Mary Anne Hackett
Catholic Citizens of Illinois is an Illinois not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 by the late journalist, broadcaster, professor and public policy advocate Thomas Roeser, and Mary Anne Hackett, a prominent life-long right to life activist and instructor. Mrs. Hackett served as President of CCI from its founding through the end of 2020. She continues to provide essential advice and support as our President Emeritus, and we are grateful for her inspiration and example. Chicago attorney Kevin W. White served as Mrs. Hackett’s worthy successor through the spring of 2025.
Fr. Charles Fanelli was our chaplain from our founding until his death in 2024. As of 2025, we are grateful to welcome Fr. Thomas Koys, pastor of St. James at Sag Bridge Mission Church, as our new chaplain.
This organization has since its founding been dedicated to the mission of providing our members with the knowledge and resources to bring the Catholic faith into the public square. In furtherance of our mission and in order to equip local Catholics with the information and confidence to carry out their distinctive roles as spelled out in John Paul II’s 1988 Apostolic Exhortation Christifidelis Laici, for nearly three decades CCI has hosted monthly luncheon presentations featuring speakers whose area of expertise and work is of interest to our membership and guests. For many years, we held our luncheons at the Union League Club in Chicago, an association that we remember with great affection. In the aftermath of the COVID experience, we have transferred our luncheons to the Carlisle Banquet Hall in Lombard. A comprehensive list of the impressive speakers we have hosted may be accessed here. (link coming soon)
Over the years, the rift between the Catholic and secular worldviews in this country has widened to the point that Catholics and other Christians find themselves increasingly constrained if not persecuted in the expression and practice of their faith. As important as it remains to help our members bring the Catholic faith into the public square, we at CCI believe that our mission must expand to address an increasingly hostile culture. Consequently, we will expand our mission statement to include bringing “the Catholic faith and culture into the public square”. Our beloved Pope St. John Paul II, himself the son of a nation whose identity survived for more than a century on the strength of its culture alone, wrote often about the priority of culture over politics and economics. As Catholic Citizens of Illinois approaches its fourth decade, we will continue to feature speakers whose work contributes both to the dissemination of the Gospel and to the edification of the culture in a way that reflects the goodness, truth and beauty that reside only in the Catholic Church. We earnestly invite you to join us regularly!
Catholic Citizens of Illinois is supported entirely by private donations. We are governed by a lay Board of Directors all of whom serve on a purely volunteer basis. As a result, every penny of your donation is used to support our mission, to cover honoraria, transportation and accommodation for our speakers, to subsidize the fare for our monthly Forum luncheons and to produce and deliver orthodox and timely Catholic content to our members via electronic communications and our website at catholiccitizens.org. We are prudent and conscientious stewards of our benefactors’ generosity. We are aware that there is much Catholic content available on the internet and other modern media at no cost to you. Nonetheless, we persist in the conviction that there is great value in the incarnational experience of being together monthly in person to enjoy a meal together, to dress up a bit, to hear and interact directly with worthy speakers and to enjoy the company of serious fellow Catholics. We ask you to join us at our luncheons and annual benefit dinner and to consider supporting us with your prayers and financial generosity. May God bless you and yours!
St. Mary of Perpetual Help, pray for us!
Diane Wilder, Archivist
Rev. Fr. Thomas Koys, Pastor, St. James at Sag Bridge Mission Church, Lemont, Illinois
Fr. Thomas Koys
Fr. Charles Fanelli (1945 – 2024)
