OVERVIEW

This year, for a second time since 2019, Preservation Chicago has chosen to “spotlight” the consolidation, deconsecration, combining, closure and sale of many of our city’s finest religious structures. We are focusing once again on the decisions by the Archdiocese of Chicago to consolidate or close so many parishes and churches.

These immensely beautiful structures were constructed at great cost, and often at significant sacrifice, with pennies, nickels and dimes, by the faithful of the community. They are often the very cornerstones of our communities and neighborhoods, throughout

Chicago. In addition to their sheer beauty and providing the necessary space for religious services for worship, they are also community centers, providing everything from food pantries, shelte r se rv ice s, counseling and child care. In days of the past, and even today in some places, a resident may refer to their parish church and  community  to d e f i n e t h e neighborhood in which they live.

When one of these churches close and the parish is disbanded, relocated or merged, the impact is often felt hard and even beyond the traditional borders of a community–by the community at large. It’s not only the loss of an institution, but the loss of human services, often a lifeline to both f a m i l i e s  a n d individuals. These c  l  o  s  i  n  g  s  , consolidations, sale of buildings and sometimes demolitions, are painful in every way, and the loss of these institutions and their sacred spaces, should not occur in such ways and in such magnitude.

HISTORY

The Archdiocese of Chicago has many complex and complicated issues, many extending back more than 50 years, that are seen elsewhere in the nation and world. However, there has been a rush of closures under a relatively new program called “Renew my Church.” Initiated in 2017, this program appears to be anything but a renewal. It’s similar to the wholesale Urban Renewal programs of the 1950s and 1960s, where so much was lost and discarded, and without the great sensitivity that many would expect from the owner—the Archdiocese of Chicago. This program can result in demolition, as the buildings are often left vacant, rather than mothballed, often without the required and necessary care of their structures, including proper heating during inclement months. This in turn can result in more costly repairs by future potential uses or buyers. To further complicate potential reuse efforts by other Catholic congregations or another religious entities, the asking price of acquiring these vacant religious structures is often exorbitantly expensive to maximize financial returns for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

This is all very disturbing. These glorious structures and their ancillary buildings were built by the faithful and given to the Archdiocese of Chicago, to steward, maintain, and staff for use in perpetuity, as sacred places and sites. While some structures may be more modest than others, over the past 50 years, we’ve often witnessed an erosion of general maintenance and a growing disregard for these holy and consecrated buildings. Many Chicago Catholics are

direct descendants of the parishioners and communities that built these magnificent churches which were gifted to the Archdiocese.

Reasons for these closures given by the Archdiocese include a shortage of priests and a decline of church attendance and enrollment. Another reason cited for closure are long-deferred, costly repairs that the self-insured owner, the Bishops and Archbishops of the Archdiocese of Chicago, wish to avoid. Any parish with less than the 800 members threshold is at risk of consolidation and closure, and even a few larger parishes, with more than 900 members, are still under threat such as Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Ironically, many other religious communities would be thrilled to have even a fraction of 800 members attending their weekly services.

The Diocese of Chicago, formed on November 22, 1843 in Chicago, recognized by Pope Leo XIII, under Bishop William J. Quarter, arriving on May 5, 1844 from New York. At that time only one parish existed, St. Mary, organized in 1833 by the Reverend John Mary Irenaeus St. Cyr, said to be the first priest assigned to Chicago. Reverend St. Cyr was said to have established 30 churches and three new parishes, in addition to St. Mary of the Lake University.

The Chicago parishes established during those early years and the decades that followed from 1833 to 1875, within the city limits include Old St. Mary (1833), St. Joseph-Orleans Street, (Old) St. Patrick- DesPlaines Street and (Old) St. Peter (all in 1846). Holy Name Church, later Cathedral (1849), St. Bridget, St. Louis-Polk Street (1850), St. Henry (1851), St. Michael-Cleveland Avenue (1852), St. Francis of Assisi-Twelfth Street/ Roosevelt Road (1853), St. James-Wabash Avenue (1853). Also, Holy Family-Twelfth Street/Roosevelt Road and St. Patrick-Commercial Avenue (1857), St. Columbkille, Immaculate Conception-North Park Avenue and Old St. John (both 1859). St.

Wenceslaus-DeKoven Street (1863), St. Boniface and Notre Dame de Chicago (1864), Annunciation, St. Paul (1866) and St. Stanislaus Kostka-Noble Street (1867). Continuing with Nativity of our Lord (1868), St. Anne, St. Jarlath, St. Stephen-Ohio Street, St. Thomas the Apostle (1869). Also, St. John Nepomucene (1871), Sacred Heart-19th Street (1872), St. Anthony of Padua-Wallace Street, Holy Trinity-Noble Street (1873), St. Adalbert-17th Street, St. Margaret of Scotland, Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Pius (all 1874) and All Saints-Wallace Street, St. Procopius, St. Vincent de Paul (1875).

THREATS

In 1980, the Archdiocese of Chicago managed approximately 447 parishes, with between 278 and 298 in the City of Chicago and another 169 in the suburbs. Their records indicated an estimated 2,341,500 parishioners in total within the Chicago Metropolitan Area, making it still the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the nation. In the years since, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has surpassed Chicago in the total number of congregants.

Current trends have noted a drop in population and attendance across almost all faith communities in recent decades. This has resulted in the painful losses of houses of worship and the partial abandonment of the communities of people left behind. While the architecture and preservation community may not be able to address these issues of faith, we can assist in the preservation and reuse of these many buildings, which in themselves are cornerstones and landmarks in our communities across Chicago.

Since its beginnings until about 2019, the Archdiocese of Chicago has closed approximately 110 churches and parishes within the city limits of Chicago. Approximately 57 of the 110 churches were also demolished over time. Since 2020, the program “Renew My Church,” under Cardinal Cupich has been responsible for more than 88 churches and parishes which are scheduled to consolidate, merge and close. Approximately 25 of the 88 closed church buildings are expected to be sold. This number does not include the ancillary structures of convents, rectories or school buildings, which potentially include hundreds of additional properties.

The magnitude of these closings have been devastating. What appeared to be a rock-solid institution, here for the ages—in perpetuity and along with these massive Diocesan organizations stewarding these basilicas of faith, have also been diminished.

To attempt to save these faith communities and their sacred structures, several non-profit organizations have challenged and continue to challenge at the Vatican court these consolidations, closings and the sales. Dozens of legal cases from the greater Chicago metropolitan area represent the largest number of Canon Law filings challenging any archdiocese in the United States.

The individuals involved in these legal actions are parishioners seeking to save their parishes, their communities and their sacred spaces. Assistance is offered though pro-bono services of a Canon Law attorney and these cases are filed in English, translated into Italian, and then translated into Ecclesiastical Latin, where they are debated before the Vatican Courts each third Thursday of the month. When a verdict is reached it is translated from Latin back to Italian and then to English, where it is then conveyed back to the parishioners. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of these cases are lost. However, in some challenges churches and parishes reopened elsewhere in the United States where Canon Law rules had not been properly followed or violations had been observed during the closure process.

Canon Law states that if faith options for the church buildings exist and are aligned with Catholic liturgy, they are to be gifted or first offered to another owner or religious body for the continuation of the faith. Those rules are oftentimes not shared as an option, and adherence to such policies are sometimes further challenged and debated.

Furthermore, protecting religious structures in Chicago has been extremely difficult since the passage of the religious buildings consent ordinance in 1987, introduced to the Chicago City Council by former Alderman Burton Natarus. This City Ordinance prevents the landmark designation of a religious building without the consent of its owner. It was invoked to protect the plans of the Fourth Presbyterian Church on North Michigan Avenue from potentially replacing one of its ancillary Gothic-Revival inspired structures with a new tall residential building.

The thinking was that the Chicago Landmark Designation of Fourth Presbyterian Church and its complex would potentially prohibit such plans from materializing, which could be an additional future source of income for the church. As time passed, it became clear that the Near North Side neighbors would not support the plans and the tall residential building concept was shelved. In its place on the site of the demolished ancillary Gothic structures was built a community center structure which has contributed tremendous benefits.

Intended to protect one church’s development scheme, the religious buildings consent ordinance has impacted hundreds of religious buildings across Chicago. The ordinance has continued to hamper efforts to give Chicago Landmark Designation to active congregations and their historic religious buildings without their consent. In almost every instance, the Archdiocese of Chicago has refused designation of its most amazing church properties and has often greatly challenged attempts to Landmark its buildings, despite that they are viewed as shared community assets, often built and gifted to them by parishioners. The result is that despite so many churches being of the highest quality, so few have become official Chicago Landmarks. They have been prevented from being recognized and honored as Designated Chicago Landmarks and have been deprived of all of the accolades, protections and financial support offered to our Chicago Landmark buildings. This is very unfortunate on so many different levels

RECOMMENDATIONS

Preservation Chicago has been working to preserve many of Chicago’s historic buildings since our founding 20 years ago. This preservation advocacy work has included religious buildings, churches, synagogues and houses of worship. The effort to save St. Boniface Church in West Town helped to bring about the creation of our organization.

