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James Raphael Gillis, O.P., Death, 1979-03-13

 Series
Identifier: PF - Gillis
James Raphael Gillis, O.P.

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection contains personal materials relating to friars after they have left the order, passed away, or transferred to another province. Each friar's file contents are mostly limited to their novitiate records, canonical assignments, historically important correspondence, and a small number of personal items if desired upon their passing. Within the broader collection, each Friar is sorted as a series.

Friars with particuarly substantial historically important papers or items outside of the scope of the Personal Files are placed within a dedicated collection under their name.

This collection is a work in progress and any use of these files requires the explicit permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist to discuss access or inquire about friars that may not been cataloged yet.

Dates

  • Creation: Death, 1979-03-13

Conditions Governing Access

Requires explicit permission from Provincial to access any records. Contact the Archivist for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Can only be accessed upon written permission of the Provincial. Contact the Archivist for further details.

Biographical / Historical

Father James Raphael Gillis died March 13, 1979, at the Chateau de Notre Dame in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he had been a patient since May 1978. Following services at the Chateau and at Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, be was buried in the community cemetery in Minneapolis on March 17.

James Clinton Thomas Gillis was born August 4, 1911, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Holy Rosary Grade School and De La Salle High School in Minneapolis before enrolling at Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1928. On August 15, 1930, he entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Rose Priory. Springfield, Kentucky, where he was assigned Raphael as a religious name and made his first profess ion a year later. Philosophical studies followed at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, and theological courses at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio, and at the Dominican Hou e of Studies in Washington, D.C. He was ordained a priest in St. Dominic's Church in Washington on June 11, 1937.

Immediately after ordination, Father Gillis was sent to Rome for graduate studies at the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum), where he was awarded a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1939. When he returned to the States in September 1939. he was assigned to the theological faculties at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington and at the Catholic University of America.

In 1941, Father Gillis transfiliated to the new Province of St. Albert the Great and joined the faculty at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, where he taught courses in both philosophy and theology for nearly ten years. During this time. he also taught theology at Rosary College and the Sheil School of Social Studies, while dedicating his summers to the Institute of Spirituality in River Forest and the theology program at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. From the time of its beginning in 1948 until 1964, Father Gillis also served as Associate Editor of Cross and Crown, now titled Spirituality Today.

In 1951, Father Gillis was assigned to the newly established House of Theology at St. Rose of Lima Priory in Dubuque, Iowa, as professor of dogma both in the Studium Generale and at Mount St. Bernard Seminary.

In 1953, after being named Lector Primarius and Dean of Theology, he was granted the degree Master of Sacred Theology. His pioneering efforts to develop joint programs of ecumenical studies with the Presbyterian and Lutheran schools in Dubuque were recognized in 1960 with the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Wartburg Seminary and again in 1972 by a special testimonial celebration. sponsored by the consortium of theological faculties in Iowa.

In 1964, Father Gillis left the Dubuque faculty on loan to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. A year later, he was named Prior and Pastor at Blessed Sacrament

Parish in Madison, Wisconsin, where he also served as professor of ecumenical theology at Edgewood College. In 1971, Father Gillis completed his second term as Prior in Madison and joined a new apostolic venture in an experimental House of Prayer located at St. Joseph Priory in Dallas, Texas.

In September 1972 Father Gillis was elected Prior of Holy Rosary Priory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and appointed an associate pastor at Holy Rosary Parish. In September 1974, when medication no longer controlled the debilitating effects of Parkinson's Disease with which he was afflicted in the late 1960's, he resigned the office of Prior and retired to St. Albert the Great Priory on the campus of the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. He remained in Irving until May 1978, when he was transferred to the Chateau de Notre Dame in New Orleans for the clinical care his physical condition required.

Extent

From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

From the Collection: Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Archives of the Province of St. Albert the Great, U.S.A. Repository

Contact:
1910 S. Ashland Ave
Chicago Illinois 60608 United States
3122430011