OAKBROOK TERRACE — Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Springfield diocese was one of four honorees at the 25th annual Heroes in Action Awards Banquet sponsored by the Chicago/Joliet Chapter of the Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle held Sept. 10 at the Drury Lane Convention Terrace here.

The Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle was founded in 1958 by Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston. It is an international organization of diocesan priests who volunteer a minimum of five years of service to missions in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. The awards are presented annually in acknowledgement of noteworthy contributions to the evangelizing mission of the church, especially in serving the poor, as well as prayers and support for the society's missionary activities in Latin America.

In a profile of Bishop Paprocki written for the awards banquet, he was called the "Renaissance Bishop," who attempts to "study and improve the secular and the worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity and through novel approaches of thought."

Bishop Paprocki was praised as being "humble, effective, caring and spiritually grounded." He was commended for helping the poor, especially through the legal clinic he co-founded with Chicago attorney Ed Grossman in 1981, which now has offices located in four Chicago neighborhoods. Also mentioned were Bishop Paprocki's fundraising with his annual marathon runs (which over 18 years have raised $334,000 for charity) and annual charity exhibition hockey games, where he plays the goalie position for his amateur team.

Also honored at the banquet were: Father Gregory Sakowicz, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Evanston and professional broadcaster in Chicago area secular and Catholic media; Sister Mary Frances Seeley, OSF, founder and CEO of the Upper Room Crisis Hotline that serves clergy and male religious facing serious life issues; and Phillip J. Barone, former state deputy of the Knights of Columbus.