Msgr. George Higgins Annual Social Justice Lecture

Msgr. George G. Higgins, the "labor priest" who was generally regarded as the dean of the U.S. Church's social action ministry for the last half of the 20th century, was a native of LaGrange and St. Francis Xavier parish. "Msgr. George Higgins was without parallel the authority on the Church's social teaching and on labor-management issues," said Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). "He was a forceful and articulate figure in the Church and a major influence on the lives of several generations of Catholics dedicated to the cause of social justice. He was, above all, a good and dedicated priest."

Msgr. Higgins was born in 1916 and ordained for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1940. He studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., obtaining a master's degree in economics in 1942 and a Ph.D. in 1944. He served on the staff of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC), now known as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)/United States Catholic Conference (USCC), from 1944 to 1980 and was director of its Social Action Department from 1954 to 1967. He served with and was much influenced by Msgr. John A. Ryan and Fr. Raymond McGowan, both important figures in the field of Catholic social thought and labor relations. He was elevated to papal chamberlain with the title of monsignor in 1953 and was named a domestic prelate in 1959. Upon the advent of the Vatican II Council, Higgins used his experience and knowledge for the Preparatory Commission on the Lay Apostolate and as a consultant to the Council.

Always a champion of human rights and economic justice for all, especially farm labor—where he was the moving force in the church's support for César Chávez and his union movement—Higgins served on several committees, including the Bishops' Committee for Catholic-Jewish Relations, the Bishops' Committee on Farm Labor, as chairman of the Public Review Board, United Auto Workers of America (AFL-CIO), member of the American Arbitration Association, executive committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, member of the Board of the Martin Luther King Jr. Fund of the United Farm Workers, and adviser to the chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the Belgrade Conference on Human Rights.

Higgins brought his expertise to the classroom, lecturing for both the School of Social Science and the Department of Theology at Catholic University. In addition to each of these activities, Higgins wrote numerous book reviews for Commonweal and America, as well as the syndicated column "The Yardstick," which he began in 1945. On Aug. 9, 2000, at a White House ceremony presided over by President Clinton, Msgr. Higgins was honored among several other notables—including Simon Wiesenthal and John Kenneth Galbraith—with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Msgr. Higgins was selected because of his nearly 50 years of service to the cause of justice for workers and his widespread recognition as the 'labor priest' and point man for the American Catholic Church in this regard.

He had returned to LaGrange in January 2002 to speak at St. Francis Xavier Church, the parish in which he was raised. After delivering the talk on January 19, he fell ill with a severe infection and was hospitalized for a period of three months. After a long illness, Higgins died on May 1, the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker, in the LaGrange home of his sister, Bridget Doonan, at the age of 86.

Source: The Msgr. George Higgins Collection, Department of Archives at the Catholic University of America

Shortly after the death of Msgr. Higgins, an annual lecture series was established at St. Francis Xavier Parish to honor the work and memory of this indefatigable champion of social justice.  The lecture takes place in May, around the feast day of St Jospeh the Worker (May 1). Speakers to date have included:

• Rev. Daniel Coughlin—U.S. House of Representatives Chaplain and former pastor of St. Francis Xavier parish
• Jean Hughes, OP—8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago; Adrian Dominican Congregation
• Gregory F. Augustine Pierce—Author of Spirituality at Work, The Mass is Never Ended: Rediscovering our Mission to Transform the World; former president of the National Center for the Laity; publisher