The second of seven children, Edward Slattery was born on August 11, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, to William Edward and Winifred Margaret (née Brennan) Slattery; both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from Ireland.[1][2]
Slattery was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal John Cody on April 26, 1966.[3] After his ordination, Slattery served as associate pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland, Illinois, until 1971. During this time, he also earned a Master's degree from Loyola University Chicago. He served as vice-president (1971–1976) and president (1976–1994) of the Catholic Church Extension Society. While working at Extension, he was named associate pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chicago in 1973.[4] He served as pastor of St. Rose of Lima from 1976 to 1989.[1]
In 2006, Slattery said that if a law was passed criminalizing the act of aiding undocumented immigrants, "then [he] will become a criminal," adding,
"When it becomes a crime to love the poor and serve their needs, then I will be the first to go to jail for this crime, and I pray that every priest and every deacon in this diocese will have the courage to walk with me into that prison."[5]
In 2007, Slattery issued a 21-page pastoral letter in which he condemned Oklahoma House Bill 1804, a strict anti-illegal immigration law which Slattery claimed creates "an atmosphere of repression and terror."[6]
Slattery was a conservative on question of liturgical practice. He returned to the practice of celebrating the eucharistic liturgy in his cathedral using the ancient style in which the priest and the congregation face the same direction, ad orientem. He believed this form had a number of advantages over the form of in which the priest faces the congregation.[8]
