Oklahoma Bishop Emeritus Slattery, ‘man of deep faith,’ passes away at 84

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2024 / 13:50 pm

Edward Slattery, the bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma, passed away at age 84 on Friday following a series of debilitating strokes, diocesan officials said.

“Bishop Slattery was a man of deep faith who knew that death would bring him to his Lord,” Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma Bishop David Konderla said in a Saturday statement. “I was blessed to follow in his footsteps in the diocese and will remember him with fondness and prayer.”

Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells, who grew up in Oklahoma and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Tulsa in 1991, shared that he was “deeply saddened” by Slattery’s passing.

“Bishop Slattery will be fondly remembered for his many initiatives in the diocese, his compassion for the poor, and his profound spiritual guidance,” Wells said on Saturday. 

“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.” 

Slattery was born in Chicago on Aug. 11, 1940, the grandson of Irish immigrants on the maternal and paternal sides of the family. He was the second of seven children, and his family lived in a small apartment with no air conditioning and only one bathroom, according to Tulsa World. 

Slattery was raised Catholic and felt called to the priesthood at a young age. After graduating from Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Slattery earned a bachelor of arts and master of divinity, both from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. 

He was ordained a priest on April 26, 1966, for the Archdiocese of Chicago, where he served as an associate pastor at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland until 1971 while obtaining a second master’s degree from Loyola University Chicago. 

He served as the vice president of the Catholic Church Extension Society, a funding agency for American home missions, from 1971–1976, and subsequently as president until 1994. 

During his time with the extension society, Slattery was the associate pastor of St. Rose of Lima, an inner-city Hispanic parish on the South Side of Chicago beginning in 1973, and was pastor from 1976 to 1989. 

He was ordained as a bishop on Jan. 6, 1994, by Pope John Paul II and subsequently installed as the Tulsa bishop on Jan. 12. 

As bishop, Slattery oversaw the expansion of Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma in the early 2000s and helped establish an endowment-based tuition assistance program for Catholic families in need in 1999.

He also oversaw a large-scale fundraising effort that raised $17.5 million for the diocese’s 25th anniversary in 1998. Slattery worked with the Benedictines to found a new monastery in rural northeastern Oklahoma in the late 1990s and founded the Pastoral Studies Institute in Tulsa. 

“For many years I have appreciated Bishop Slattery as a friend and brother bishop,” said Archbishop Paul Coakley 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.”

Pope Francis in 2016 accepted Slattery’s resignation, which he submitted at the age of 75 as required by canon law. Slattery continued to serve as bishop emeritus after his resignation until his death last week.

In 2002, Slattery apologized for reinstating Father Kenneth Lewis to ministry in 1995 following allegations against Lewis of sexual misconduct toward young boys. Slattery returned the priest to active ministry after Lewis received psychiatric treatment, a decision Slattery later said he would not have made had he had further information. Lewis himself would eventually be accused again of sexual abuse of a boy in 2001; he would ultimately plead guilty to a felony in connection with that abuse and be sentenced to seven years in prison.

Slattery is survived by his four sisters and one brother. His funeral is set to take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa. 

“I give thanks to God for [Slattery’s] many years of faithful service as a priest and bishop, especially his two decades of dedication to the Diocese of Tulsa,” Wells said.