Former Arlington Heights priest, archdiocese leader dies at 87

The Rev. Gerard T. Broccolo, former pastor of St. James Parish in Arlington Heights and leader of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Divine Worship, died last month at 87, the archdiocese announced Wednesday.

A Chicago native, Broccolo was ordained in December 1964 in Rome, after attending University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and then pursuing further theological studies in Italy.

He served at St. James from 1985 to 1991, after previous assignments to St. James Parish in Highwood, St. John Brebeuf Parish in Niles and St. Martha Parish in Morton Grove.

Broccolo also started and for nearly two decades led the Office of Divine Worship, which works across the archdiocese to provide assistance, guidance and training for parish liturgical ministers and liturgical leadership.

In 1991, Broccolo moved to Pittsburgh to work with the Sisters of Mercy healthcare system, according to the archdiocese, and in 1997 he began service at the corporate headquarters of Catholic Health Initiatives in Denver.

He retired in 2006.

Msgr. Richard Hynes, who lived with Broccolo at St. James in Arlington Heights, remembers him as a teacher and great theologian.

“He was so bright and easy to understand; had a great sense of humor, and was enjoyable on a lot of levels,” Hynes said in a statement provided by the archdiocese.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich will celebrate the funeral Mass at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at St. Francis Xavier Parish, 124 N. Spring Avenue in La Grange. Interment will be private.