Preservation efforts and campaigns include the Landmarking of the former St. Clara-St. Cyril/St. Gelasius, now known as The Shrine of Christ the King, and the Minnekirken Chicago—The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church on Logan Square. Also, advocacy efforts to preserve St. James Roman Catholic Church on South Wabash Avenue (demolished) and Anshe Keneseth Israel on West Douglas Boulevard (demolished). Stone Temple Baptist Church, originally known as the First Romanian Synagogue and the site of many visits by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is now a Landmark. The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany is Landmark building to be reopened as the Epiphany Center for the Arts. The list also include Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation Synagogue (converted to residential), St. Peter Episcopal Church on Belmont Avenue, the Church of the Advent on Logan Boulevard (converted to residential), which is also a Designated Chicago Landmark. Efforts to save, preserve and landmark St. Adalbert in Pilsen, All Saints-St. Anthony in Bridgeport, St. Michael the Archangel in South Chicago – “The Bush” and 17 others have been ongoing. These are a few examples of the religious structures for which we have outreached and advocated. There are many other religious buildings in which we have provided supporting testimony for Chicago Landmark Designation.

We want to encourage the Archdiocese of Chicago to consider inviting other Religious Orders to Chicago, as was done under the direction of Cardinal Francis George, OMI (1937-2015), in the past, to occupy and staff many of these remarkable and sacred structures, when the Archdiocese can no longer support them. Many of these buildings can be retained and reused as chapels, monasteries, places of contemplation, retreat houses and sites, and a retreat from a visitor’s hectic traverses of the day.

We at Preservation Chicago are also requesting that after 34 years, the 1987 religious buildings consent ordinance be overturned. All other buildings and structures in the City of Chicago can be considered for Chicago Landmark Designation without the consent of the owner. Yet this special provision and ordinance applies unfairly to buildings in which religious services are conducted, often creating an unbalanced playing field. This ordinance has hamstrung many potential Chicago Landmark Designations of some of the City’s finest buildings designed by the same world- famous architects of our downtown Landmarks.
We are also of the opinion that since many of these church buildings were gifted to organizations like the Archdiocese of Chicago, by the many faithful, that they should not vigorously challenge Landmark Designations. In fact they should share them with the community and work with parishioners and the community to determine a path to preserving these sacred places and buildings.

Additionally, if it is determined that a church or house of worship can no longer function in such a capacity by all stakeholders and the City, plans should be considered to encourage cultural reuses for these most sacred structures. Such reuse efforts may include a reuse as concert venues, music centers, cultural centers for the community and other such respectful uses.

After all, many of these religious structures, and in this particular case, Roman Catholic Churches are often cornerstones and visual gateways, which are so closely associated with our communities across Chicago. They are worth the effort and robust conversations to find alternative owners and potential creative reuses for these magnificent structures, which were built for the ages and designed to inspire all who gaze upon them in perpetuity.

The following Roman Catholic Churches are to be consolidated, closed or sold and are of great concern to us at Preservation Chicago and to the larger communities of our city.

St. George Church (closed 2020)
Architect: William J. Brinkman, 1903
9546 S. Ewing Avenue, East Side, Community Area 52, 10th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

St. George Church was established in 1903  to  serve S l o v e n i a n immigrants who settled near the steel mills in South Chicago . This national parish was founded within the territorial parish of St. Patrick  at  95th S t r e e t   a n d C o m m e r c i a l Avenue.

The origins of the St. George national parish were found in Slovenian and Slovak fraternal and benevolent organizations of the  1890s.  The p a s to r o f a Slovenian parish in Chicago’s  Pilsen n e i g h b o r h o o d celebrated Mass for the small South Chicago Slovenian congregation for a time in a German Catholic church at 91st and Exchange, and he encouraged the South Chicago congregation to form a national parish. The group bought land on 95th Street between Avenues M and N, and had secured the services of a Slovenian priest who began to work with the St. George parish in May 1903.

Initial plans to build a small wooden church were revised when the parishioners acquired a new site at the northwest corner of 96th and Ewing Avenue. With the help of Croatian Catholics who were among the large numbers of Southern Slavs settling in the neighborhood, the large brick church of St. George was constructed in Gothic style with a prominent bell tower. Ground was broken at the end of June 1903, the cornerstone was laid at the start of August, and the first Mass was celebrated in the new church on December 6, 1903.

In January 1904, the church bells were blessed. They had been a “gift of the single men” of the parish. In June 1904, Auxiliary Bishop Peter J. Muldoon dedicated the church. In 1906, Andrew Carnegie made a “sizeable donation toward the purchase of the church organ.”

By 1911, the parish debt was reduced by $8,000. The following year, the membership of the church decreased when the Croatians decided to form their own national parish west of the Calumet River. After several changes of the pastorate, beginning in 1922, St. George parish was staffed by the Slovenian Franciscan Fathers from Lemont, Illinois. In the 1920s, the parish hall was enlarged, the Slovene artist John Gosar was commissioned to redecorate the church interior, and later, stained glass windows were installed in the church. From the end of the 1930s, worshipers other than Slovenians were encouraged to participate in parish life at St. George.

Parish debt was liquidated in 1943 and shortly thereafter, a new fundraising campaign began for construction of a parish school and additional parish structures. Over the next 20 years, a community center, a school, and a new rectory were built.

Decades before the 75th anniversary celebration of St. George parish in 1978, the parish was no longer exclusively Slovenian. By the 1970s, Masses were no longer celebrated in Slovenian. The parish had become ethnically diverse, serving a congregation that included a large number of Italians, among others.

From its beginnings as a national parish for immigrant laborers of South Slavic populations, St. George Church grew to welcome worshippers of a variety of backgrounds. The gradual enhancement of its interior by parishioners of modest means manifests the depth of community devotion to this structure over many decades. Despite the history of caring stewardship and diversity of the community served, St. George Church was closed by the Chicago Archdiocese in 2020. It was one of four South Chicago parishes that were combined with only two churches, Annunciata and St. Kevin, remaining open.

St. Bride Church (closed 2020)

Architect: Unknown, 1908-09
7801 S. Coles Avenue, South Shore/Windsor Park, Community Area 43, 7th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey : Not Listed

St. Bride Church, built in a French Gothic style, was established in 1893 as a mission of St. Kevin Church at 105th and Torrence Avenue to serve 45 families who lived north of 87th Street, in the neighborhoods of South Shore, Windsor Park, and Cheltenham.

At the time of St. Bride’s organization, South Shore was sparsely settled. However, it was south of Jackson Park, the site of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and north of the steel mills in South Chicago. The area was linked to downtown Chicago by the Illinois Central railroad. The original church building was a single-story brick edifice built at a cost of $3,000, which was dedicated on August 6, 1893. St. Bride remained a mission until 1900. That year, the pastor who had established the mission, resigned his position at St. Kevin’s to become pastor of St. Bride. Two years later, the Carmelite Fathers from Mount Carmel High School (then known as St. Cyril College) volunteered their assistance at St. Bride’s.

In September 1907, ground was broken for a new church building at the southeast corner of 78th Street and Coles Avenue. The cornerstone was laid on June 14, 1908. On June 6, 1909, the new St. Bride Church, with a seating capacity of 600, was dedicated by Archbishop James E. Quigley. The parish roster then listed 300 families.

The old mission church was remodeled into a school, which opened in September 1909. The St. Bride School was the first Catholic grammar school in South Shore. The following year, a new pastor began construction of a new school that opened in 1911 with a capacity of 400 students.

During the 1920s, the parish pursed a program of expansion, first remodeling an existing three-story building into a convent, then building a rectory, and finally adding more classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of Catholic children who lived in the area. A period of continued growth followed over several decades. The post-World

War II years into the 1960s saw construction of a number of high rise apartment buildings along the lakefront. Many of the Catholic residents who moved into these buildings became members of St. Bride parish.

For several decades, South Shore was a largely Catholic and Jewish neighborhood. However, the demographics changed beginning in the late 1960s when South Shore became a majority Black neighborhood. New and old parishioners celebrated the 75th anniversary of St. Bride Church in December 1968. During the 1970s, ties were strengthened between the new Black and Haitian parishioners and the older parishioners of Irish and German descent. By 2005, student enrollment had declined to such an extent that St. Bride School closed its doors in June, with the graduation of its 96th class.

In 2020, all four of the South Shore parishes, including St. Bride, were merged by the Chicago Archdiocese into one newly created parish, Our Lady and Ss. Bride and Philip Neri. On July 1, 2020, St. Bride Church was closed. Our Lady of Peace and Our Lady Gate of Heaven were also closed. St. Philip Neri Church is now the surviving Catholic church in South Shore.

St. Michael Archangel Catholic Church (to be consolidated)

Architect: William J. Brinkmann, 1909
8237 S. South Shore Drive, South Chicago, Community Area 46, 7th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

St Michael’s was founded in 1892 to serve Polish immigrants who flocked to America’s shores in search of work to build a better future for themselves and for their children. For a century or more the faith community formed from these immigrants expanded to include Croatians, Slovaks, and later Mexican and Mexican Americans, Nigerians, African Americans, Asian Americans, Haitians, and Filipinos who have worshipped together within this soaring, highly ornamented Gothic church, resembling a grand cathedral.

