Edward William O'Rourke
|
The Most Reverend Edward William O'Rourke |
|
|---|---|
| Bishop of Peoria | |
| See | Peoria |
| Installed | May 24, 1971 |
| Term ended | January 22, 1990 |
| Predecessor | John Baptist Franz |
| Successor | John J. Myers |
| Other posts |
Assistant chaplain at the Newman Centre of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 28, 1944 |
| Consecration | July 15, 1971 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Edward William O'Rourke |
| Born |
October 31, 1917 Downs, Illinois |
| Died | September 29, 1999 (aged 81) Peoria, Illinois |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Alma mater | St. Mary of the Lake Seminary |
Assistant chaplain at the Newman Centre of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Edward William O'Rourke (October 31, 1917 – September 29, 1999) was the sixth Roman Catholic Bishop of Peoria (1971–1990).
One of eleven children, Edward O'Rourke was born in Downs, Illinois, to Martin and Mary (née Hickey) O'Rourke. He decided to become a priest following his Confirmation in 1930, and later recalled he "never had a moment of doubt that this was [his] calling." After attending Downs High School (1931–1935) and St. Henry College (1935–1938), he studied at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. O'Rourke was ordained by Bishop Joseph H. Schlarman on May 28, 1944. He then served as an assistant chaplain at the Newman Centre of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign until 1960. He also helped find housing and employment for hundreds of people fleeing the Communist takeover of Eastern Europe.
From 1960 to 1971, O'Rourke was executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. He was a strong supporter of self-help projects to aid the poor over handouts, and favored non-governmental over government aid because he believed that governmental aid could end with a change in the policy or in the party in power. He helped establish hundreds of economic development committees, cooperatives and other self-help programs in the United States and abroad. During the 1960s he lectured widely on his experiences in developing countries, traveling more than 140,000 miles to 19 nations in one year alone. In 1960 he declared, "We must not exchange the family farm system for a few 'general farms incorporated.' Such an exchange would be tragic for families on the land and for nations as a whole. In America we have an agriculture which is efficient, which is conducive to good family life, which is a bulwark of religion and democracy. Let us not exchange it for a type of agriculture which has failed in every place and every age in which it has been tried." In 1967 he issued a critique of industrial agriculture, saying, "It neglects entirely the spiritual, social and cultural values of rural living. It means the uprooting of thousands of rural families...The spiritual, social and cultural values of the farm family and given priority in determining our agricultural priorities."
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