John George Vlazny

[7] 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.

[7] In addition to his academic duties, Vlazny served as an associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Park Ridge, Illinois, from 1962 to 1963.

[5] He then served at St. Clement Parish in Lincoln Park, Illinois, from 1963 to 1968, and earned a Master of Arts degree in the classics from the University of Michigan in 1967.

He received his episcopal consecration on December 13, 1983, from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, with Bishops Alfred Abramowicz and Nevin Hayes serving as co-consecrators, at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.

[9] During his tenure, Vlazny increased the involvement of the laity, decentralized the diocesan staff, and created the Offices of Youth and Family Life.

[1][2] On October 10, 2000, the archdiocese settled a lawsuit by 22 men who had been sexually abused as altar servers by Reverend Maurice Grammond.

[10] In July 2004, the archdiocese became the first American diocese to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to the Catholic sex abuse cases.

The newspaper's editors, he said, "arrogantly scolded the church for its past failures in handling this matter of child sexual abuse.

[16] On January 29, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced the acceptance of Vlazny's resignation as archbishop of Portland, with Bishop Alexander Sample to succeed him.

An opponent of assisted suicide, Vlazny supported the unsuccessful repeal of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, saying,"Many have expressed a dread about what will happen when the power over life and death may be put into the hands of a society that is driven by economics, expedience and efficiency, a society that flees from suffering, weakness or limitations of any kind.