The present St. Michael’s is the third church building constructed to serve the people of this area, having been completed in 1909 under the pastorate of Bishop Paul Rhode. Bishop Rhode was the first Polish American to be consecrated auxiliary bishop of Chicago. Bishop Rhode later became the Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The church’s architecture and expansive interior is Gothic in style. It features two soaring steeples that rise over the South Side of Chicago, which can be seen towering over the community, truly “the cathedral of South Chicago.” The architect was William J. Brinkmann.

The main altar reredos and two side altars are constructed of butternut and bird’s eye maple wood. The central statue of St. Michael, the two incensing angels and the statues on the side altars were sculpted and painted by hand. A beautiful and rare communion rail is carved in oak with a white marble top. The interior of the church can seat approximately 1,100 people. This is truly a landmark worthy of saving and a gateway to South Chicago.
Of interest to lovers of music is the grand piano which belonged to famed composer Ignace Jan Paderewski.

A shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa, the National Patron of the people of Poland, is located in the sanctuary. The shrine was constructed in Poland in the early 1960s.

The Magnificent stained-glass windows were made by F. X. Zettler of Munich, Germany. Of special note are the two transept windows on the east and west sides of the church. These windows have been considered by some in the parish to be perhaps the largest most beautiful stained-glass windows in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The window on the east side of the church depicts the Pentecost event — the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. The window on the west side of the church gives imagery to the vision of Saint Michael the Archangel at the Last Judgment.
Among other churches in Chicago which claim to house relics, St. Michael’s enshrines a relic said to be of St. Cyprian, Bishop and martyr.

Our Lady of Victory

Architect:     Hermann J. Gaul, 1910-1911, E. Brielmaier and Sons, 1927, Meyer and Cook, 1954
5200-5240 W. Agatite Avenue, Jefferson Park, Ward 38, Community Area 15
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

Our Lady of Victory Church has been serving Irish, German, and Polish immigrants of Jefferson Park for more than 110 years. The presence of the church drove an influx of Catholics from more densely populated neighborhoods outward to the far northwest side of the city.

Our Lady of Victory was designed by the noted German-born church architect Hermann J. Gaul, who had apprenticed under Louis Sullivan in the 1890s. The cornerstone was laid on May 1910, and the church was dedicated on May 28, 1911, by Archbishop James E. Quigley.

From 1910 when the church was built, to 1925, the city’s population had increased by 1 million, with the bulk of that population moving to the newly established “Bungalow Belt” in the more outlying neighborhoods in the city. Our Lady of Victory had a full parish school and enough parishioners to warrant expansion.

To this end, in 1927, plans for a new convent, church and rectory were created by the architectural firm of E. Brielmaier & Sons, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designed the convent and rectory as symmetric, classical style buildings that would abut each side of the new church. These buildings included two open courtyards and a grotto, harmonious with their placid surroundings in the quiet but growing neighborhood.

By 1950, Our Lady of Victory parish numbered 2,500 families with approximately 1,100 children enrolled in the school. A new school addition had been completed in 1949, and soon work was to begin on the upper church, that would sit atop the current church that was on a lower level.

In the early 1950s, the firm of Meyer and Cook, which had designed elegant and unique buildings throughout the Chicago area, including the Chicago Landmark Laramie State Bank Building, was commissioned to create the upper church of Our Lady of Victory. The firm designed the upper church in the Spanish/ Mission Revival style, an extremely rare style for Chicago and one of a few of its kind. At a cost of over $1 million (well over $10 million in 2021 dollars), the magnificent structure was completed in 1954 and opened on Easter Sunday that year.

Our Lady of Victory Church was designed by multiple significant Chicago architects in three different time frames. Its complex of structures housed a unique part of the fabric of Catholic Chicago, initiating an era of blended English-speaking ethnicities. Its steeple is a community landmark, towering over the surrounding blocks. The strong immigrant community has built and stewarded this church, their spiritual home and the hub of their community, through more than a century of growth and change on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Despite a thriving parish and no debt against the church, the Archdiocese announced in December 2020 that the church would be closed.

All Saints – St. Anthony Catholic Church (closed and for sale)
Architect: Henry J. Schlacks, 1913
518 W. 28th Place, Bridgeport, Community Area 60, 11th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

Romanesque or “Norman” in style, All Saints—St. Anthony Catholic Church (originally St. Anthony of Padua Church) is one of the magnificent churches of the historic Bridgeport neighborhood with its soaring towers, detailed brickwork and exterior mosaics over the entrance portals. Immense in scale, the structure is a landmark in the community and was designed by Henry J. Schlacks, one of Chicago’s most noted architects. St. Anthony of Padua was consolidated with All Saints in 1968 and renamed at that time.

St. Anthony’s on 28th Place and Wallace was the second location of a German-speaking parish organized in 1873. The original church was built at 24th Place and Canal in Armour Square, where the parish already had a school. The cornerstone was laid in 1873 and the church was dedicated in 1879.

The following year, a railway line opened one block east of the church. Later, to accommodate expansion plans, the railroad wanted to acquire the church property. The third pastor of the parish reached a settlement with the railroad, and made plans to relocate the church farther south, close to All Saints Church.

In 1913, land was purchased at the northeast corner of 28th Place and Wallace, and the cornerstone of the new church was laid. Construction continued throughout 1914 and was completed in time for Christmas mass to be celebrated. The church was dedicated in 1915 by Auxiliary Bishop Paul P. Rhode. The parish complex designed by Schlacks includes the church, an attached rectory on 28th Place, and a school and a convent farther east on the same block.

In the Depression years of the 1930s, the number of baptisms at St. Anthony’s declined, as did the number of marriages. A program of renovation was undertaken in preparation for the 75th anniversary of the parish, which was celebrated by Cardinal Stritch in 1948. By 1950, St. Anthony’s was no longer an exclusively German parish. Its congregation mirrored the diversity of Bridgeport, including Italian, Lithuanian, Irish, and Polish members. The church was later redecorated for its 85th anniversary in 1958.

The territorial parish of All Saints, with which St. Anthony was consolidated, was established at 25th Place and and Wallace Street in 1875. It was organized for Irish Catholics in the section of Bridgeport that had been served by a storefront “mission church” of the now-demolished St. Bridget Church on Archer Avenue, and the parish included a portion of St. James parish, whose original limestone structure was also recently demolished.

All Saints Church was dedicated in 1881. Despite robust school enrollment and parish activity in the early decades, by the post-WWI era, school enrollment had declined significantly as Irish families moved further south

from Bridgeport. By the time a new parish school opened in 1929, All Saints was no longer exclusively Irish, but had members of German, Italian, Mexican, and Polish descent. Decades later, the parish lost more membership with the demolition of homes of hundreds of families for construction of the Dan Ryan and Stevenson expressways.

For some time after the 1968 consolidation of St. Anthony of Padua with All Saints, both churches and parish schools continued in operation. The decision was made to demolish All Saints Church in 1973 due to its age, deteriorated condition, previous vandalism, and proximity to the expressway among other reasons.

The remaining church of St. Anthony is a magnificent work by Schlacks. The cruciform plan features two colonnaded, vaulted side aisles, topped by semi- circular frescoes, and a soaring, vaulted central space. There are brilliant, high-quality stained glass windows throughout the nave, with additional rose windows in both transepts and above the choir. The apse has a fresco at the top of a high arch, with a lower arch at the altar below. A massive pipe organ graces the choir loft.

A striking mosaic shimmers above the three-portal front entrance, with each portal featuring highly-elaborate carved design.   Above  the  front  rose window is a niche with a statue o f St. Anthony. The front facade is flanked by two soaring square bell towers that are visible throughout the neighborhood and from the expressway beyond.

This is an irreplaceable church structure and parish complex that was built and maintained by impoverished immigrant populations. It has been a spiritual home to the faithful of diverse ethnic origins, most recently including a sizable Mexican-American population. As its entire history testifies, beauty is not the province of the wealthy, but of newcomers and the downtrodden equally. With its proximity to downtown and its location in a gentrifying neighborhood, St. Anthony’s should be an asset for diverse populations in generations to come

Holy Cross Church (consolidated 2020)

Architect: Joseph Molitor, 1913-15
1740 W. 46th Street, Back of the Yards/New City, Community Area 61, 15th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

The majestic twin towers of Holy Cross Church, topped by shining copper-clad cupolas, have been a landmark for the Back of the Yards community on Chicago’s Southwest Side for more than a century. In 1904, Holy Cross parish was established as a national parish to serve Lithuanian immigrants who settled near the Union Stock Yards. Within 10 years, construction began on this grand baroque style church building.

In the 1890s, there were swamps and ponds in the area, known as “Town of Lake,” where the church was later built. Lithuanians began to settle there, and in 1902, the St. Vincent Ferrer Lithuanian Benevolent Society started organizing efforts to create a parish. The society rented a building on Hermitage Avenue to use as a school and it secured the services of nuns from St. George parish in Bridgeport to teach catechism to the Lithuanian children.

