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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Father John | ||||||
| 4 | Breslin on his years of service as pastor of St. Ailbe's Church | ||||||
| 5 | in Chicago; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Father John Breslin was born on September 30, 1958 | ||||||
| 7 | on the southwest side of Chicago; after finishing elementary | ||||||
| 8 | and high school, he attended Loyola University in Chicago and | ||||||
| 9 | received his undergraduate degree in Social Work with minors in | ||||||
| 10 | Philosophy and English; he continued his graduate studies at | ||||||
| 11 | St. Mary of the Lake University in Mundelein, where he received | ||||||
| 12 | a Master in Divinity Degree; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, He was ordained a priest on May 18, 1985; his | ||||||
| 14 | parish career began as Associate Pastor of St. Joachim Church | ||||||
| 15 | from 1985 to 1990; he was then appointed Associate Pastor of | ||||||
| 16 | St. Kilian Church from 1990 to 1991, a position he held until | ||||||
| 17 | he was appointed pastor of St. Ailbe's Church; he has served as | ||||||
| 18 | pastor of St. Ailbe's since his appointment in 1991 until the | ||||||
| 19 | present; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Three years ago Father Breslin was diagnosed with | ||||||
| 21 | a debilitating chronic neurological illness and made the | ||||||
| 22 | decision to resign as the pastor of St. Ailbe's effective | ||||||
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| 1 | November 2, 2008; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, During his tenure as pastor, St. Ailbe's has grown | ||||||
| 3 | from a church in danger of closing to the second largest | ||||||
| 4 | African-American Catholic Church in Chicago; as a visionary | ||||||
| 5 | pastor he has led the church in the development of 154 units of | ||||||
| 6 | housing for seniors as well as six units of housing for | ||||||
| 7 | physically challenged families, called the St. Ailbe Faith and | ||||||
| 8 | Love Apartments and the St. Ailbe Hope apartments; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Father John has also served as an adjunct | ||||||
| 10 | professor at St. Joseph College Seminary and St. Mary of the | ||||||
| 11 | Lake Seminary, as well as consultant to the Catholic Charities | ||||||
| 12 | Family Shelter Program; he has also served on the Vocation Task | ||||||
| 13 | Force for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and has served on a | ||||||
| 14 | variety of Advisory Boards within the Archdiocese of Chicago, | ||||||
| 15 | especially those related to the African-American Catholic | ||||||
| 16 | Church and Priestly Formation and Development; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, Father Breslin will continue to be a priest and | ||||||
| 18 | will continue to serve the Archdiocese of Chicago; therefore, | ||||||
| 19 | be it
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| 20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 21 | NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 22 | thank Father Breslin for his years of ministry and service to | ||||||
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| 1 | the people of Chicago, especially his parish at St. Ailbe's | ||||||
| 2 | Church; and be it further
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| 3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 4 | presented to Father John Breslin as a symbol of our sincere | ||||||
| 5 | respect.
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