in Chicago parishes. As rector, he oversaw the seminary as it ushered in changes to reflect the Second Vatican Council. In 1973, he became pastor of St. Michael Parish in Orland Park, where he served until 1987. In 1988, he became an auxiliary bishop of Chicago. He retired in 2003. Msgr. Malachy Foley 1944-1966 Msgr. Malachy P. Foley, ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1922, became the third rector of Mundelein Seminary in 1944. He had served as rector of the high school seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1935 to 1944. Foley was known for his personal piety and priestly example as rector at Mundelein. In 1965, Foley became pastor of St. Bride Parish. He was named pastor emeritus in 1969 and continued to serve the people of St. Bride until he died in 1979. Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand 1936-1944 Priest, pastor, educator, social justice advocate and liturgical reformer, Monsignor Reynold Hillenbrand (1905-1979), a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, served as rector of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary from 1936 to 1944, and pastor of sacred Heart Parish in Winnetka, Illinois from 1944 to 1974. Known as one of Chicago’s most influential and inspirational priests, Hillenbrand was a visionary leader of liturgical reform and social renewal. As a prolific speaker and founder of numerous organizations and events, including the National Liturgical Weeks, the Summer of Social Action and the Catholic Family Movement, Hillenbrand shaped the understanding of generations of priests and laypeople. Msgr. J. Gerald Kealy 1921-1936 Monsignor J. Gerald Kealy was the founding rector of Mundelein Seminary. In addition to building an institution of higher learning from the ground up, Kealy hosted the International Eucharistic Congress at the Mundelein campus. Appointed as pastor of St. Gertrude Parish in Chicago in 1936, he would continue in the pastoral ministry until his retirement in 1968. However, his expertise in seminary administration was called upon in 1945 when he assumed the office of rector of the Pontifical North American College for one year, after which he returned to the pastorate. He died in 1976 at the age of 83.
Mundelein at 100: Assyrian Orthodox students found a home at seminary The University of St. Mary of the Lake counts plenty of Catholic prelates among the men who studied there. Now, it can count the leader of the Assyrian Church of the East. Mar Awa Royel, born in Chicago, was elected patriarch in Erbil, Iraq, in September.
Diary project provides glimpse into life, work of Chicago’s first bishop When Bishop William Quarter, the first ordinary of the Diocese of Chicago, arrived in his see for the first time on May 5, 1844, he had spent more than two weeks traveling from New York. He traveled by boat, rail and stagecoach, arriving in the city on a steamship that sailed between Chicago and St. Joseph, Michigan, regularly in the spring, summer and autumn.
Mundelein centennial: Architecture designed to respond to society Visitors to the campus of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary who think they have stepped into a quaint New England village are getting exactly the impression Cardinal George Mundelein hoped for when he began building.