In February 1904, the Benevolent Society purchased land to build a temporary combination church-school structure. The cornerstone was laid in December of that year. Before construction was completed, parish Masses were conducted in the nearby St. Rose of Lima Church. The first Holy Cross Church was ready for use in May 1905, and the school in the same building opened that fall. In 1909, a rectory was built.

The parish grew so quickly that work on a larger church began in 1913. The cornerstone of the massive church designed by Joseph Molitor was laid that year by Archbishop Quigley; construction costs were estimated to be $200,000. The church’s facade features a portico with eight Corinthian columns supporting a frieze and pediment. A Latin inscription on the frieze translates, “In the Holy Cross is the life of the world.” Three niches above the pediment contain sculptures of Christ, St. Isidore, and St. George. The soaring towers are “rich in balustrades, arches, finials, pilasters, ornamental copper work, and cupolas.”

The vast interior “features a lofty, expansive dome, admired by the experts as an architectural marvel.” The vaulted ceiling, supported by marble columns, is lined by more than 2,000 electric lights, each within a rosette. Solid oak pews provide seating for 1,400. There is a richly ornamented wooden altar, numerous statues and paintings, and a double choir loft with a huge pipe organ.

Stained glass windows from the Chicago firm of Arthur Michaudel were installed in 1943-44.

In addition to large rose windows in the transept and nave windows depicting scenes from the life of Christ, smaller windows feature depictions of apostles and saints. Ornate stations of the cross were created by renowned painter Thaddeus von Zukotynski. Four paintings on Lithuanian and American historical themes by Lithuanian artist Adolfas Valeska were added in the early 1950s.

The parish continued to grow in membership, remodeling the previous combination church-school building in 1919 to provide more classrooms. In the 1940s, parish debt of more than $100,000 was liquidated; the church, school, and rectory were remodeled; and a new convent was built. In 1962, a new school building was completed.
Despite the introduction of English in the 1930s, the Lithuanian language remained predominant for decades. An influx of Lithuanian refugees in the post-World War II years into the 1950s further strengthened the Lithuanian character of the parish. Even as parishioners moved out of the Back of the Yards neighborhood, they continued to support the church and to return on major feasts and for special celebrations. A Lithuanian choir continued to sing at Masses in the years leading up to the 75th anniversary of Holy Cross parish, and Lithuanian parish organizations continued their activities. Yet, the parish welcomed parishioners of various national backgrounds. As the neighborhood became predominantly Spanish-speaking, a new group of parishioners found a home at Holy Cross. In 1981, Holy Cross parish was merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, to serve the growing Spanish-speaking population.

Holy Cross Church has served low-income, working class immigrant parishioners for its entire history; it has successfully met the needs of its original Lithuanian base while welcoming diverse national groups and eventually becoming a Mexican-American parish. This should be considered a model parish, providing social services for the poor and the newcomers, while respecting the diverse backgrounds of all; and most importantly, offering Mass in a grand and beautiful sacred space. This majestic church should continue to provide spiritual strength and solace to the underserved and poor.

Yet, the Chicago Archdiocese has consolidated the parishes of Back of the Yards: Holy Cross, previously merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Joseph, and St. Michael the Archangel. St. Joseph has been designated the parish church of the newly created entity, which will be named by July 1, 2021. Holy Cross Church will be a “Sunday worship center,” with an uncertain future.

Providence of God Church (consolidated 2016)
Architect: Joseph Molitor/ Leo Strelka, 1914-1927
717 W. 18th Street, Pilsen, Community Area 31, 11th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Green-Rated

The Romanesque-style Providence of God Church, standing in the shadow of downtown Chicago, embodies the history of its immigrant founders. Overcoming numerous difficulties in its early years, parishioners of Providence of God built a magnificent house of worship that later accommodated members of a former parish and welcomed newer immigrants but now faces an uncertain future.

Lithuanians who settled in the port-of-entry neighborhood of Pilsen at the end of the 19th Century sought creation of a Lithuanian parish on the West Side of Chicago. In 1892, they formed the Providence of God Society in St. George parish in Bridgeport. A few years later, as their efforts progressed, one of the reasons cited for a new parish was the high cost of travel to St. George — $0.20. In 1900, a committee had located a site for a new parish, which was established that same year, becoming the second Lithuanian parish in Chicago.

The parish’s early years were marked by contentious relationships with several priests from St. George Church who were designated to lead the new parish. The controversies involved language—one of the priests did not know Lithuanian—and primarily finances and the role of parish trustees. The new parishioners sought to continue traditions from their homeland, whereby the trustees would control the finances and hold the deed for the church, rather than the bishop. Despite those concerns, in 1901, construction began on a combination church-school building on Union Avenue.

In 1910, property on Union was purchased for construction of a larger church. In 1913, Joseph Molitor was hired to design the new church, and the cornerstone was laid the following year. However, due to financial difficulties, only

the lower portion of the church was completed. The combination church was remodeled into classrooms to accommodate an increasing enrollment, which had grown to 518 students by 1916. A convent was also built in this period.

By the mid-1920s, parish school enrollment reached 750 students, and there were more than 20 benevolent societies and religious confraternities in the parish. Finances had improved enough to allow work on the church to resume in June 1926. The Romanesque church with twin bell towers was completed according to plans of architect Leo Strelka. The beautiful interior features a barrel-vaulted ceiling, elaborately decorated main and side altars, carved wooden pews, ceiling paintings, and beautiful stained glass windows — including a rose window in the apse. Cardinal Mundelein dedicated the new church on June 12, 1927.
In subsequent decades, parish membership began a slow decline, along with school enrollment. Nonetheless, its 50th anniversary in 1950 was celebrated by Cardinal Stritch. In 1959, a fire destroyed the nearby Sacred Heart Church, which was a territorial parish. The Archdiocese decided against rebuilding, and instead consolidated Sacred Heart parish into Providence of God in 1960.

In December 1962, the Dan Ryan Expressway opened to traffic, and a heavily traveled elevated section leading into downtown conducts commuters within “a few hundred feet of” church. In the 1960s, Pilsen’s population became predominantly Mexican-American. Providence of God was among the first churches to offer a Spanish-language Mass. By 1975, the parish’s 75th anniversary was celebrated with one Mass in Spanish and one in English and Lithuanian. Both parish membership and school enrollment increased again.

Providence of God is unique as the site of a historic event of significance to Catholics of all backgrounds: the church hosted a visit by Pope John Paul II in October 1979. Although the pope’s stop at Providence of God was brief, it is

notable because he was later declared a saint of the Catholic Church. Thus, Providence of God is possibly the sole Catholic churches in Chicago that can claim the visit of a saint.

In 2016, the Providence of God parish was consolidated with St. Procopius parish, which is now known as St. Procopius-Providence of God. According to one news report after the consolidation, Masses were to continue at Providence of God, but the pastor of St. Procopius would determine if any other sacraments or services would be held there. Currently, there do not appear to be Masses regularly scheduled there and the church’s future appears uncertain.

Located in east Pilsen, close to a planned major residential development along the river, a great potential exists for Providence of God to regain members and again draw a diverse parishioner base. Unlike the hard-working immigrant poor who have filled Providence of God’s pews for more than a century, the new residents would likely differ in economic status, but would share the same spiritual needs that could be satisfied within this beautiful church. The church is seen literally by thousands of expressway commuters every day and its proximity to downtown can further encourage programming to draw a new population. In addition to these practical concerns, the beauty of the church and its strong connection to a saint make it important to preserve.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (to be consolidated)
Architects: Worthmann & Steinbach (1915), Joseph W. McCarthy (1929)
4640 N. Ashland Avenue/1601 W. Leland Avenue Lincoln Square/Ravenswood/Uptown
Ward 47 (Community Area 03)
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

Our Lady of Lourdes Church, an exquisite example of Spanish Renaissance style now standing on the west side of Ashland Avenue in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood, claims a unique engineering feat in its history, the entire massive structure having been moved across the street.

In October 1892, the original church of Our Lady of Lourdes, a frame building, was erected on the southwest corner of Ashland and Leland Avenues. In 1903, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary founded a parish grade school which welcomed 340 pupils in its inaugural year. The predominantly Irish parish continued to grow, and so did the need for a larger church.

The frame church was demolished, and prolific church architects Worthmann & Steinbach were commissioned to build a new church across the street on the southeast corner of Ashland and Leland. The church by Worthmann & Steinbeck was modeled to resemble a church in Valladolid, Spain, in Spanish Renaissance style. The first Mass was celebrated in the new church on Christmas Day 1915. It was dedicated on May 21, 1916 by Archbishop George
W. Mundelein.

After WWI, Ravenswood experienced an influx of residents, and parish membership increased rapidly. In 1929, the City of Chicago decided to widen Ashland Avenue. The parish planned a move and expansion of the church across

the street, back to its original location on the southwest corner of the i n t e r s e c t i o n . T h e Worthmann & Steinbach church building was moved in its entirety across the street, garnering international acclaim for executing one o f t h e g r e a t e s t engineering feats of the early-twentieth century. The 10,000-ton building was lifted from its foundation by 50 men operating steel jacks and placed on steel rails that acted as rollers. The structure was then pulled across the street with six heavy chains, 72 pulleys and two teams of horses at the rate of “a foot a minute.” The building was then

rotated 90 degrees to its present position and cut in two so that a 30-foot section could be added to accommodate up to 300 additional parishioners. Joseph W. McCarthy, another notable ecclesiastical architect, was hired to design the new expanded interior of the church.

