RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Reverend Donald Senior has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 82; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Father Senior was the second of four children born from Vincent and Margaret (Tiernan) Senior, he was the beloved brother of Rita [Dudley] Shanks, the late Vincent Jr. (Alice) and the late Miriam Senior, he was the uncle of Pearce (Monica) Shanks, Beth (Scott) Cotter, Amy (Greg) Ingrassia, and Meg Senior, he was the Great uncle of Ben, Nate and Kristen Cotter, Amy and Jonathan Ingrassia, and Oscar S. Shanks, and
WHEREAS, Father Senior was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1940; and
WHEREAS, He entered the Congregation ofthe Passion in 1960 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1967; and
WHEREAS, After completing his doctorate in New Testament Studies from the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1972, he joined the faculty of Catholic Theological Union ("CTU"); and
WHEREAS, He served as President of CTU from 1987 to 1994 and 1997 to 2013, and was then named Chancellor; and
WHEREAS, A prolific writer, Father Senior wrote numerous books, articles and reviews for both scholarly and popular audiences; and
WHEREAS, He was General Editor of The Bible Today, co-editor ofthe twenty-two-volume commentary New Testament Message, General Editor of The Catholic Study Bible, and The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century; and
WHEREAS, As an educator, he always found great joy in leading tours into the lands ofthe Bible, especially Israel; and
WHEREAS, He served on numerous boards including the Catholic Biblical Association of America, the Association of Theological Schools ofthe United States and Canada, and the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago; and
WHEREAS, He was appointed a member ofthe Pontifical Biblical Commission by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2001, and reappointed for a second term by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006; and
WHEREAS, He was a frequent lecturer arid speaker throughout the United States and abroad and was actively involved in interreligious dialogue, particularly with the Jewish and Muslim communities; and
WHEREAS, He was the recipient of the National Catholic Library Association's 1994 Jerome Award for Outstanding Scholarship and the 1996 National Catholic Education Association's Bishop Loras Lane Award for outstanding service to Catholic education; and
WHEREAS, In 2013, he received the O'Conneli-Douglas Award for his contribution to inter-religious and ecumenical harmony, and the Gutenberg Award for biblical scholarship; and
WHEREAS, In 2014, he was granted by the Governor of Illinois the Order of Lincoln Award, the state's highest honor for public service; and
WHEREAS, To his beloved family, Father Senior imparts a legacy of generosity, compassion, devotion to family and unwavering faith in God; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this sixteenth day of November, 2022, do hereby commemorate Father Senior for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his family; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Father Donald Senior.
Edward M. Burke \ Alderman, 14th Wand ,