Bishop Joseph Perry: Humble servant with pastor’s heart

Bishop Joseph Perry looks up at the giant screen during Mass at Nationals Park in Washington with Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, 2008. (CNS/Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry listens to speakers during a briefing in the morning as thousands of Catholics from Illinois on March 4, 2009 to participate in the first Catholics at the Capitol, a state-wide, ministries-focused advocacy day, organized by the Catholic Conference of Illinois. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry commissions 70 Pastoral Migratoria leaders from seven parishes during a Mass on Sept. 18, 2009 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, 3200 E. 91st St. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic

Bishop Perry smiles during the Catholic Men of Chicago Southland prayer breakfast at St. Victor Parish in Calumet City on Jan. 9, 2010. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry celebrated Mass for the Haitian Catholic Apostolate at Our Lady of Peace Parish, 7851 S. Jeffrey Blvd., in Chicago on Jan. 17, 2010. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Cardinal George and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry concelebrate the Eucharist together during a Mass for the 20th anniversary of the Augustus Tolton Program at Catholic Theological Union, 5416 S. Cornell Ave., on Feb. 28. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry shares a laugh with Cardinal Francis George after receiving the Racial Justice Lifetime Achievement Award during an evening of tribute in word and song honoring the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, 5088 W. Jackson Blvd., on April 7, 2010. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Catholics from the archdiocese of Chicago and others joined Bishop Joseph Perry on a pilgrimage Sept. 17, 2010 and 18th to Quincy Ill and stops in Northeast Missouri to pray where Father Augustus Tolton, the first black Catholic Priest in America, was baptized and where he crossed the Mississippi river to escape with his family as a slave. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry points to the grave marker of Father Tolton. Cardinal George, auxiliary bishops Francis Kane and Joseph Perry, along with Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield and Bishop John Gaydos of Jefferson City, Missouri, made a pilgrimage on April 6, 7, 2011 to sites in Quincy, Illinois and Brush Creek, Missouri associated with the life of Father Augustus Tolton, the first American diocesan priest of African descent. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

In celebration of St. Elizabeth Parish’s 130th anniversary celebration, Bishop Joseph Perry and city officials honored Father Augustus Tolton, the first recognized African-American priest, during a street naming ceremony on Nov. 4, 2011. The new street sign "Honorary Fr. Augustus Tolton Way" overlooks corners between State Street and Michigan Avenue. (Karen Callaway/Catholic New World)

Cardinal George signs documents officially opening the cause for canonization for Father Augustus Tolton while Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry looks on during the first public session for the cause held Feb. 24, 2011 in St. James Chapel at the Archbishop Quigley Center, 835 N. Rush St. in Chicago. Tolton is the first recognized American diocesan priest of African descent. Perry serves as postulator for Tolton's cause. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Participants joined Bishop Perry for a pilgrimage to historic sites in Chicago in the life of Father Augustus Tolton on April 13, 2012. They were at the grave of Tolton's mother Martha in Mount Olivet Cemetery. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry joins Cardinal George and Dominican Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago, for a ribbon cutting of the new front entrance to the school building at St. Margaret of Scotland School, 9833 S. Throop St., on Sept. 9, 2013. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Cardinal George presided at the opening liturgy with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry as the main celebrant at St. Benedict the African East Church, 340 W. 66th Street in Chicago on July 29, 2013. Prior to the Mass, a march against gun violence took place beginning at St. Bernard Hospital, 63rd and Harvard Avenue, and processing to the church. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry shares the sign of peace with Franciscan Father Stephen Bedenikovic during Mass on Oct. 13, 2013 with parishioners of Sacred Heart Croatian Parish, 2864 E. 96th St., in honor of the parish’s 100th anniversary. (Karen Callaway/Catholic New World)

Bishop Perry presided at a Rite of Election liturgy for those preparing to enter the Catholic Church at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on March 10, 2014. Participants were called forth during this ceremony and will later receive the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation during the Easter Vigil in their local parishes. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Patricia Rimkus, archdiocesan notary, Father Michael Hack, a judge on the Metropolitan Tribunal, and Bishop Perry, postulator for the cause, sign the final documents in the dossier for the cause for canonization for Father Augustus Tolton. The signing took place during a prayer service at the Archbishop Quigley Center in Chicago on Sept. 29, 2014. The dossier was dispatched to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. (Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry elevates the Eucharist during a sunrise Mass on Aug. 30, 2014 at Oakwood Beach, 39th Street and Lake Shore Drive. The Mass marked the fifth anniversary of sunrise services hosted by the Black Deacons of Chicago to pray for peace during the upcoming school year. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry presided over a memorial service and blessed a new memorial marker erected to honor young lives lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy or newborn death on May 9, 2016 at Assumption Catholic Cemetery in Glenwood. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry distributes Communion on Sept. 6, 2015 at Immaculate Conception Parish on the South Side. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry attends the Annual Archdiocesan Awards Ceremony at Holy Name Cathedral on Jan. 10, 2016. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry anoints Belinda Mendoza with chrism oil as she receives the sacrament of confirmation at St Joseph Parish in Homewood on April 10, 2016. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry accepts the gifts from Missionary of Charity sisters during a special Mass in honor of the canonization and feast day of Mother Teresa on Sept. 5, 2016, the eve of 19th anniversary of his death, at St. Malachy and Precious Blood Parish, 2248 W. Washington Blvd. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry and Bishop Thomas Paprocki (background) seal the new casket bearing the remains of Father Tolton. The remains of Father Augustus Tolton were exhumed at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois on Dec. 10, 2016. The exhumation and reinterment are part of the canonization process. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and other officials participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the just-opened pedestrian bridge next to the Cardinal Meyer Center over South Lake Shore Drive at 35th Street on Nov. 9, 2016. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry gives remarks before the premiere of “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” produced by St. Luke Productions, on Nov. 5, 2017 at DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry incenses the altar as Our Lady of Mercy Parish, 4432 N. Troy St., in Chicago hosted a special Mass in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Divine Providence, Patroness of Puerto Rico on Nov. 16, 2018. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry blesses a statue of St. Josephine Bakhita following a Mass at St. Adrian Church, 7000 S. Washtenaw Ave., on Feb 17, 2019. (Karen Callaway/ Chicago Catholic)

Cardinal Cupich was the main celebrant at a Mass of Thanksgiving honoring Venerable Rev. Augustus Tolton on Oct. 14, 2019 at St. Philip Neri Church, 2132 E. 72nd St., Chicago. The Mass celebrated Pope Francis’ June 11, 2019 declaration of Tolton as venerable. He is the first African American priest to receive this designation, a step toward possible sainthood. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry was the main celebrant for a Mass to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the Feast of the Madonna Incoranata at St Therese Chinese Mission in Chinatown on Sep.11, 2022. Every September, Italian Catholics of Santa Maria Incoronata assemble on Alexander Street in Chicago's Chinatown to pay homage to the Blessed Mother. (Chicago Catholic/Karen Callaway)

Bishop Perry joins Cardinal Cupich in the Eucharistic Prayer during a Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI at Holy Name Cathedral on Jan. 2, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Bishop Perry accepts the gifts from parishioners during a Mass in celebration of Black History Month at Our Lady of Africa Parish, 615 E. Oakwood Blvd., on Feb. 12, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Deacon William Pouncy of St. Simon of Cyrene Parish processes the book of Gospels as Bishop Perry follows during the annual Sunrise Prayer Service and Mass hosted by the Black Catholic Deacons of Chicago on Aug. 26, 2023 at Oakwood Beach in Chicago. (Deacon Randy Belice/Chicago Catholic)