Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Responds
to Death of Archbishop John Vlazny
SALEM, Oregon – Oregon Right to Life executive director Lois Anderson expressed her condolences for the passing of former Portland Archbishop John Vlazny late last month, underscoring his advocacy on behalf of the unborn.
“During his time leading the Archdiocese of Portland, Archbishop Vlazny was a dedicated shepherd and a vocal defender of life, from the unborn baby in the womb to the elderly person diagnosed with cancer,” Anderson said. “Oregon Right to Life joins the Archdiocese of Portland in mourning his loss while reflecting with gratitude on his commitment to the most vulnerable.”
Archbishop John Vlazny, who was succeeded in his role by current Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample upon his retirement in 2013, passed away at his Beaverton home on Friday, May 23, 2025. He was 88.
During his time leading the Archdiocese of Portland from 1997 to 2013, Vlazny repeatedly spoke out in defense of the unborn.
In 2008, he publicly called out Oregon’s then-governor Ted Kulongoski, a Catholic, for hosting a pro-abortion fundraiser in Portland two days ahead of the Respect Life Mass planned at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
“For a Catholic governor to host an event of this sort seems a deliberate dissent from the teachings of the church,” Vlazny said, extending an invitation for Kulongoski to attend the Respect Life Mass.
In 2011, Vlazny told attendees of the Oregon March for Life “it is time to be boldly and lovingly pro-life,” decrying abortion as a “travesty.”
The archbishop also expressed strenuous opposition to Oregon’s “Death With Dignity Act” (DWDA), which legalized assisted suicide in the state. In response to the 1998 news that an elderly Oregon woman with breast cancer had become the first person to utilize the state’s option for legal assisted suicide, Archbishop Vlazny said he was “deeply saddened,” adding that the death could “only bring anguish to those who have resisted the public policy initiatives that changed the law in Oregon.”
A funeral Mass for Vlazny was held at 11:00 am today at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland.
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