John Edward Mulvihill is a life-long resident of the Chicago area. He was
born in Chicago on 19 November 1939. His father, Harry Hamilton Mulivhill, was an attorney at law (DePaul University), a
neighborhood marshal during World War II, and a supervisor in the Parcel Post department of the Main United States Post Office
in Chicago. The family law firm was Mulvihill and Daniels, located in the Chicago Title and Trust Building in downtown
Chicago. The mother of John Mulvihill, Marie Sylvia Mulvihill, nee Ryska, was never without a job during the Great
Depression, and was promoted to the personnel department of the Rapid Transit System of the Chicago Transit Authority.
She spoke Czech, German, and English, and was a staunch supporter of the workers' union. Most of John's youth was at
the acestral home of his maternal grandparents, Valentine and Aemilia Ryska, at 2820 S. Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois 60623.
He went to Blessed Agnes of Bohemia grade school for pre-school and for eight years of grammar school. He studied the
Czech language, and spoke on the radio station WEDC. He was active as a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. He
served as an acolyte at the altar of Blessed Agnes Church from his second grade in school. He studied music as an extracurricular
activity, and received a certificate for vocal accomplishments from St. Scholastica College of the Franciscan Sisters of Milwaukee.
He entered Quigley Preparatory Seminary in 1953 for a five year course with an emphasis on linguistics. After graduation
in 1958, he was accepted by the major seminary, St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, for three years of college
philosophy. Graduating with a Bachelor in Scholastic Philosophy, he was assigned to residence at the North American
College in Rome for his four years of theology, to be studied at the Gregorian University.
John Edward Mulvihill was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in the Church of
the Twelve Apostles, in Rome, on 12 July 1964, by the Most Reverend Filippo Pocci, titular Bishop of Jericho. He was
ordained a year ahead of his class in order to help the faculty of the North American College, Rome. After ordination,
he continued to study theology at the Gregorian University, and with a special passport as Priest Observer, he was able to
attend some sessions of the Second Vatican Council. On the first Sunday of Advent, 1964, he celebrated the first official
English Mass in Rome,which may well have been the first official English Mass in the world, due to Rome's early time zone.
Father Mulvihill returned to the United States and was immediately assigned to
St. John Bosco Parish, 2250 N. McVicker, Chicago, Illinois 60639. He was appointed Associate Pastor on 26 July 1965
by John Cardinal Cody. He was appointed third Pastor of St. John Bosco by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin on 7 April 1992.
Doctor Mulvihill is an expert in the vocational Sacraments, comprising Holy Orders
and Matrimony. He received his first doctorate, Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), from the Gregorian University in
Rome, in 1971. He earned a second doctorate, Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.), from San Francisco Theological Seminary, San
Anselmo, California, on 26 May 1990. He defended his third doctorate, entitled "Philosophy of Evolution," in Oxford,
England, where he took classes at Christ Church College under the auspices of the Graduate Theological Foundation, which granted
the degree Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) on 24 July 2008. He was admitted to the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree
program on 25 August 2008 with a "returning student scholarship" by the Graduate Theological Foundation, with all residency
to be completed at Oxford University. He was awarded the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) by the Graduate Theological Foundation
on 4 May 2012 for his thesis on Clerical Retreats.
Doctor Mulvihill's international studies took him to several seats of learning.
He earned a Diploma in Etruscology and Italic Antiquities from the University of Perugia (Universita per Stranieri, Palazzo
Galenga, Perugia) in 1970. He also earned a Diploma from the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, in Rome,
in 1971. He attended the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome (1970-1971) for the complete scholarity of five
courses for the Doctorate in Philosophy, but was unable to perpare the doctoral dissertation at that time. He has taken
courses at Cambridge University (1964), the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (1970), the Sorbonne (1971), the Institute
Catholique de Paris (1971), and the European College of Social and Economic Science in Paris (1971). On 22 August 2003,
he recieved the Diploma, after a month-long intensive study of the Spanish language and culture, from the Anahuac
South University in Mexico City.
Doctor Mulvihill has a Pontifical License to teach theology (S.T.L., Gregorian
University, 1965), to teach philosophy (Ph.L., Aquinas Institute, River Forest, Illinois, 1967), and to teach Canon Law (J.C.L.,
Gregorian University, Rome, 1999). He has been a lecturer for the Institute for Continuing Theological Education,
at the Casa Santa Maria of the North American College, Rome (1970), the Institute of Spirituality, River Forest, Illinois
(1976), Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago, Illinois (1989-1990), and the Pastoral Institute of St.
Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois (1992-1993).
Father Mulvihill has worked in Church Law for most of his priestly life (1967-date).
