In Memoriam Bishop Edward J. Slattery

Obituario en espanol

Bishop Emeritus Edward J. Slattery
Aug. 11, 1940  -  Sept. 13, 2024

Bishop Edward J. Slattery, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, died September 13, 2024, the Feast of Saint John Chrysostom. He was 84.
 
“Bishop Slattery was a man of deep faith who knew that death would bring him to his Lord,” said Most Rev. David A. Konderla, Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. “I was blessed to follow in his footsteps in the Diocese and will remember him with fondness and prayer.”
 
Other Catholic leaders also offered condolences and honored Bishop Slattery’s lifelong commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.
 
“For many years I have appreciated Bishop Slattery as a friend and brother bishop,” said Most Reverend Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City. “He welcomed me warmly when I arrived in Oklahoma in 2011 and always encouraged my ministry here. I have appreciated the pastoral leadership he provided in the Diocese of Tulsa and nationally through the work of Catholic Extension which he guided before coming to Oklahoma.”
 
The papal representative of the Holy See in the United States commended Bishop Slattery’s years of work in the Diocese and his heart for the poor.
 
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Bishop Edward Slattery, Bishop Emeritus of Tulsa,” said Archbishop Peter B. Wells, Apostolic Nuncio. “I give thanks to God for his many years of faithful service as a priest and Bishop, especially his two decades of dedication to the Diocese of Tulsa. Bishop Slattery will be fondly remembered for his many initiatives in the Diocese, his compassion for the poor, and his profound spiritual guidance. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all those mourning his loss, particularly his family, Bishop David Konderla, the clergy, religious, and faithful of the Diocese of Tulsa. May he rest in Peace.” 
 
Edward James Slattery was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 11, 1940, to William Edward Slattery and Winifred Margaret (Brennan) Slattery. Of their seven children, he was the second child and first boy. Both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from Ireland. 
 
In a story about Bishop Slattery’s pending retirement in its August 15, 2015, issue, the Tulsa World  reported, “His family of nine shared a five-room, third-floor apartment with one bathroom and no air conditioning. He was 17 when his father, who was a firefighter and janitor, got the first family car.”
 
He was attracted to the priesthood at a young age, having been influenced by his family, parish priests, and the sacramental life of the Church. Again, as reported by the Tulsa World, “One night, about 2 in the morning, I woke up … and I was aware of God’s presence as I had never been before. The house was absolutely silent. And I’m lying there wide awake in the dark, and I’m beginning to cry a little bit because I’m so happy that God is so good to me. It was a religious experience. I just knew God was present, and he knew me and loved me, and I was safe. And I was feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. No words, just a sense, or a feeling.”
 
After his schooling at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Grade School in Chicago, Slattery attended high school at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, also in Chicago. He attended college at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Divinity degree. 
 
He was ordained a priest on April 26, 1966, for the Archdiocese of Chicago by the late Cardinal John Patrick Cody. Father Slattery was assigned as Associate Pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland, Illinois, where he served from 1966 to 1971. During this time, he also obtained a Master's degree from Loyola University Chicago. 
 
In 1971, he began a lengthy service with the Catholic Church Extension Society, a funding agency for the American home missions, with headquarters in Chicago. He served as the organization’s Vice President from 1971-76 and then as President from 1976 until 1994 before coming to Tulsa. While working at the Extension Society, Father Slattery was appointed Associate Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in 1973. This was an inner-city Hispanic parish on the south side of Chicago. He was named pastor of St. Rose of Lima in 1976 and remained in that position until 1989.
 
In 1979, Father Slattery had the joy of personally meeting Blessed Pope John Paul II when the pontiff visited Chicago as part of an American tour. A recounting of that experience was published in the April 2014 issue of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic.  It would not be their only meeting.
 
Late in 1993, Father Slattery was notified via a phone call from the papal nuncio — the Vatican’s representative to the United States — that Pope John Paul II had chosen to name him a bishop. He accepted and his father learned the news but died before witnessing his son become a bishop. In Rome, on January 6, 1994, the Holy Father ordained thirteen men as bishops, one of which was Edward J. Slattery. Among those present for his ordination was his mother, Winifred.
 
Bishop Slattery was installed as the third bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa at Holy Family Cathedral on January 12, 1994, but not without some hardship at the very outset. On the flight back to the U.S. from Rome, he had come down with a case of influenza. A front-page story from the January 23, 1994, issue of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic newspaper trumpeted the headline, “Third bishop of Tulsa installed,” but reported that Bishop Slattery was barely able to attend his own installation after a severe bout with the flu. It was so severe that the newspaper reported he had to be hospitalized at St. John Medical Center and stated, “…the bishop’s doctors released him Wednesday morning in time for the Mass in his honor.” Undaunted, a weakened but recovering Bishop Slattery did not miss his installation ceremony and would successfully lead the Diocese of Tulsa for the next 22 years.
 