Our Lady of Lourdes has a cruciform plan with a large masonry dome above the crossing of the nave and transepts. There are now six bays in the nave with large stained glass windows at the ground level and pairs of smaller windows in the clerestory. The broad Spanish-style entranceway on Leland is embellished by a beautiful ornamental iron screen. The entrance is flanked by square brick towers with cupolas and red tile domes.

The following decades saw an extensive renovation of Our Lady of Lourdes School, the construction of a new convent, and the renovation of Our Lady of Lourdes grotto to make it a faithful replica of the grotto in Lourdes, France. In 1992 the church grotto was made a perpetual adoration site and remains the area’s only chapel open 24/7 for worship.

On October 7, 1979, parishioners gathered for a special Mass which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the rededication of the church after it was moved across Ashland Avenue. Our Lady of Lourdes parish went on to serve over 1,500 families of nearly 20 different ethnic backgrounds who live in the area, and it has Spanish and English Mass on its Sunday schedule.

However, the fate of the 127-year-old Our Lady of Lourdes Church and cherished grotto has been called into question as the Archdiocese of Chicago has announced that Our Lady of Lourdes will be merged with St. Mary of the Lake at 4220 N. Sheridan Road. St. Mary of the Lake, which was on Preservation Chicago’s Endangered Church watch list in 2019, will serve as the main campus for the combined parish to be named St. Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. While the Archdiocese claims to give consideration to “supporting the pastoral presence and importance of the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, while also balancing what is financially sustainable,” it plans to list Our Lady of the Lourdes School for sale and the future of the church is to be reviewed on an annual basis.

Our Lady of Lourdes was designed by notable architects Worthmann & Steinbeck, and its interior expansion in 1929 was designed by another notable ecclesiastical architect Joseph W. McCarthy. Its perpetual adoration grotto has become an important place for Catholics in Ravenswood and beyond where they can come to pray at all hours of the day. The architectural and historical importance of Our Lady of Lourdes, the unique engineering history of the

church’s relocation, and the allegiance shown by faithful C a t h o l i c s o f t h i s neighborhood to this church support allowing Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church to remain an asset to the Ravenswood and larger Lakeview community for years to come.

C o r p u s  C h r i s t i Church ( to be consolidated and closed)

Architect: Joseph W. McCarthy (1915)

4900 S. Martin Luther King Drive, Grand Boulevard, Ward 3, Community Area 38 Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange- Rated

Corpus Christi Church, located in the Grand Boulevard  neighborhood, has one of the grandest designs by noted ecclesiastical architect Joseph W. McCarthy. The church is noted for its soaring coffered ceiling, rich marble work, and Renaissance ornamentation.

Ground was broken at the southwest corner of 49th Street and Grand Boulevard (now Martin Luther King Drive) for the present church in 1914. The church was dedicated the following year, and opened for mass on Christmas, 1915. This magnificent edifice and the adjoining rectory at 4920 Grand Boulevard were designed in an Italian Renaissance style. Corpus Christi is cruciform in plan with a semicircular apse containing a white marble altar. The church has a magnificent coffered ceiling with 650 octagonal plaster panels decorated in white and gold. The worship space in this church is bright and open. Brilliant colored stained-glass windows, designed in Germany by F. X. Zettler, depict the original church members with Pope Pius X. An adjacent cloister forms a lovely garden for parishioners. A 1932 New World Article called the church “an object of wonderment” and “one of the finest churches in Chicago.”

Corpus Christi, Latin words for the Body of Christ, refers to the sacred bread which Jesus gave to his followers at the Last Supper. The artwork throughout this church portrays scenes related to the history of this sacrament. Above the high altar, there is a mosaic replica of Leonardo di Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper in Milan.

Beginning in the 1920s, the Grand Boulevard area began to change racially from a predominately Irish-American neighborhood to a Black community. By 1928, fewer than 100 persons attended Corpus Christi Church on Sundays and only 28 children were enrolled in the school. As a result, the pastor resigned, and the parish and the school were closed in 1929.

In 1929, Cardinal Mundelein entrusted the parish to the Franciscan Fathers, who have been in charge ever since. Under the Franciscan Fathers, Corpus Christi became a retreat center. When the retreat center failed, Cardinal Mundelein granted the Franciscan Fathers permission to minister to the needs of the Black community. Although a majority of the Blacks who lived in Chicago in the 1930s were concentrated in the South Side’s “Black Belt,” only a small percentage were Catholic. The Franciscan Fathers reopened the church for Black people in 1932. The Corpus Christi parish flourished once again and became an important center of Black Catholicism in Chicago.

In September 1945, the Franciscan Fathers opened Corpus Christi high school – the second Black Catholic high school in Chicago – in the former Sinai Temple at 4622 South Parkway. The coeducational school was staffed by the

Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family and by Franciscan Fathers in residence at the parish. In 1962, Corpus Christi high school was consolidated with the new Hales Franciscan high school which opened at 4930 S. Cottage Grove Avenue.

In June of 1975, one of the plaster panels fell from the coffered ceiling of the church. The whole ceiling was found to be in danger of falling because the sisel which held the panels up was rotting. The church was declared unsafe and was closed. However, the people of the parish wanted their church to open again. Under the direction of architect Paul Straka, each of the 650 plaster coffers was rehung with wire, the church was renovated, and eventually reopened for the 75th anniversary of the parish.

After serving the Grand Boulevard community for more than a century, the fate of this magnificent building is uncertain. The Archdiocese has consolidated Corpus Christi with other parishes, and only one of those churches is anticipated to remain open.

Corpus Christi had a distinguished beginning, created by the design of a prominent architect and containing an abundance of treasures of artwork within. After an early closure, Corpus Christi began to serve Black Catholics and it has maintained a vibrant parish life in educational programs and social programs benefitting the greater community. As an anchor and resource in a traditionally disinvested community, this historically and architecturally significant church should be landmarked and preserved so it may continue to provide a sacred space for generations to come.

St. Matthias Catholic Church (to be consolidated)

Architect: Hermann J. Gaul, 1915-16
2310 W. Ainslie Street
Lincoln Square, Ward 40, Community Area 03 Uptown
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Not Listed

St. Matthias Church, an impressive red brick Romanesque edifice with an imposing bell tower in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, was organized in 1887 to serve German Catholics who lived in Bowmanville, a farming community in the Town of Lakeview.

A frame church and school building was erected on Ainslie Street to serve the largely German parish. Several pastors served the parish in its first decades, and a rectory was also built. Beginning in the 1910s, the majority of the present St. Matthias complex was constructed.

The noted German-born ecclesiastical architect Hermann J. Gaul, who had apprenticed under Louis Sullivan in the 1890s, designed the church at the corner of Ainslie Street and Claremont Avenue. The cornerstone was laid on May 2, 1915, St. Matthias held its first mass on Christmas Day 1915, and the church was dedicated by Archbishop George W. Mundelein on May 28, 1916.

T h e  A i n s l i e elevation of St. Matthias features a t r i p l e – a r c h e d e ntr anc e  w i th elaborate design elements. An

a r c h e d  a n d columned niche above the central portal contains a large statue of St. Matthias. The church interior boasts a multiple vaulted ceiling, h i g h – q u a l i t y s t a i n e d – g l a s s windows, large frescoes in the transept, and a massive pipe organ.

Over the past 105 years that Sunday masses have been celebrated  at  St. Matthias, the parish has become an increasingly diverse community. The tens of thousands of Catholics in the Lincoln Square neighborhood who have received the sacraments there represent numerous linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. Over 100 graduating classes of the thriving parish school have had their commencement ceremony in the grand sacred space of St. Matthias. The parish continues to be vibrant, with over 1,000 members at the time of its consolidation with Queen of Angels parish in 2020. In fact, $350,000 was raised by parishioners for renovations and restorations that were made just prior to the announcement of consolidation and closure.

After the plans were announced in November 2019, parishioners of St. Matthias have pursued an appeal of the decision at the Vatican under the Church’s canon law. A nonprofit organization seeking to keep St. Matthias open was formed, and petition efforts were begun to keep the church open for Sunday masses. More than 3,700 signatures have been collected, and yard signs posted with the message “Keep St. Matthias Church Open” can be seen throughout the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

St. Matthias Church is a beautiful structure designed by an important ecclesiastical architect. It serves a parish has continually diversified and which remains active and vital, most recently funding renovations costing over a quarter million dollars. The lack of foresight in closing a church that has just completed such a project only contributes to the sting of the ill-considered consolidation. This magnificent church was built by a modest immigrant farming community and it should be landmarked to preserve its historic integrity as a sacred space, serving the diverse Catholic population and greater community of Lincoln Square for years to come.

St. Ignatius Church

Architect: Henry Schlacks, 1917
6547-6559 N. Glenwood Avenue
Rogers Park, Ward 49, Community Area 77
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Orange-Rated

St. Ignatius in Rogers Park on the far north side is one of the surviving classical gems of Chicago churches designed by Henry J. Schlacks., considered by many to be one of the finest of Chicago church architects.

