Hillinger was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal George Mundelein on April 2, 1932.[2] He then served as a curate at St. Aloysius Parish in Chicago until 1935, when he became a member of the archdiocesan Mission Band.[1] Hillinger was appointed on June 2, 1950, as the rector of Angel Guardian Orphanage in the Rogers Park section of Chicago, serving there until 1953.[1][3]
On June 27, 1956, Pope Pius XII named Hillinger as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago and titular bishop of Derbe.[2] He also became the pastor of St. Mel-Holy Ghost Parish in Chicago.[3] Hillinger confirmed future Bishop Daniel R. Jenky and ordained the future Cardinal Francis George to the priesthood.
Speaking to the first National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice at Loyola University Chicago in September 1958, Hillinger declared that those who oppose the Church's stand against racial discrimination are "simply are not Catholic, and there are no two ways about it."[4] On July 25, 1960, Hillinger offered the invocation at the opening of the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago.[5]
Retirement and legacy
Hillinger retired as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1968. Raymond Hillinger died in Glenview, Illinois, on November 13, 1971, after a long illness. His body lay in state in the chapel at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.[6][7][3]
References
^ abcdeCurtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.