The Archdiocese of Chicago named a layman to the post of chancellor for the first time in its history on Thursday, making him the most powerful official without a Roman collar in the 2.3 million-member church’s hierarchy.
Jimmy Lago, a longtime lobbyist for the church and more recently director of Catholic Charities, will now report directly to Cardinal Francis George. Lago will oversee the administration of everything from Catholic schools to Catholic Charities to archdiocesan finances.
Though church law does not bar laypeople from becoming chancellor, the job has traditionally gone to a priest, usually one trained in church law.
But as the ranks of priests have been stretched thin over the last generation, more and more administrative roles have been filled by lay professionals like Lago.
“That is part of the overall scheme to keep as many priests as possible close to the people,” George said as he announced the new appointment.
The outgoing chancellor, Rev. Thomas Paprocki, will return to parish ministry after a short sabbatical for study in Poland. Lago will also assume many of the duties held by Rev. Peter Bowman, who is retiring after five years as moderator of the curia to devote more time to parish work.
Lago’s appointment is the capstone of a reorganization of the archdiocese’s administration announced Thursday.
Among other notable changes are the creation of a new Office for Racial Justice, led by Sister Anita Baird, formerly the cardinal’s administrative assistant; and the appointment of Rev. John Smyth to a new post planning the future of the archdiocese’s poorest city schools.
Baird’s appointment underscores the archdiocese’s new emphasis on racial relations. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin asked the church to look broadly at the sin of racism in 1994, a process that took on urgency in 1997 with the racially motivated beating of Lenard Clark.
The result was a rare pastoral letter, signed this spring by all Catholic bishops in Illinois, calling on Catholics to attack racism within and outside the church.
“There are no quick fixes to a historical issue that is so much a part of the fabric of our society,” Baird said. “The archdiocese continues to be the voice for so many people who are homeless, who are without jobs, who are hopeless in this society. We believe that if we continue to speak the truth . . . conversion will begin to happen.”
The appointment of Lago suggests additional emphasis on the church’s social ministries.
Lago joined the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the umbrella organization for the state’s Catholic dioceses, in 1976. For 20 years, he was one of the leading voices for the church on social issues facing the Illinois legislature, and the church’s primary liaison to Springfield.
In 1996 he joined Catholic Charities, becoming executive director the following year. He briefly served as a consultant to George in 1997 to help the new archbishop organize his staff, and returned to archdiocesan headquarters last year to act as a governmental liaison for the archdiocese.
Lago said that his goal would be to make the central administration of the archdiocese “a better vehicle for serving the parishes and the schools.”
According to a new organizational chart issued Thursday, Lago will oversee eight major departments, as well as six smaller offices. Of the eight major departments, three are supervised by priests, three are supervised by laymen and two by laywomen.
