Joseph O'Rourke (ex-Jesuit)

Joseph O'Rourke (May 15, 1938 – July 24, 2008) was an American pro-choice activist who professed a Roman Catholic faith despite promoting reproductive rights that were at odds with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Biography

Joseph O'Rourke was born on May 15, 1938 in Hudson, NY and died on July 24, 2008 in Oak Park, IL.

O'Rourke joined the priesthood and the Jesuit Order of the Roman Catholic Church.

O'Rourke was a vocal activist of the Vietnam war and was a member of the infamous D.C. 9 which broke into Dow Chemical in Washington, D.C. in 1969 and destroyed some of the companies files. Dow Chemical was the primary manufacturer of Napalm during this time.

In 1974 O'Rourke created controversy when he baptised a baby whose 19-year-old mother had expressed her belief in reproductive rights and family planning. Although the Church had refused the child baptism, O'Rourke performed the ceremony on the steps of the parish church, Immaculate Conception Church in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He was dismissed from the Jesuit order in August 1974; however, O’Rourke continued to live with his order and appealed his dismissal to Rome, alleging that he had a right to baptize the baby and that the mother was a “Catholic in good standing.”

O'Rourke went on to become the first president of Catholics for a Free Choice, but in 1979 he was replaced with Patricia McMahon who went on to change CFFC's legal status from a lobby group to an educational association, thereby opening the group up to tax-exempt status and to foundation support.

O'Rourke remained a critic of Catholic Church policy in matters of sexuality, yet remains committed to Catholic advocacy of religious liberty, and for constitutional, economic, political and human rights.

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