Priest dedicated himself to empowering parishioners

A Chicago Archdiocesan priest, whose ministry empowered lay people to take a more active role in the work of the church, has passed away.

The Rev. Francis Jenks passed away Thursday of complications from congestive heart failure. He was 64.

As a young priest fresh out of Loyola University and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Fr. Jenks was assigned to Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Arlington Heights.

There, he and the new pastor, the Rev. John Mackin, were charged with bringing the parish up to the standards mandated by the Second Vatican Council - of opening up the church to the laity.

Fr. Jenks served there only from 1970 to 1975, but parishioners say many of the programs he helped initiate remain. They point to the Christian Family Movement, which gathers couples to discuss and take action on issues of social justice, as well as its Eucharistic ministry program, of having lay people distribute communion.

Additionally, they credit Fr. Jenks with starting the liturgy committee, which partnered clergy and lay people with planning parts of the Mass. He also hired the parish's first religious education director, to oversee the spiritual formation of children not attending the parish school.

During those same years, Fr. Jenks served as one of many chaplains reaching out to patients and their families at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. He was reassigned to Our Lady of Perpetual Hope in Glenview, just as the hospital's pastoral ministry team formed, led by lay people from surrounding Catholic parishes.

After serving six years in Glenview, Fr. Jenks was sent to St. Mary of Vernon in Vernon Hills, where parishioners remember the parish retreat program he started.

"It was designed for people to find spiritual renewal, once a year, and was very popular when he was here," says Susan Gray, parish business manager.

For many years, Fr. Jenks partnered with the Rev. John Cusick, of Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, to present a program on parts of the Mass, as part of the Theology-on-Tap series, aimed at drawing young people through their faith.

"He was just a great parish priest," Cusick said. "Over the years, he must have done hundreds of weddings, funerals and baptisms, and at each one, he offered them hope in the human possibility. He never mailed it in."

Fr. Jenks served as pastor of Ascension Parish in Oak Park for 14 years, before most recently being pastor of St. Alphonsus Church in Lemont until 2008. At the time of his death, he was a resident of Mary, Seat of Wisdom Church in Park Ridge.

A funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. today at Ascension Church, 808 S. East Ave. in Oak Park.