St. Ignatius parish w as founded in 1907 by the Jesuits and initially was served by a small church. In the early 20th century, the “L” train’s r o u t e  w a s expanded from Wilson Avenue t o  H o w a r d Street which led to  a  great p o p u l a t i o n boom in the Rogers Park neighborhood. The parish rapidly outgrew i t s s m a l l original church. I n 1 9 1 5 , p a r i s h i o n e r s voted to build a new,   bigger church which was formally dedicated on September 16, 1917.

St. Ignatius Church is named after the soldier-saint and founder of the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century. Schlacks patterned the church after the Gesù, the mother church of the Jesuit order in Rome. The church is constructed of Bedford stone with a tile roof. A six -tory bell tower stands at the southeast corner of the building. Six columns, each 30-feet high, weighing 13 tons and carved from a single block of stone, support the portico of the church. The classic motif is continued inside where classical columns support the canopy of the baldacchino, are embedded in the walls around the church, and are found in the dome above the altar.

The golden canopy of the baldacchino is modeled after Bernini’s canopy in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Above one of the side altars stands a painting of St. Joseph. The image of St. Joseph with the Christ child in this painting known as “The Light of the World” has been called the most popular religious painting in the world. Four large stained- glass windows on each side of the nave and two huge windows in the transepts help illuminate the interior of the church. St. Ignatius is honored in a series of 10 oil paintings by the Chicago artist Augustine Pall. These paintings are affixed to the ceiling above each of the stained-glass windows.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s numerous social, sports and entertainment organizations were formed to meet the needs of parishioners. Philanthropy also played a part, with the St. Vincent de Paul Society distributing food, clothes and money to needy Rogers Park community members. After World War II, St. Ignatius focused on family- oriented activities and education. Sports, theater, youth, and family activities flourished.

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s was a time of great change for the parish. Hispanic parishioners began attending St. Ignatius in significant numbers in the 1960s. A Liturgy Committee, Parish Council and lay ministers began to serve the parish. In the early 1970s, Ignatian Services was founded to provide a wide variety of social services.

In 1994, St. Ignatius School was consolidated into the Northside Catholic Academy (NCA). Despite the school consolidation, parishioners remained dedicated to the parish and its ministries. The parish expanded programs for youth and teens with the hiring of a youth minister, instituting a children’s liturgy of the word on Sundays, and forming the children’s choir.

In the late 1990s the Jesuits determined they were no longer able to staff the parish. The Archdiocese officially took over in 2000 and two permanent deacons were ordained. In addition, many areas of the church were renovated with the proceeds of several fundraising initiatives.

Today, St. Ignatius is home to over 700 registered families. It is a diverse and multicultural worship environment and community that continues to follow the traditions set forth by its founders with emphasis placed on fellowship, service and charity, as well as support of cultural and educational endeavors.

After serving the Rogers Park community for more than a century, the fate of this significant building is uncertain. The Archdiocese has determined that St. Ignatius will cease to be a parish in 2021. Although St. Ignatius has been directed to engage with the Loyola University and the local Jesuit community regarding their interest in developing an outreach center at the St. Ignatius campus, the church will continue to explore all other options to reduce facility operations and capital expenses. This magnificent church should be landmarked to preserve its historic integrity and to continue to provide a beautiful sacred space to Catholics of Rogers Park.

St. Roman Church (closed 2020)

Architect: John F. Schrambeck & Sons/ Sandel & Strong, 1929-30
2311 S. Washtenaw Avenue, Marshall Square, Community Area 30, 24th Ward
Chicago Historic Resources Survey Status: Not Listed

St. Roman Church came into existence to serve a burgeoning Catholic population in Marshall Square just before the Great Depression. St. Roman was established in 1928 to relieve overcrowding at the Polish parish of St. Casimir at Cermak Road and Whipple Street.

In September 1928, the first Mass was held in the parish hall of St. Casimir. Marshall Square was so densely populated a neighborhood that not a single tract of vacant land was available for the new parish. Eleven properties at the southeast corner of 23rd Street and Washtenaw Avenue were purchased, and the homes were temporarily rented. The income from the rentals and donations of the early parishioners was supplemented by a gift of $40,000 from the pastor of St. Casimir.

This allowed work to begin on a new combination church and school building by John F. Schrambeck & Sons in April 1929. The cornerstone for the building was laid in June and the parish school opened in September. Shortly after work on the church began, the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. Yet St. Roman Church was completed according to plans by the architectural firm of Sandel & Strong, and was dedicated in October 1930 by Auxiliary Bishop Bernard J. Sheil.

The completed church, with a seating capacity of 700, featured a prominent three-tiered bell tower on the corner of 23rd and Washtenaw. Its interior design reflected the Polish heritage of its original parishioners. The entire L- shaped building also contained 16 classrooms and an assembly hall.

Just five years after the church was built, St. Roman parish had a membership of 900 families and a school enrollment of 900 students. By 1950, parish membership had increased to 1,650 families. With continued growth and hard work, St. Roman was clear of debt by 1951. Subsequently, a modern three-story convent was built.

From its thoroughly Polish roots, with population changes during the 1950s, St. Roman became home to a diverse congregation, termed “a veritable ‘League of Nations’”. The following decade, St. Roman became trilingual in character, with a large influx of Spanish-speaking families joining the Polish- and English-speaking parishioners. Beginning in 1968, Spanish language Masses were offered to accommodate the needs of the new parishioners.

Despite some initial difficulties, the multicultural nature of the parish became a source of unity and stability in the neighborhood. Membership of parish organizations increasingly began to reflect the Spanish-speaking population, and services were offered to those who were undocumented. By its 50th anniversary, St. Roman’s membership was majority Hispanic. The heritage of St. Roman Church is one of beating the odds: built in the first year of the Great Depression in an overcrowded immigrant neighborhood where no land was available, its diversity became a sign of hope and stability. Its history is one of service to multicultural populations at a location near the major commercial area of Little Village. However, in 2020, the Chicago Archdiocese consolidated St. Roman and Assumption parishes into Our Lady of Tepeyac. The Archdiocese then closed St. Roman Church.

St. Bridget (Demolished) (Bridgeport)
S. Archer Avenue and S. Grady Court
1847 – 1990

St. Louis (Near South Side / South Loop)
Polk Street and Shennan Street
1850 – 1871
Church destroyed by Chicago Fire.

St. James (Demolished) (Bronzeville / Douglas)
E. 29th Street and S. Wabash Avenue
1855 – 2013
Church razed in 2013. (Chicago 7 Most Endangered)

St. Patrick (South Chicago)
E. 95th Street and S. Commercial Avenue
1857 – 1987
Currently Praise Tabernacle Deliverance Baptist Church (building for sale)

Old St John (Demolished) (Near South Side / South Loop)
W. 18th Street and S. Clark Street
1859 – 1962
Church was razed in December 1962.

St. Columbkille (Demolished) (West Town)
W. Grand Avenue and N. Paulina Street
1859 – 1975
Merged with Holy Innocents, Holy Rosary, Santa Maria Addolorata, and St. Boniface in 1975.

St. Boniface (Noble Square / West Town)
W. Chestnut Street and N. Noble Street
1862 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. To be developled into residential units inside the historic church in 2021.

St. Anne (Demolished) (Washington Park)
W. Garfield Boulevard and S. Wentworth Avenue
1865 – 1990
Consolidated with St. Cecilia and St. George to form St. Charles Lwanga in 1971. Closed in 1990.

Annunciation (Demolished) (West Town / Bucktown)
W. Wabansia Avenue and N. Paulina Street
1866 – 1978
Congregation joined St. Mary of the Angels, St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. Hedwig, or St. Aloysius after last Mass on June 25. 1978. Closed in 1978. Church was razed in October 1978.

St. Paul (Demolished) (Near West Side)
W. Lexington Street and S. Clinton Street
1866 – 1871
Merged with St. Patrick after Church destroyed by the Chicago Fire.

St. Wenceslaus (Demolished) (Near West Side)
W. De Koven Street and S. Desplaines Street
1866 – 1955
Merged with Holy Guardian Angel in 1955.

St. Jarlath (Demolished) (Near West Side)
W. Jackson Boulevard and S. Paulina Street
1869 – 1969
Closed after deemed unsafe in 1969. Church was razed in September 1969.

Old St. Stephen (Demolished) (West Town)
W. Ohio Street and N. Sangamon Street
1869 – 1952
Merged with Santa Maria Addorata. Church was razed in 1952.

St. Stanislaus Church (Demolished) (Pilsen)
(Renamed Sacred Heart in 1873)
W. 19th Street and S. Peoria Street
1872 – 1959
Merged with Providence of God.

St. Anthony of Padua (Bridgeport)
W. 28th Place and S. Wallace Street, 518 W. 28th Place
1873 – 1968
Consolidated in 1968. Merged with All Saints and renamed All Saints – St. Anthony.
Closed June 2019

All Saints (Demolished) (Bridgeport)
Southwest corner of W. 25th Place and Wallace Street
1875 – 1973
Consolidated in 1968. Merged with St. Anthony of Padua and renamed All Saints
-St. Anthony. Church was razed in 1973.

