By Michelle Martin
Staff writer

When word came that Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas had been appointed coadjutor to the Diocese of Tucson, “It was like his mother said in the story in the Tucson paper,” said Father William Zavaski, pastor of St. James Parish in Arlington Heights. “We were devastated.”

That may have been an overstatement, but Bishop Kicanas, episcopal vicar for Northwest Cook and Lake Counties since his ordination as a bishop in 1995, left behind people who were sad to see him go.

His colleagues in Vicariate I—which actually has more Catholics than his new diocese, albeit in a smaller geographical area and in fewer parishes—describe him as energetic, intelligent, organized, with a talent for expressing genuine care and concern.

“He really has the great ability to make himself endeared to people,” Zavaski said. “He was smart enough to know that it means a lot to people to remember their names. You know my name, you remember my name, you care about me.”

For Bishop Kicanas’ part, the thing he will miss most is the people, he said. Most of his family and friends are in the Chicago Archdiocese, many of them in Vicariate I.

The people in the vicariate connected with him well enough that farewell Masses drew hundreds, and many of them were standing-room-only.

That’s appropriate in a vicariate where parishes were described as “bursting at the seams” when he was named nearly seven years ago.

Bishop Kicanas was a psychologist and educator by training, with only two years as an associate pastor, but when he came to Vicariate I, he knew where the pastoral work got done: in the parishes, said Zavaski, who serves as one of two deans in Vicariate I.

“He has been a great leader. He has been so supportive of our priests and parish staffs.”

So supportive that he was known for attending many parish events throughout the vicariate, said Carmelite Father Farrell Kane, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Gurnee and the other dean.

“He was always reaching out to all the parishes,” Kane said. “Whenever he thinks there’s any kind of an activity that would benefit from his presence, he’s there.”

And in Vicariate I, which has seen its population grow dramatically during the 90s, there were all kinds of events that needed his participation: groundbreakings, blessings and dedications of new churches and other building projects; special celebrations for the growing Hispanic community; and many, many youth events.

“Here in this vicariate, we do a lot of convoking and invoking,” Kane said.

He also always found a way to reach out to the youth of the vicariate, perhaps because of his experience as a teacher and school administrator. Even in the middle of getting ready to move to Tucson, he made time to attend the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.

“I don’t know where he was before or after that, but he was there,” Kane said.

Indeed, he took time during a photo session with Vicariate I teenagers to meet with a group of young people from Tucson, and to introduce the two groups to one another.

“Youth ministry has been an important part of our vicariate, because we have so few (Catholic) high schools,” Bishop Kicanas said in a telephone interview while packing up his Vicariate I office.

“The kids know him. That stems from him being out with them so much,” Kane said.