He worked in the Chicago Tribunal variously as Notary, Advocate, and Defender of the Bond (1967-1990). He
served as Judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal from 1980 to 1989. He was appointed Judge of the ecclesiastical Court of
Appeals for the State of Illinois from 1983 to 1990. He was appointed again as Court of Appeals Judge by Joseph Cardinal
Bernardin from 22 November 1994 for a five year term. He was re-appoined as Judge of the Court of Appeals after returning
in 1999 from Canon Law studies in Rome, and has retained that judicial position ever since. In 2006, he was appointed
Adjutant Judical Vicar of the Court of Appeals of the Province of Chicago, by Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of
Chicago. On 8 June 2007, he was appointed by the Archbishop of Milwaukee as Judge of the ecclesiastial Court of Appeals
of Wisconsin. In legal matters for the Archdiocese of Chicago, he also served as Episcopal Vicar for Religious (1971-1983)
with the title "Very Reverend." He served on the executive board of the National Association of Vicars for Religious
(1974-1980), and was president of the Midwest Vicars for Religious.
Father Mulvihill is the recipient of numerous honors. After two years of
philosophical studies at the Gregorian University in Rome, he became a fellow (Alumnus Academiae) of the Roman Academy of
St. Thomas Aquinas (1964). That same year he won the first prize of the Academy for his essay on intellect. He
was decorated with the papal award, the Cross of the Holy Land, on 26 July 1965. He was one of the Chancery Office priests
given the "Pastoral Leadership Award" by the Association of Chicago Priests on 5 February 1978. Since the
paternal side of his family has roots in Memphis, Tennessee, he was particularly honored by membership in the Tennessee Squire
Association (31 July 1991).
Father Mulvihill was knighted as a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre
of Jerusalem, whose origins date back to the First Crusade in 1099 A.D. His knighthood was approved both by the Grand
Master of the Order in Rome and the Vatican Secretary of State, and then bestowed on Father Mulvihill by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on 14 April 1991. Father Mulvihill received the choicest award of the Order, the Pilgrim
Shell, on 23 July 1991. He was elevated to Knight Commander by Cardinal Bernardin on 4 May 1994. He served the
local Lieutenancy as pilgrim chaplain to the Holy Land in 1994. He was certified by the Vatican Commission on Christian
Pilgrimages to be a Holy Land Pilgrim Director (license #14260 dated 2 June 1995).
Father Mulvihill is the author of twelve books. His titles include:
Ministerial Priest (1971), Second Nuptials (1988), Pastoral Symposium (1989), Genius Loci
(1990), Liberty as Genius Loci (1991), Natural Philosophy as Genius Loci (1991), and Life as Genius
Loci (1995). He has also published a commemorative song book Gaudeamus Igitur (1990). In pursuit
of material on the "genius of place," Father Mulvihill has visited all 50 of the States of the United States of America, 111
countries, and all seven continents. As a sailor, he has sailed six oceans, 22 seas, and the seven major rivers
of the world.
Nationally, Father Mulvihill has been a member of the Canon Law Society of America
since 1967. He has also been active, since 1977, in the American Catholic Philosophical Society (Life Member), the Society
for Metaphysics, the Catholic Theological Society of America, and the American Academy of Religion. As pastor, he supported
the local Northwest Neighborhood Federation of Chicago.
Father Mulvihill loves to entertain friends, and has cooked in both in Europe and
the United States. Father Mulvihill has the Certificat de Merite from La Comite National des Vins de France (1970).
He has the Wine Diploma from the Wine Advisory Board of the Department of Agriculture of the State of California
(28 December 1970). He has a Diploma from the New Orleans School of Cooking (1991). He has
been certified as a Foodservice Manager by the State of Illinois (license #01060292 dated 14 December 1994), and by the City
of Chicago (license #8675 dated 15 August 1994). He was Guest Chef-For-A-Day at Charlie Trotter's Restaurant in Chicago
on 19 May 2010. He did the French Cooking Class at Cook Au Vin in Chicago on 23 July 2011.
As a linguist, Father Mulvihill speaks the five major languages of Euorpe:
English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. In ancient languages, he has been trained in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Umbrian
and Etruscan. He has studied Czech, Hindi, Hawaiian, and Swahili.
The biography of John Edward Mulvihill has appeared in a number of reference books:
Dictionary of International Biography, 21st ed. (Cambridge: Melrose, 1990), International Dictionary
of Distinguished Leadership, 3rd ed. (Charlotte: American Biographical Institute, 1991), International Who's
Who of Intellectuals, 9th ed. (Cambridge: Melrose, 1992), Who's Who in Religion, 4th ed. (Wilmette:
Read, 1992), Who's Who in the Midwest, 26th ed. (1998). He was recognized for his fifteen year milestone
as a Marquis Who's Who listee.