Early life John Vlazny was born on February 22, 1937, in
Chicago,
Illinois, to John and Marie (née Brezina) Vlazny, who were of
Czech ancestry. His father was originally married to the sister of Vlazny's mother, Hattie Brezina, who died when their daughter, Marcella, was 13. In addition to his half-sister, John Vlazny had a younger sister, Marion. His father, who died from
cancer when Vlazny was 18, owned a
pharmacy in a three-story building at the corner of 18th and Throop Streets. After attending
Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, he studied at
St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois where he earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958. He earned a
Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1960 and a
Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1962.
Priesthood On December 20, 1961, Vlazny was
ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Archbishop
Martin J. O'Connor in Rome at
St. Peter's Basilica. Following his return to Chicago, Vlazny served on the faculty of Quigley Preparatory North in Chicago from 1963 to 1979. As an auxiliary bishop, Vlazny served as
episcopal vicar for
Lake County, Illinois and the northwestern part of
Cook County, Illinois. During his tenure, Vlazny increased the involvement of the
laity, decentralized the diocesan staff, and created the Offices of Youth and Family Life. In July 2004, the archdiocese became the first American diocese to file
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to the
Catholic sex abuse cases. Vlazny described his actions by saying, "This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation." In January 2010, Vlazny defended his loan of money to Reverend Angel Armando Perez to cover his legal expenses, Perez had been indicted in
Marion County, Oregon, on first-degree sexual abuse and abuse of a child in the display of sexually explicit conduct. While condemning Perez's alleged criminal actions. Vlazny expressed a need to help a fellow priest. In April 2010, Vlazny called for parishioners to cancel their subscriptions to
The Oregonian, declaring it guilty of "Catholic bashing." The newspaper's editors, he said, "arrogantly scolded the church for its past failures in handling this matter of
child sexual abuse." The newspaper had run an editorial, an
editorial cartoon and a syndicated column by
E.J. Dionne on how the church had dealt with sexual abuse crime. On January 29, 2013,
Pope Benedict XVI announced the acceptance of Vlazny's resignation as archbishop of Portland and named Bishop
Alexander Sample to succeed him.
Death Vlazny died at his home in
Beaverton, Oregon, on May 23, 2025, at the age of 88. == Viewpoints ==