Obituary
2023; The Catholic University of America Press; Volume: 109; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/cat.2023.a914186
ISSN1534-0708
Autores ResumoObituary Brendan Lupton Click for larger view View full resolution The Reverend Martin Zielinski (1952–2023) The Reverend Martin Zielinski, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and a retired professor in the Department of Church History at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, passed away Sunday, June 25, 2023; he was 71. Born on April 4, 1952, Zielinski grew up in Chicago's south side and attended Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic grade school in Flossmoor, Illinois. After his graduation, he entered the Chicago seminary system, first attending Quigley Preparatory Seminary, in Chicago, then continuing with Niles College Seminary, in Niles, Illinois, and finally finishing at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, Chicago's major seminary. On May 10, 1978, Cardinal John Cody ordained Zielinski to the priesthood. Recognizing his talents as a student and a scholar, Cody asked Zielinski to pursue a doctoral degree in American Church History at Catholic University of America. Mgsr. Trisco directed his dissertation "'Doing the truth': the Catholic Interracial Council of New York, 1945–1965," and Zielinski defended it successfully in 1989, and was awarded a PhD in American Church History. In the same year, he was assigned to Mundelein Seminary as an associate professor of Church History; Zielinski spent more than 30 years at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary where he taught history of the Church. He taught nearly every period of the Church, but specialized in American Church history. His passion for the stories of the Church made him a sought-after professor. As his former student, I will always remember his emotion as he narrated the circumstances of the Marian apparition of Lourdes. He explained that St. Bernadette [End Page 834] Soubirous, a small, poor peasant girl, revealed that Mary told her that she was the "Immaculate Conception;" a dogma that priest and prelates happened to be debating in Rome at the time. Bernadette's testimony confirmed the dogma, which Pius IX later ratified. Zielinski voice's shook when he explained that a "small, poor, peasant" confirmed the theological debate. Zielinski published many articles in the U.S. Catholic Historian, the Encyclopedia of American Catholic History and the journal Chicago Studies. Recently, he made a special contribution to American Church History, a transcription and annotation of the diary of Bishop William Quarter, the first bishop of Chicago, 1844–48. Born in Ireland in Killurin, King's County, in 1806, Quarter as a young man listened to the stories of an Irish missionary to the United States, who narrated how early American Catholics were deprived of the Eucharist and the other sacraments on account of a lack of priests. Moved by these tales, the young Quarter resolved to serve as a missionary in North America. Having received permission and a blessing from his bishop, Bishop James Warren Doyle, Quarter boarded a ship for the New World and crossed the Atlantic in 1822. Eventually, he was ordained to the priesthood in New York in 1829 and served first as a vicar and then as a pastor of St. Mary's Church in the heart of New York, at that time. In 1843, Pope Gregory XVI appointed Quarter as the first Bishop of the diocese of Chicago. From 1843 until his death in 1848, Quarter logged a diary of his experience as a bishop and of his travels. Concerning the entries, Zielinski said, "He had some interesting observations. … He talks about being down in the southwest part of the state and how flooded everything is. There was a huge flood of the Mississippi that year, and he was seeing the effects of it. You wish he had taken the time to expand some of his entries, maybe a little more description of the Catholic communities he visited. … That could have been just tiredness. He might have had more to say if he felt stronger." This diary will serve as important contribution to the field of American Church History. At the end of his life, Zielinski contributed the Church's liturgical life as well. Having attended many ordinations and prayed the litany of the saints during them, he realized...
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