On Ash Wednesday, 1995, Bishop Slattery published his first Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of the Diocese of Tulsa, “To Listen with a Loving Heart.”  Other major initiatives and milestones that came about during his episcopate included relocating the Chancery offices in 1998 from downtown Tulsa to new offices in Broken Arrow, thanks to the generosity of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, who donated the spacious property and office complex. That same year the Diocese of Tulsa undertook its first large-scale fundraising effort, “The Fund for the Future,” which raised $17.6 million as the Diocese celebrated its 25^th Anniversary.
 
Bishop Slattery’s episcopacy also witnessed the dramatic expansion of Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma. In his second Pastoral Letter published Nov. 25, 2007, Solemnity of Christ the King, “The suffering faces of the poor are the suffering face of Christ,” Bishop Slattery passionately encouraged the faithful to heed Jesus’s call to serve the poor and advocate for those who suffered injustice.
 
In that same year, Catholic Charities began an extensive, community-wide capital campaign. Two years later, in 2009, thanks to the generosity of 4,000 individuals and families, Catholic Charities moved to a new 74,000-square-foot campus in north Tulsa. The faith-based, non-profit charitable organization receives no direct funding from the Diocese, nor accepts any government assistance.
 
Bishop Slattery was instrumental in establishing the St. Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Trust in 1999 to ensure the ability of Catholic families who might not otherwise afford to send their children to a Catholic school, the opportunity of a Catholic education. It was initially funded through interest earned on a $5 million endowment pledged through the 1999 Diocesan Fund for the Future campaign, spearheaded by Bishop Slattery.
 
In the late 1990s, a new Benedictine monastery found a home in rural northeastern Oklahoma. On the Feast of the Assumption of 1998, a charter was signed between the Abbot of Fontgombault, France, and Bishop Slattery. On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 2000, the Priory of Our Lady of Clear Creek was officially inaugurated on the site of what had been an old barn and stable in the presence of Bishop Slattery, several national and international dignitaries, as well as a host of priests and friends of the new monastic community.
 
A proponent of continued religious formation and education, Bishop Slattery founded the Pastoral Studies Institute in Tulsa. He was also strongly supportive of a robust Diaconate formation program.
 
A Mass honoring the Golden Jubilee (50th anniversary) of Bishop Edward J. Slattery’s priestly ordination was celebrated on May 8, 2016, at Holy Family Cathedral. Archbishop Emeritus Eusebius J. Beltran, formerly Archbishop of Oklahoma City and Bishop of Tulsa, delivered the homily at the celebration. He said Bishop Slattery’s episcopacy was blessed from the beginning as no less than a saint, St. Pope John Paul II, had ordained him a bishop. He said that Bishop Slattery had always kept Jesus at the forefront of his ministry.
 
In his remarks, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley thanked Bishop Slattery for his 22 years of service to the Diocese of Tulsa, saying, “You have indeed been a good shepherd, and we are very, very grateful.”
 
As required by canon law once reaching the age of 75, Bishop Slattery submitted his letter of resignation. It was accepted by Pope Francis on May 13, 2016. 
 
Bishop Slattery wrote in his final column for the June 2016 issue of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic magazine,
“How often I have written about the Eucharist in these pages! How many times have I preached on this very mystery! Now I am saying goodbye to you and, with a lump in my throat, I beg you to face the bleakness of the world with your hearts alive with a hope founded in the Eucharist.” 
 
He continued, “…And know that through the months and years of my retirement, you will be in all my prayers, in my every Mass, even in the chain that connects the beads of my rosary. I will never cease praying for you and ask that you do the same — in charity — for me.”
 
Bishop Edward J. Slattery was preceded in death by his parents William E. Slattery and Winifred M. (Brennan) Slattery; and a sister, Mary E. Mathewson-Michael. He is survived by his siblings, Winnie C. Dollear, Anne T. Stevenson, Catherine J. Freihage, Margaret I. Sheehan and James E. Slattery.
 
Funeral details can be found here. 
 
Memorial contributions in Bishop Slattery’s name may be made to:
 
Saint Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Trust
PO Box 690240
Tulsa, OK 74169
Or online here
 
Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, 
Development Office 
P.O. Box 580460
Tulsa, OK 74158-0460
Or online here