Bishop John Manz blesses Maria Jimenez and her three children Mauricio (baby), Juan and Andrea after a Mass for Expectant Mothers at St. Joseph Parish in Chicago on Mother’s Day 2016. (Catholic New World photo)

Funeral services for the Most Rev. John Manz, auxiliary bishop emeritus for the Archdiocese of Chicago and former pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish on Central Park Avenue in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, will be the main celebrant of the funeral Mass, which will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St., Chicago. Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Galena.

Manz died July 14. He was 77 years old.

He was born Nov. 14, 1945, in Chicago to Jeanne and Joseph Manz. He grew up in Chicago and Morton Grove and spent summers at his grandmother’s farm. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Niles College Seminary and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

Manz began learning Spanish by working in the kitchen with religious sisters from Mexico and with landscaping crews in the summer. Later, he studied Spanish at Niles College Seminary and became fluent. In the process, he came to appreciate and revere the Hispanic people and their culture. His experience in agriculture led him to work in support of Mexican farm workers.

Cardinal John Cody ordained him to the priesthood on May 12, 1971; and he celebrated his first Mass on May 16, 1971, at St. Martha Parish in Morton Grove. A nun who had told the mischievous young John Manz that she would “roll over in her grave if he ever became a priest” attended his first Mass.

After ordination, Manz served as assistant pastor at Providence of God Parish on 18^th Street in Chicago, as associate pastor at St. Roman Parish on Washtenaw Avenue in Chicago, and later as pastor at St. Agnes of Bohemia, where he served for 13 years.

On Jan. 23, 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed Manz as an auxiliary bishop. He was consecrated on March 5, 1996, by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, with Bishops Wilton Gregory and Placido Rodriguez serving as co-consecrators.

Manz served on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration and Refugee Services, as chairman and then as a member of the Committee on the Church in Latin America, as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees and Travelers, and as chairman of the administrative committee and as a member of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church. He retired in 2021.

Manz traced his involvement with Hispanic immigrants to his assignment, at 25 years old, to Providence of God Parish, where he started his work as an advocate for immigration rights.

“My first parish (Providence of God) was in the Pilsen neighborhood, on 18^th Street. It’s not there anymore,” Manz said. “Back then, it was a poor area. I became very fond of that parish.”

Cupich said that “from his days as a college seminarian, Bishop John Manz grasped the meaning of authentic ministry, saying ‘It is not an abstraction, it begins by getting to know people. We all have our prejudices or stereotypes, but the only way to break them down is by getting to know the person. I am a big believer in a common humanity.’ Let us pray that all those preparing for ministry will take those words to heart and in that way keep fresh the memory of this great priest and pastor.”

“I feel very fortunate. I have had many experiences; I have never been bored and I think it is because I like people,” Manz shared at his retirement. “As a priest, I believe I have received more than I have given.”

Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Birmingham was a seminarian when he was assigned to St. Agnes of Bohemia for a summer, where Manz, the pastor, quickly became his mentor.

“When he was ordained a bishop, he brought his keen pastoral abilities to the larger church here in Chicago and across the United States,” Birmingham said. “When I was ordained a bishop, he was a co-consecrator and I followed him as vicar of Vicariate IV. He continued to mentor me with weekly phone calls, always affirming the need to be present to all people and to treat everyone as a cherished child of God. I hope to never forget this lesson and witness.”

The Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, considered Manz his childhood pastor, vocation recruiter, boss, mentor and friend.

“I don’t think I would be a priest today were if not for the life and ministry of Bishop John Manz,” Sanchez said. “He was a true bishop (spiritual father) to so many in the Latino community and beyond.”

“Bishop Manz modeled what it means for a pastor to be one with his people,” said the Rev. Sergio Rivas Tamayo, pastor of Good Shepherd and Epiphany Parish in Chicago. “He loved what they love, suffered with their sufferings, and gave himself completely so they could know God a little better. He was one of the most outstanding models of inculturation seen in our local church. It is a great loss for the Archdiocese of Chicago and in particular for Latino Catholics.”

“This is a guy who would go and visit migrants in their villages and sit in their homes,” said the Rev. Joseph Mulcrone, a classmate and retired archdiocesan priest. “He wanted to connect with people, no matter who they were. When he was a pastor, in the summer, he would hold street Masses in the community.”

Elena Segura, senior coordinator for immigration – national ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said Manz is the godfather of Pastoral Migratoria, the parish-based immigrant-to-immigrant ministry model developed in Chicago.

“He embodied Catholic social teaching just by being a bishop for el pueblo, for the people,” Segura said.

Nelly Lorenzo and the staff from the Instituto de Liderazgo Pastoral, an institution that provides pastoral formation for the Hispanic community in the Archdiocee of Chicago, said in a statement that “Bishop Manz created a space of trust for everyone who approached him about important issues. He had the ability to listen, understand and sympathize with those who were by his side. He became one of the people. He had a Hispanic heart: The community grieves his departure, but we know he will continue among us with his humor and affirmations to never give up.”

Manz is survived by his sister, Linda of Richmond, Virginia.; nieces Cara (Drew) Haynie of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Diane (Rob) Smith and Angela Heffner, both of Richmond, Virginia.; great-nieces and great-nephews; and other relatives and friends.

Livestreaming of funeral service will be Wednesday, 10 a.m.:  https://youtube.com/live/BOo9q1Jcvj4?feature=share