Description
Archbishop Samuel Stritch (1940-1958) was appointed Archbishop of Chicago in December 1939 and was an advocate for Catholic Action and the Catholic Youth Organization. When he was appointed archbishop, Stritch was to serve 422 parishes in the entire Archdiocese of Chicago, serving 1.4 million Catholics in the northeastern Illinois counties of Cook, Lake, Will, Kankakee, Du Page, and Grundy (Catholics comprised one-third of the total population of these six counties). He was elected chairman of the National Catholic Welfare Conference in 1939 and also served as the vice-chancellor of the Catholic Church Extension Society, which supports poor Catholic dioceses across America. As archbishop, Stritch oversaw the establishment of the first American chapter of the Opus Dei organization, the launch of the Christian Family Movement and the outreach to the Catholic Puerto Rican community. In 1958, Stritch was appointed as Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Faith, directing the Catholic Church’s missionary efforts. Throughout his term as archbishop, Stritch's main concerns included improving Catholic elementary school education and supporting social institutions such as homes for the aged, orphanages and hospitals.
Source
Avella, Steven M. This Confident Church: Catholic Leadership and Life in Chicago, 1940-65. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992.
