Obituario

Chicago (Dec. 10, 2021) – Rev. Francis S. Rog, C.R., former associate pastor at St. Hyacinth Basilica, passed away Nov. 29, 2021. He was 91 years old.

Rog was born on July 12,1930, in Chicago. He attended St. Hedwig School and Weber High School in Chicago. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from St. Louis University, in St. Louis, and a doctorate from Northwestern University in Chicago.

Rog professed his Perpetual Vows in the Congregation of the Resurrection on Jan. 6, 1949, and was ordained to the priesthood on Sept. 24, 1955, by Bishop Charles Helmsing in St. Louis.

He served the Church and the Congregation of the Resurrection in various capacities: not only as teacher and principal at Weber High School, and teacher and assistant principal at Gordon Tech High School, both in Chicago; but also as pastor and associate pastor at four parishes served by the congregation (Our Lady of Loretto Parish in St. Louis and the parishes of St. Hedwig, St. Stanislaus Kostka and St. Hyacinth, all in Chicago).

From 1976 through 1985, Rog was Provincial Superior of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Resurrection. During those years he served the Archdiocese of Chicago in a variety of roles: as a member of the Presbyteral Council, advocate on the Marriage Tribunal of the archdiocese, member of the Archbishop’s Board of Consultors and Chairman of the Committee for Polish Ministry and the Committee for Male Religious. He also served for 10 years on the Board of Directors of the Notre Dame High School for Girls.

For a detailed description of Rog’s service, please click here.

The funeral Mass took place at St. Hyacinth Basilica on Dec. 4, 2021, and interment took place afterward at St. Adalbert Cemetery.

During the funeral Mass homily, Bishop Robert Kurtz, C.R., bishop emeritus of Hamilton in Bermuda, said: “Fr. Frank spent 71 years of his life as a Resurrectionist Religious, striving to learn and to love the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection in his own life and in the lives of those he served. He spent 66 years as an ordained priest celebrating Mass where we believe the Risen Christ is truly present in the priest, the people and the consecrated elements of bread and wine.”

“Despite his own sickness and frailty, Fr. Rog continued to minister to the people of God,” said Very Rev. Steven Bartczyszyn, current provincial superior of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Resurrection. “He would celebrate Mass several times a week for the residents at Resurrection Life Center and was always ready to anoint a sick or dying patient. He always greeted people in the hallways and gave them a smile of hope and compassion.”