Joseph O'Rourke

Joseph F. O'Rourke (May 15, 1938 – July 24, 2008) was a laicized Catholic priest and American pro-choice activist.

Biography Joseph F. "Joe" O'Rourke was born in 1938, two days after the death of his father, in Hudson, New York. He joined the Jesuit Order of the Roman Catholic Church in 1958,

O'Rourke was one of the early board members of Catholics for a Free Choice. In August 1974, CFFC President Joan Harriman asked him to travel with her to Marlboro, Massachusetts, to baptize a baby whose local priests refused to perform the rite. The baby's mother, 20-year-old Carol Morreale, had been interviewed regarding an "abortion-information clinic" that was proposed for Marlboro by Bill Baird, an activist from New York City. Morreale told a newspaper reporter that she did not advocate abortion herself but that she was in favor of free choice for others and thus she supported Baird's proposal. In this, he acted against his superiors' express orders, and was dismissed from the Jesuit Order in September. O'Rourke continued to live with his order

Although O'Rourke was very critical of Catholic Church teaching in matters of sexuality, he remained committed to Catholic advocacy of religious liberty, and for constitutional, economic, political and human rights.

O'Rourke later married and had a child. He died in Oak Park, Illinois, in 2008.