Joseph N. Perry

Styles of Joseph Nathaniel Perry
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Joseph Nathaniel Perry (born April 18, 1948) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

He is vice-president of the board of the National Black Catholic Congress, and chairman of the US bishops' Subcommittee on African-American Affairs.

Biography[]

Education[]

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Joseph Perry attended various Catholic elementary schools in Chicago between 1954 and 1962. For one year, in 1962, he attended Carver High School, moving on to St. Lawrence Seminary High School in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin, for the remainder of his high school years.^[1]

In 1967, Perry entered the Capuchin Seminary of St. Mary in Crown Point, Indiana, studying there through 1971. He attended Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana, where in 1971 he was awarded two BA degrees in Philosophy and Theology. Perry then entered St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin, receiving a Master of Divinity in 1975.

Ordination and ministry[]

On May 24, 1975, Perry was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.^[2][1]After his ordination, he was assigned as associate pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Milwaukee. In 1976, he was appointed to the archdiocesan tribunal. Between 1979 and 1981, Perry attended Catholic University of America, obtaining a licentiate degree in canon law. After receiving his licentiate, Perry returned to the tribunal, where he was appointed Chief Judicial Officer in 1983. At the same time, he started teaching canon law at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. ^[1]

In 1995, Perry permanently left the tribunal to return to pastoral work with an assignment as pastor of All Saints Parish in Milwaukee. In 1996. he began teaching canon law at Marquette University Law School and in 1997 at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.^[1]

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago[]

On May 5, 1998, Pope John Paul II appointed Perry as the titular bishopof Lead.^[2] He was installed and consecrated on June 29, 1998 by Cardinal Francis George. He was then appointed the episcopal vicar for Vicariate VI of the Archdiocese of Chicago.^[2][1]

Membership and Appointments[]

In 2010, Perry was named by Cardinal Francis George as the Diocesan Postulator for the sainthood cause of Father Augustus Tolton, a former slave who became the first known African-American priest in the Catholic church.^[3]

A member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,Perry is chairman of the Committee on African American Catholics. He has also served on several other USCCB committees, including those for Education, Home Missions; the Ad Hoc Committee on Catholics' Use of Holy Scripture; the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth; and the Ad Hoc Committee for a Plenary Council, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the subcommittee for the Defense of Marriage and the subcommittee for Migrants, Refugees and Travelers.^[1]

Since 1977 Perry has been a member of the Canon Law Society of America (CLSA). In 1998 he sat on the Board of Advisors of Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago. In addition, he is an episcopal liaison for Catechetics and Liturgical Training Publications (LTP) of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and is a judge sitting on the Ecclesiastical Court of Appeals for the dioceses in the State of Illinois.^[1]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

• Biography from the Archdiocese of Chicago
• Biography from the National Black Catholic Congress
• National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago