Edward James Slattery

The second of seven children, Edward Slattery was born on August 11, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, to William Edward and Winifred Margaret (née Brennan) Slattery; both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from Ireland.^[1][2]

After attending Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Grade School and Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Slattery studied at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, obtaining Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees.^[1]

Slattery was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago at St. Mary of the Lake by John Cardinal Cody on April 26, 1966, by Archbishop John Patrick Cody.^[3] After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Slattery as an associate pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland, Illinois. During this time, he also earned a Master's degree from Loyola University Chicago. Slattery was appointed as vice-president of the Catholic Church Extension Society in 1971. While working at Extension, he was named associate pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chicago in 1973.^[4] Slattery became the Extension president in 1976 and was transferred to St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chicago from 1976 to 1989.^[1]

On November 11, 1993, Pope John Paul II appointed Slattery as the third bishop of Tulsa. He was consecrated by John Paul II in Rome on January 6, 1994, with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Josip Uhac serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.^[3] Slattery selected as his episcopal motto: "Tu Solus Sanctus", meaning, "You alone are the Holy One."^[2]

Pope Francis accepted Slattery's letter of resignation as bishop of Tulsa on May 13, 2016, appointing Father David Konderla to succeed him.^[3] Slattery died in Bixby, Oklahoma, on September 13, 2024, at the age of 84.^[5]

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Slattery criticized the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then U.S. Senator Joe Biden, both Catholics, for their remarks on abortion rights for women on the TV program Meet the Press. Slattery described their positions as "clearly inconsistent with Catholic teaching" and "plainly false."^[6]

Slattery was a conservative on question of liturgical practice. He returned to the practice of celebrating the Eucharistic liturgy in his cathedral using the ancient style in which the priest and the congregation face the same direction, ad orientem. He believed this form had a number of advantages over the form of in which the priest faces the congregation.^[7]

On April 24, 2010, Slattery celebrated high mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., to mark the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, wearing the rarely seen cappa magna.^[8]

On February 2, 2012, Slattery released a statement in response to the contraceptive mandates issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Slattery joined other bishops in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in opposing the mandate.^[9]

Separation of church and state in the history of the Catholic Church
Overview Two kingdoms doctrine in Roman Catholicism Relations between the Catholic Church and the State Catholic integralism Politics of Vatican City
Sovereignty and loyalty Papal deposing power Sovereign immunity § Holy See Dual loyalty § Historical examples Fourth vow § In the Society of Jesus
Documents Donation of Constantine Dictatus papae Unam sanctam To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Papal Jurisdiction Act 1560 (Scotland) Disputationes de Controversiis Mirari vos Quanta cura Syllabus of Errors Dignitatis humanae Church–state relations in Argentina § 2005 Episcopal Conference document
Historical controversies Constantinian shift / Constantinianism Investiture Controversy Society of Jesus § Political intrigue Cisalpinism vs. Ultramontanism Americanism (heresy) § American response
20th-century topics History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance § The mid-20th-century Spanish model Letitia Dunbar-Harrison Christian anarchism § Catholic Worker Movement
Current topics Evo Morales and the Roman Catholic Church Radio Maryja § Involvement in politics Laudato si' § Impact on the United States political system Catholic social teaching Conscience clause in medicine in the United States § Catholic doctrine Canon 915 § Politicians consistently promoting permissive abortion or euthanasia laws Bp. W. Francis Malooly on Canon 915 Bp. Edward J. Slattery § Illegal immigrants
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In 2006, Slattery said that if a law was passed criminalizing the act of aiding undocumented immigrants, "then [he] will become a criminal," adding,

"When it becomes a crime to love the poor and serve their needs, then I will be the first to go to jail for this crime, and I pray that every priest and every deacon in this diocese will have the courage to walk with me into that prison."^[10]

In 2007, Slattery issued a 21-page pastoral letter in which he condemned Oklahoma House Bill 1804, a strict anti-illegal immigration law which Slattery claimed creates "an atmosphere of repression and terror."^[11]