Two big events in 2023 happened in the sports world. The Denver Nuggets clinched the NBA Championship title, and the Las Vegas Golden Knights
JB Pritzker began a second term as Illinois Governor. Most of the other constitutional officers remained the same. One notable change was for the Secretary of State, as Alexi Giannoulias reentered state government and Jesse White retired after serving for 24 years.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders began her term as the first female governor of Arkansas.
Congress began its new session during the first week of January, but the House of Representatives got into a stalemate in electing a new Speaker because some Republican members were unwilling to support Kevin McCarthy. Months later, after he worked to prevent the government from going into shutdown mode, he was ousted as Speaker. After several rounds of votes, Mike Johnson was elected Speaker, the first person from Louisiana in that office.
Colleen Shogan started her time as the Archivist of the United States, the first woman in that role.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was swept out of office, and a runoff election in April swept in Brandon Johnson as the new mayor.
The local elections for Oak Park were rather quiet, with only two contested races.
In the United Kingdom, the coronation of King Charles III was held.
Regarding ecclesiastical offices, among the 21 new Cardinals that Pope Francis created this year was Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the USA. World Youth Day 2023 was held in Lisbon, Portugal, during the first week of August. In October, the Synod on Synodality was held in Rome.
Near the start of October, as an important Jewish religious holiday neared its end, Hamas launched a severe and deadly terrorist attack on Israel, which triggered a war when Israel sought to go on the offensive in response. Strangely, I listened to the Moody Radio program The Land and the Book earlier in the day on October 7, which typically starts with a summary of current events in the Middle East. Co-host Dr. Charlie Dyer noted that it had been rather quiet in Israel.
A train derailment in East Palestine, OH, led to major concerns about environmental pollution in the area.
Libraries were in the news as controversy rose over efforts to ban books. This subject was discussed during Congressional hearings. As if there wasn't enough trouble, threats were made against libraries, including where I work. Some of the debate was over intense sexual content in books, speaking to the LGBTQ movement. The Los Angeles Dodgers awarded a drag queen group that mocked Roman Catholic nuns, which sparked a huge backlash, especially after the Dodgers decided to reinstate the award after they retracted it. Relevant Radio programs spent much time talking about the outrage of the Dodgers' decision, and for good reason. Later in the summer, Ohio voters turned down a provision to increase the threshold for voter approval of state Constitutional amendments. That result helped make possible the November outcome of a ballot measure to provide for a "right" to abortion in the state constitution. Illinois enacted legislation to stop fake clinics from preventing females from getting an abortion, and it was struck down by a federal judge in December.
Intense weather events included Hurricane Hilary, the first time a hurricane of such intensity impacted California. It caused major floods in places including Death Valley National Park and Las Vegas. There were devastating wildfires in Maui. A microburst storm in Oak Park damaged St. Edmund's Church, which reopened to much rejoicing on Christmas Eve. A tornado warning was issued for an area that included Oak Park in mid-July as other tornadoes targeted the area. (I was actually back on the beloved block touching base with the piano technician who had work on my piano earlier in the day, and when I saw the tornado warning that included Oak Park, I asked to shelter in his basement until the threat ended.) On August 24, the official CHicago temperature at O'Hare Airport reached 100 degrees for the first time in over 10 years.
Those who departed from us this year included retired Associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Locally in Chicagoland, Bishop Manz passed away during the summer. Bishops Wypych and Perry retired. Bishop Birmingham was appointed to oversee a new vicariate, and then unexpectedly passed away in his sleep in early October. Bishop Goedert also passed away.
The Oak Park Conservatory said farewell to George the parrot, along with his many fans. Gina's Italian Ice concluded its business run of over 40 years along Roosevelt Road as Gina retired. The Oak Park Oberweis location also closed, in December. Oak Park welcomed a new library director, Joslyn Bowling Dixon. An influx of migrants arrived in Oak Park, and many people, including those in faith-based communities, sprung into action to support them.
The Diocese of Las Vegas was changed to an Archdiocese. Also notable for Las Vegas was that its NHL team, the Golden Knights, clinched the NHL championship title. The Denver Nuggets clinched their first-ever NBA championship title.
Among the milestone anniversaries this year were the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the centennial of the National Christmas Tree at the White House, and 800 years since the first Nativity scene.
Some customs last because they speak to what is truly timeless.
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