Name Raymond Hillinger | Died November 13, 1971 | |
Raymond Peter Hillinger (May 2, 1904 – November 13, 1971) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Rockford (1954–1956) and Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago (1956–1971).
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Biography
Raymond Hillinger was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Philip and Mary (née Neuses) Hillinger. After graduating from New Trier High School in Wilmette, he studied at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal George Mundelein on April 2, 1932. He then served as a curate at St. Aloysius Church until 1935, when he became a member of the Archdiocesan Mission Band. He was later rector of Angel Guardian Orphanage (1950–1953).
On November 3, 1953, Hillinger was appointed the fourth Bishop of Rockford by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following December 29 from Cardinal Samuel Stritch, with Bishops Martin Dewey McNamara and William Aloysius O'Connor serving as co-consecrators. He was installed at St. James Pro-Cathedral on January 14, 1954. Hillinger remained at Rockford for two years, when he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and Titular Bishop of Derbe on June 27, 1956. He confirmed Peoria's Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., and ordained the late Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., of Chicago, to the priesthood.
Politics
Speaking to the first National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice at Loyola University in September 1958, he declared that those who oppose the Church's stand against racial discrimination are "simply are not Catholic, and there are no two ways about it."
On July 25, 1960, Hillinger offered the invocation at the opening of the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.
Death
Hillinger died in Glenview, Illinois, on November 13, 1971. His body lay in state in the chapel at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.