St. Agnes (Demolished) (Brighton Park)
W. Pershing Road and S. Washtenaw Avenue
1878 – 1991
Consolidated with St. Joseph & St. Anne in 1991. Renamed Our Lady of Fatima.

St. Mel (Demolished) (West Garfield Park)
W. Adams St. at S. Kildare Ave.
1878 – 1941
Consolidated in 1941. Merged with Holy Ghost and renamed St. Mel-Holy Ghost, which is now closed.

St. Augustine (Demolished) (Back of the Yards / New City)
Near 51 Street and South Laflin Street
1879 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990.

St. Rose of Lima (Back of the Yards / New City)
1546 W. 48th Street
1881 – 1990
Closed in June 1990 and now John H. Hamline Elementary Branch School

Holy Rosary (“Irish”) (Roseland)
E. 113th Street and S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
1882 – 2008
Currently Greater Tabernacle Cathedral Church of God in Christ.

St. Jean Baptiste (Demolished) (McKinley Park)
W. 33rd Place and S. Wood Street
1882 – 1892
Church was razed in 1902.

St. Malachy (Near West Side)
W. Washington Boulevard and Oakley Boulevard, 2248 W. Washington
1882 – 2005
Parish merged with Precious Blood in 2005 and currently St. Malachy-Precious Blood

St. Peter and Paul (South Chicago)
E. 91st Street and S. Exchange Avenue, 2938 E. 91st Street
1882 – 1987
Currently vacant and secured building c. 1941.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Bridgeport)
W. 31st Street and S. Aberdeen Street
1883 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Currently Monastery of the Holy Cross. Designated Chicago Landmark

St. Laurence (Demolished) (South Shore / Grand Crossing)
72nd Street and Dorchester Avenue
1883 – 2002

St. George (Demolished) (Bridgeport)
Pershing Road and S. Wentworth Avenue
1884 – 1969
Consolidated in 1969. Merged with St. Cecilia.

Holy Trinity (Demolished) (Near West Side)
Taylor St. and S. Wolcott Ave
1885 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Merged with St. Charles Borromeo.

St. Cecilia (Demolished) (Canaryville / New City)
45th Street and S. Wells Street Jul. 28,
1885 – 1971
Consolidated in 1971. Merged with St. Anne to form St. Charles Lwanga, which closed in 1990.

St. Charles Borromeo (Demolished) (West Side)
Roosevelt Road and S. Hoyne Avenue
1885 – 1968
Closed and razed in 1968. Merged with Holy Trinity.

St. Louis de France (Formerly St. Ambrose) (West Pullman / Roseland)
117th Street and S. State Street
1886 – 1973
Closed on February 23,1973. Merged with All Saints, which closed in 1989. Now Bethel Apostolic Faith Church.

St. Martin de Tours / St. Martin de Porres (Englewood)
59th Street and S. Princeton Avenue – 5900 S. Princeton Avenue
1886 – 1989
Consolidated on JuIy 1, 1989. Merged with St. Justin Martyr, St. Raphael, Sacred Heart, St. Bernard, and St. Carthage. Renamed St. Martin de Porres and Benedict the African. Sold and became Chicago Embassy Church, now closed, vacant and for sale.

St. Bernard (Englewood)
65th Street and S. Harvard Avenue
1887 – 1990
Consolidated on July 1, 1989. Merged with St. Justin Martyr, St. Raphael, Sacred Heart, St. Carthage, and St. Martin; renamed St. Benedict the African.

St. Vitus (Pilsen)
18th Place and S. Paulina Street 1888 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Currently Chicago Commons Guadalupano Family Center.

St. Brendan (Demolished) (West Engelwood) 67th and Racine
1889 – 1988
Closed in 1988. Merged with St. Bernard in September 1988.

St. Monica (Demolished) (Bronzeville / Douglas) 36th and Dearborn
1889 – 1924
Closed on December 6, 1924. Merged with St. Elizabeth.

Blessed Sacrament (Little Village / South Lawndale)
Cermak Road and S. Central Park Avenue
1890 – 1991
Currently Blessed Sacrament Youth Center.

St. Nicholas (Demolished) (Roseland)
113th Place and State Street
1890 – 1973
Church closed and merged with All Saints, later St. James Temple Church of God in Christ, Demolished 2019

Holy Cross (Woodlawn)
65th Street and S. Maryland Avenue
1891 – 1990
Consolidated on June 30, 1990. Merged with St. Clara-St. Cyril and renamed St. Gelasius. Currently owned by The Light of The World, Church of The Living God Pillar And Ground Of The Truth.

Cyril and Methodius (Back of the Yards / New City)
50th Street and S. Hermitage Avenue
1891 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Currently Chicago New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church.

St. Ludmilla (Demolished) (Little Village / South Lawndale)
24th Street and S. Albany Avenue
1891 – 1990
Consolidated on June 30, 1990. Merged with St. Casimir and renamed Our Lady of Tepeyac.

Our Lady of Lourdes (North Lawndale)
15th Street and S. Keeler Avenue
1892 – 2005
Currently Pentecostal Church of Holiness. Designated a Chicago Landmark, 2021

St. George Lithuanian ( (Demolished) (Bridgeport)
33rd Street and S. Lituanica Ave
1892 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Demolished 1993.

St. John the Baptist (Back of the Yards / New City)
50th Place and Peoria Street
1892 – 1989
Currently Ebenezer House of Prayer.

St. Mary of Mount Carmel (Demolished) (Englewood)
Marquette Road and S. Hermitage Avenue
1892 – 1976
Later St Andrews Temple of Faith Truth & Love Baptist Church.

St. Matthew (Demolished) (East Garfield Park)
Walnut Street and N. Albany Avenue
1892 – 1974
Closed and razed in 1974. Merged with Our Lady of the Angels, St. Malachy, and Our Lady of Sorrows.

Our Lady of Angels (Humboldt Park)
Iowa Street and N. Hamlin Avenue
1894 – 1990
Consolidated on June 30, 1990. Merged with St. Francis of Assisi and renamed St. Francis of Assisi Our Lady of Angels. Currently the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels.

Sacred Heart (Demolished) (Englewood)
70th Street and S. May Street
1894 – 1989
Consolidated July 1, 1989. Merged with St. Justin Martyr, St. Raphael, St. Martin, St. Bemard, and St. Carthage. Renamed St. Benedict the African.

St. Clara (Woodlawn)
64th St. and S. Woodlawn Avenue, 6401 S. Woodlawn Avenue
1894 – 1969
Consolidated in 1969. Merged with St. Cyril and renamed St. Clara-St. Cyril. Currently Shrine of Christ the King

Holy Ghost (Demolished) (West Garfield Park)
Adams St. at S. Kildare Ave.
1896 – 1941
Consolidated 1941. Merged with St. Mel and renamed St. Mel-Holy Ghost. Merged in June 1988 with Resurrection and St. Thomas Aquinas and renamed St Martin de Porres, demolished.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Vicariate (Demolished) (North Lawndale)
13th Place and S. St. Louis Avenue
1898 – 1979
Closed 1979. Merged with St. Agatha. Demolished.

Presentation B.V.M. (Demolished) (Near West Side)
Springfield Avenue between Polk Street & Lexington Avenue
1898 – 2005

St. Salome (Roseland)
118th Street and S. Indiana Avenue 1898 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990.

St. Stephen (Pilsen / Lower West Side)
22nd Place and Wolcott Avenue
1898 – 2002
Currently part of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.

Holy Guardian Angel (Demolished) (Near West Side)
Cabrini Street and S. Blue Island Avenue
1899 – 1963
Location is on University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

St. Finbarr (Demolished) (North Lawndale)
14th Street and S. Harding Avenue
1900 – 1969
Closed and razed in 1969. Merged with Our Lady of Lourdes.

St. Joseph (South Chicago)
88th St. between S. Marquette Avenue & S. Saginaw Avenue, 2647 E. 88thStreet
1900 – 1987
Closed and for sale, formerly Ada S. McKinley Community Center

St. Willibrord (“Dutch”) (Roseland)
Edbrooke Avenue between E. 113th Place and E. 114th Place, 11400 S. Edbrooke
1900 – 1989
Currently Ada S. McKinley Roseland Child Development Center

Assumption B.V.M. (West Englewood)
W 60th Street and S. Marshfield Avenue, 6005 S. Marshfield
1901 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990
Currently United Faith Temple Evangilistic

Our Lady of Good Counsel (McKinley Park)
3532 S. Hermitage Avenue
1901 – 2008
Currently Blessed Sacrament Parish

Our Lady Help of Christians (Austin)
Iowa Street and N. Leclaire Avenue
1901 – 2005
Closed and currently vacant

St. Raphael (West Englewood)
60th Street and S. Justine Street
1901 – 1989
Consolidated on July 1, 1989. Merged with St. Justin Martyr, St. Martin, Sacred Heart (May St.), St. Bernard, and St. Carthage and renamed St. Benedict the African.

