Ex-Viator president elected to lead worldwide community

The Rev. Robert M. Egan, former president of Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, has ascended to an even loftier post.

Egan, a Wheeling native and Saint Viator alum, was elected last week as Superior General of the worldwide Viatorian Community. He'll serve a six-year term in that role, which gives him the responsibility of promoting the community's religious and apostolic values around the globe.

"I am grateful for the support and confidence of the members of the General Chapter, and I look forward to this new experience of working with the international Viatorian community," Egan said in a statement released by the school Tuesday. "But I will surely miss my days with the Province of Chicago."

Egan left the Arlington Heights school five years ago and most recently was serving as Provincial Superior of Viatorians in the United States and Colombia.

He now leads more than 700 Viatorians, including its 421 professed members and more than 300 lay associates. They serve in ministries in not only the U.S., but also Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Haiti, Honduras, the Ivory Coast, Japan and Spain.

Over his 48 years as a Viatorian - 40 as a priest - Egan has served as pastor of St. Viator Church in Chicago and St. Thomas More Catholic Community in Henderson, Nevada. He was president of Saint Viator High School from 2005 to 2013.

He's not the first Viator alum to lead the Viatorian community. The Rev. Mark Francis, a native of Mount Prospect and 1971 Saint Viator grad, served as Superior General from 2000 to 2012.