Meet: Father Robert Rohrich, CM

In the course of our lives, many of us encounter relationships and situations that provoke feelings of frustration, despair, anger or the need for spiritual renewal. People lucky enough to live near the southwest side of Chicago have had Father Robert Rohrich, CM, to turn to in troubled times. For decades, he’s been a fixture of solace and support for teenagers, single adults, married couples and seniors as they weather life’s travails.

Fr. Rohrich is a fulltime family and marriage therapist based at De Paul Center in Lemont, llinois. In addition to his active counseling practice, he serves two parishes: St. Alphonsus in Lemont, and Sacred Heart in nearby Palos Hills. He celebrates four Masses each weekend, leads retreats and parish renewals, and performs approximately 35 weddings annually.

“Jokingly, I give a one-year warranty – free therapy – on every wedding
I perform,” he chuckles. “Surprisingly, many take advantage of the offer!”

“I got into counseling somewhat by accident,” Fr. Rohrich recalls. “I was teaching at a high school seminary in Tucson, Arizona, when my Superior asked me to teach a course on sexuality and marriage, which I reluctantly did. A few years later, when I was appointed Rector and Superior at St. Vincent’s High School in Lemont, we had more than enough history teachers, which was my field. Instead, I took on the theology department and incorporated my previous course on sexuality and marriage for the junior class.”

The local Catholic girls’ school, Mt. Assisi, heard about the course
and asked Fr. Rohrich to teach it there. “That turned out to be a defining time in my ministry,” he says. In addition to teaching at Mt. Assisi, he became school chaplain, counselor, and leader of annual retreats. He wrote his own book for the class; little such material was available in the 1970s. He began counseling four or five couples a week, and found he had a knack for it.

He enrolled in a special program at Northwestern University in Conjoint Therapy, which focuses on relationship counseling. While attending the two-year program, he continued to teach at Mt. Assisi, living at Sacred Heart Parish and providing counseling for the community.

After earning his certification from Northwestern University, he transitioned from working with teens to older students at De Andreis Seminary, also in the Chicago area. He taught Catholic and Protestant seminarians in both marriage/family counseling and teen counseling, aided by his real-world experience with clients.

Around this time Fr. Rohrich started to get requests to give talks and workshops on marital and family issues. In time, he was giving four or five presentations a month, and people began asking for copies of his lectures. With encouragement, he began recording his talks and making them available for purchase at a modest cost of $5.

“Over the years, I have sold 45,000 audio cassettes on 56 different subjects. People now are asking for CDs, so I’m looking into that,” says Fr. Rohrich. Topics range from self-esteem, grieving, and aging with humility, to dream analysis, relationship issues, and prayer.

“One big reason for getting into this ministry was to make counseling affordable. When I went to Northwestern University in 1979, standard fees for therapy sessions were $50 for individuals, $75 for couples, and $90 for families. They are much higher now. Over the years, I have asked for a $10 donation per session; many give a lot more, but some give nothing. I have reached many people, not only the financially poor, but spiritually. It has been a wonderful and humbling ministry,” he says.

A life focused on working with others may not be surprising, given Fr. Rohrich’s upbringing. He was one of 12 children brought up in a religious family who lived three doors from St. Gertrude Parish on the north side of Chicago. All the children attended Catholic grammar school, high school and college. Six of the boys went to seminary school and two were ordained. Another sister became a nun of the Blessed Virgin Mary order.

Fr. Rohrich says, “My life as a Vincentian has been a wonderful
experience and far different than I thought it would be: it’s been a weird but exciting ride. Even though it is sometimes a mystery how you get to where you are, I have no doubt that this is what God wants me to do.”