Auxiliary Bishop John Gorman, 99, dies

Friends and colleagues recalled Auxiliary Bishop John Gorman as a visionary, creative leader who was devoted to the Archdiocese of Chicago and its people after Bishop Gorman died June 2 at Our Lady of the Woods Parish in Orland Park, where he lived in retirement.

He was 99. His life spanned the pontificates of nine popes — eight since he was ordained a priest.

“Bishop John ‘Jack’ Gorman was the last member of the Class of 1952 to go home to God just shy of his 100th birthday,” Cardinal Cupich said. “He was a deeply pastoral and visionary leader whose ministry left an indelible mark on all who encountered him. As a rector and teacher, he helped form generations of seminarians, not merely in doctrine, but also in the art of being truly pastoral. I will miss him dearly, but I am grateful that his legacy of faith, dedication and service to the church will live on.”

“When I came to Our Lady of the Woods last July to begin my pastorate here, one of the things I heard consistently was just how much of a blessing it would be to live with Jack, as he liked to be known,” said Father Elliott Dees. “He had such a breadth of knowledge and experience in the history of the archdiocese.”

Bishop Gorman’s active ministry spanned five decades and included 14 years as pastor of St. Michael Parish in Orland Park, eight years as rector/president of University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, and a few years as director of the Department of Parish/Pastoral Services.

As a bishop, he served as vicar for regional services/vicar general and vicar for Vicariate I, which includes much of northwest suburban Cook County and Lake County, and Vicariate V, which takes in a large swath of the Southwest Side and the southwest suburbs.

“Let’s not talk about what my favorite was,” said Bishop Gorman in a 2020 interview with Chicago Catholic.

Bishop Gorman attended Visitation School, Leo High School and Quigley Preparatory Seminary before the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, and he was ordained by Cardinal Samuel Stritch in 1952.

In addition to his theology degrees, he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago.

He served as an assistant pastor at St. Andrew, 3546 N. Paulina St.; St. Odilo, Berwyn; and St. Nicholas of Tolentine, 3721 W. 62nd Place. After five years, he began teaching at Quigley, and then at Niles College Seminary, where he eventually was chairman of the psychology department.

He also served on the faculty of Loyola University Chicago’s Institute of Pastoral Studies and taught summer school at the University of Notre Dame.

He was ordained an auxiliary bishop in 1988, and retired in 2003.

After that, he resided at Our Lady of the Woods, where he regularly celebrated Masses and visited with and confirmed students, said Deacon John Macarol, who often assisted Bishop Gorman at Mass.

“I had many, many years and many, many Masses and confirmations with him,” Macarol said. “It was an honor and privilege to celebrate Mass with him. … When you were with him, you knew you were with someone who truly understood his faith and wanted to share it with others.”

Having a retired bishop in the parish meant that he did more than confirm young people, Macarol added. Bishop Gorman got to know them.

“He knew those kids,” Macarol said. “When he was able to, he would come into the classes of the eighth graders and talk to them about good moral judgment and how they could make difference in the world. It tied him to them. He loved Our Lady of the Woods. I think he fell in love with it when he came here.”

Father Michael Foley was pastor of Our Lady of the Woods for 11 years while Bishop Gorman lived there, but he first met the bishop in 1985, when Foley was a deacon preparing for priesthood ordination and Bishop Gorman was pastor of St. Michael Parish, Orland Park.

“He was very people-centered,” Foley said. “He was holistic. His background was psychology — he was a psychologist. He listened to people, not just what they were saying, but what their hearts and minds were saying.”

“He was a visionary who certainly led the archdiocese in being the rector and implementing many different things from Vatican II,” said Father Edward Mikolajczyk, a student at Mundelein from 1967 until he was ordained in 1972. “Bishop Gorman  was very good at looking ahead and being visionary about what the church was going to look like in the years ahead.”

The most important thing he taught the seminarians, Mikolajczak said, was how to be pastoral.

“He helped us understand what it meant to be a pastor,” he said. “He showed us how to be present and pastoral to the people.”

Foley recalled that Bishop Gorman came up with his own way of choosing the members of the parish pastoral council in the 1970s, when parish councils were a new thing. Instead of choosing friends, or trying to represent people based on their neighborhoods, he chose people based on their ministries in the parish.

“It was a way of saying you start the parish council based on ministries,” said Foley, now a vicar for priests. “You have liturgy and worship, education and formation, human concerns and parish life. He thought everything should relate to those four areas.”

Bishop Gorman remained interested in the world and in the church, Foley said, recalling that earlier in his retirement, the bishop would have monthly gatherings for his ordination classmates, starting with discussion and ending with a meal.

“He would assign them books,” Foley said. “That was Bishop Gorman.”

“His mind was wonderful,” Mikolajczyk said. “He was always up on what was happening in the church and the news. He was great to live with; we had a number of theological discussions.”

Mikolajczyk said it was a privilege to live with him in retirement.

Dees also praised Bishop Gorman’s sense of humor and love of life, and said it was a blessing that he was able to live in the rectory at the parish until he died.

“He was a good-hearted and peaceful man, and his passing was what any of us would hope for,” Dees said. “The parish is grateful for the gift he has been for the past 25 years.”

Bishop Gorman will lie in state June 9 from 2 to 9 p.m. at Our Lady of the Woods Parish, 10731 W. 131st St., Orland Park, with a vigil service at 7 p.m. Cardinal Cupich will celebrate his funeral Mass June 10 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Woods. Foley will offer the homily.