Queen of All Saints Basilica

Reverend Ed Grace, resident

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Greetings from the second newest resident of Queen of All Saints Rectory. My name is Father Edward D. Grace. I was born in 1942. I began school at Resurrection on the West Side, graduated from St. Angela, continued my education at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, and then went on to study Philosophy and Theology at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein.

I was ordained in 1967. My first assignment was to St. Edna Parish in Arlington Heights. In 1974 I became associate pastor of St. Peter Parish in Skokie. In 1981 I was assigned to St. Francis Borgia Parish in Chicago and in February, 1992 I returned to the scene of some youthful adventures when I was named pastor of St. Peter Parish in Skokie. As you can see, aside from picking up a Law degree from DePaul University, my life has been that of a typical parish priest. That ended in June of this year when Cardinal George, for reasons best known to himself, appointed me Vicar for Priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The assignment as Vicar for Priests is a full time office position. This means that while I am Vicar, I will not be assigned as a pastor or associate pastor of some parish in the diocese. I do, however, still need a place to live. Father Prist, a classmate and close friend, was kind enough to offer me residence at Queen of All Saints. I was happy to accept his kind offer.

Father Prist and I are friends and Queen of All Saints will be a convenient place for me to stay. But there is a factor that is much more important that the comfort of friendship and a convenient location. Queen of All Saints is a place where I can continue to be a parish priest. I have been a parish priest for more than 37 years now, and would not like to live apart from a parish. I am looking forward to becoming part of the Queen of All Saints Parish Community. I am looking forward to participating in the life of the parish to the extent that my responsibilities as Vicar for Priests allow. We diocesan priests are, after all, meant to be parish priests. From time to time one or another of us must undertake some full time central office responsibility, but parish life is really what we are meant for, and it is parish life that is essential to our calling. This is the most significant reason that I look forward to becoming a resident at Queen of All Saints.