St. Michael (Heart of Chicago / South Lawndale)
2327 W 24th Place
1903 – 2003

Holy Cross (Back of the Yards / New City)
46th Street and S. Hermitage Avenue, 1734 W. 46th Street 1904 – 1983
Consolidated in 1983. Merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary Vicariate. Renamed Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Consolidated 2021

Our Lady of Hungary (Demolished) (Burnside / Avalon Park)
93rd Street and S. Kimbark Avenue 1904 – 1987

Sacred Heart (Morgan Park)
11652 S. Church Street
1904 – 1979
Closed in 1979. Merged with St. Walter. In November 1982 the Church became the Sacred Heart Mission of Holy Name of Mary.

St. Basil (Demolished) (West Englewood)
W Garfield Boulevard and S. Honore Street
1904 – 1990
Consolidated on June 30, 1990. Merged with Visitation and renamed St. Basil Visitation.

St. Dominic (Demolished) (Near North Side/Cabrini-Green)
Locust Street and N. Sedgwick Street, 873 N. Sedgwick
1904 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Razed circa 2017.

St. Michael (Bucktown / West Town)
1644 W. Wabansia Ave.
1904 – 1970
Closed in 1970. Merged with Annunciation.

St. Philip Benizi (Demolished) (Near North Side/CabriniGreen)
Oak Street and Cambridge Avenue
1904 – 1965
Closed 1965. Merged with St. Dominic.

St. Veronica (Demolished)
School and Whipple St.
1904 – 1991
Consolidated in 1991. Merged with St. Francis Xavier and renamed Resurrection.

St. David (Demolished) (Bridgeport)
32nd Street and S. Emerald Avenue
1905 – 1995

All Saints (Roseland)
108th Street and S. State Street
1906 – 1989
Consolidated on February 23, 1973 with Holy Rosary, St. Louis of France, and St. Nicholas. Established as All Saints. Closed in 1989. Currently Universal Community Missionary Baptist Church.

Our Lady of Vilna (Demolished) (Pilsen / Lower West Side)
2323 W. 23rd Place
1906 – 1987

St. John of God (Demolished) (Sherman Park / Back of the Yards / New City)
52nd and Throop Street
1906 – 1992
Facade reused at St. Raphael the Archangel, Lake County

St. Joseph (Demolished) (Pilsen /Lower West Side)
730 W. 17th Place
1906 – 1968
Closed in January 1968. Merged with Providence of God Church.

Holy Rosary (“Slovak”) (Roseland)
108th Street and S. Perry Avenue 1907 – 1973
Closed in February 1973. Merged with All Saints Church. Was Chicago Beacon of Joy Seventh-day Adventist Church., currently Kingdom of Christ Church.

Resurrection (Demolished) (West Side).
Jackson Boulevard and S. Leamington Avenue
1909 – 1988
Consolidated in 1988. Merged with St. Mel-Holy Ghost and St. Thomas Aquinas. Renamed St. Martin De Porres.

St. John the Baptist (Demolished) (South Chicago)
Burley Avenue 91st Street
1909 – 1993

St. Thomas Aquinas (Austin)
W Washington Boulevard and N. Leamington Avenue
1909 – 1988
Consolidated in 1988. Merged with Resurrection and St. Mel-Holy Ghost. Renamed St. Martin De Porres

Our Lady of Pompeii (Near West Side)
Lexington Street and S. Lytle Street
1910 – 1994
Status changed from parish to shrine in 1994.

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Back of the Yards / New City)
Wolcott Avenue and W. 46th Street
1910 – 1990
Closed June 30, 1990.

Sacred Heart (Ukrainian Village / West Town)
Huron Street and N. Oakley Boulevard
1911 – 1990
Closed in June 1990. Currently Bell Tower Loft Condominium Association.

St. Bonaventure Oratory (Lake View)
Diversey Parkway and N. Ashland Avenue
1911 – 2006

St. Francis de Paula (Greater Grand Crossing)
78th Street and S. Dobson Avenue
1911 – 1991
Currently New Life Covenant Church Southeast

St. Sebastian (Demolished) (Lake View)
Wellington Avenue and N. Dayton Street
1912 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990.

Holy Trinity (Pilsen / Lower West Side)
1850 S. Throop St.
1914 – 2004

Cyril and Methodius (West Humboldt Park)
Walton Street and N. Kildare Avenue
1915 – 1987
Currently Kingsword International Church

Our Lady of Solace (Englewood)
62nd Street and S. Sangamon Street
1916 – 1988
Consolidated in September 1988. Merged with St. Martin, now closed.

St. Angela (Demolished) (Austin)
Potomac Avenue and N. Massasoit Avenue
1916 – 2005
Demolished in 2019

St. Justin Martyr (West Englewood)
7033 S. Honore Street
1916 – 1989
Consolidated July 1,1989. Merged with St. Martin, St. Raphael, Sacred Heart, St. Bernard, and St. Carthage. Renamed St. Benedict the African.

St. Theodore (Demolished) (West Englewood)
6209 – 6215 S. Paulina Street
1916 – 1976
Merged with St. Brendan.

St. Callistus (Tri-Taylor / Near West Side)
Bowler Street and S. Leavitt St.
1919 – 1994
Closed on July 1, 1994. Merged with Notre Dame. Currently chapel of Chicago Hope Academy

St. Carthage (Demolished) (Auburn Park / Greater Grand Crossing)
73rd Street and S. Yale Avenue
1919 – 1989
Consolidated on JuIy 1, 1989. Merged with St. Justin Martyr, St. Raphael. Sacred Heart, St. Bemard, and St. Martin. Renamed St. Benedict the African.

St. Peter Canisius (Austin / West Humbolt Park)
5057 W. North Avenue and Leclaire Avenue
1925 – 2007
Currently Ebenezer Ministerios Chicago

St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Auburn Gresham)
(“The Little Flower”)
80th Street and S. Wood Street
1925 – 1993
Currently Greater Mount Hebron Baptist Church.

St. Ethelred (Auburn Gresham)
88th Street and S. Paulina Street
1926 – 2007
Acme Missionary Baptist Church

St. Fidelis (Demolished) (Humboldt Park/West Town)
1405 N. Washtenaw Avenue
1926 – 2006

San Marcello Mission (Near North Side /Cabrini-Green)
617 W. Evergreen Street
1927 – 1974
Currently vacant, was Strangers Home MB Church

St. Joseph Mission (Demolished) (Near West Side)
1413 W 13th Street
1933 – 1960

St. Hedwig Mission (Logan Square)
2445 N. Washtenaw Avenue
1939 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990. Currently a private residence.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Vicariate (Back of the Yards / New City)
4515 S. Ashland Avenue
1940 – 1983
Consolidated in 1983. Merged with Holy Cross. Renamed Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary Vicariate.

St. Francis Xavier Cabrini (East Garfield Park / Homan Square)
Sacramento Boulevard and W. Lexington Street
1940 – 1987
Currently Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.

St. Mel-Holy Ghost (West Garfield Park)
W. Washington Boulevard and N. Kildare Avenue
1878-1988 (Originally St. Philip Benizi, renamed St. Mel in 1896 during construction and Holy Ghost consolidated into St. Mel in 1941)
Consolidated and closed on June 30, 1988. Merged with Resurrection and St. Thomas Aquinas. Renamed St. Martin De Porres. Currently New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.

Our Lady of Fatima Mission (Avondale)
3051 N. Christiana Avenue
1944 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990.

St. Hyacinth Mission (Avondale)
3051 N. Christiana Avenue
1944 – 1956
Formerly Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Chapel

Our Lady of the Cross Mission (Demolished) (Rogers Park)
2849 W. Chase Avenue
1948 – 1987

Our Lady of the Gardens (Altgeld Gardens / Riverdale)
E 133rd Street and S. Langley Avenue

Ford City Catholic Center (West Lawn)
7601 S Cicero Avenue
1969 – 1989

St. Clara-St. Cyril (Woodlawn)
E. 65th Street and Woodlawn Avenue
1969 – 1990
Consolidated on June 30, 1990. Merged with Holy Cross and renamed St. Gelasius.

St. Charles Lwanga (Demolished) (Washington Park)
Garfield Blvd. and Wentworth Avenue
1971 – 1990
Closed on June 30, 1990.

St. Gelasius (Woodlawn)
S. Woodlawn Avenue at 64th Street, 6401 S. Woodlawn Avenue
1990 – 2002
Currently The Institute of Christ the King

St. Mary Magdalene (South Chicago)
8426 S. Marquette Avenue
1952 – 2015
Closed 2015; Sold to Great Lakes Academy charter school

St. Adalbert (Pilsen)
1650 W. 17th Street
1874 – 2019
Closed 2019

St. Felicitas (Avalon Park)
84th Street and Blackstone Avenue, 1526 E. 84th Street
1916 – 2019
Consolidated with St. Joachim and St. Ailbe 2018 Closed 2019

St. Joachim (West Chesterfield / Burnside)
700 E. 91 Street
1894 – 2019
Consolidated with St. Felicitas and St. Ailbe 2018 Closed 2019

St. Jude Thaddeus (Washington Heights / Beverly / Roseland)
9540 S. Harvard Avenue
1956 – 2016
Closed 2016

St. Anne (Pilsen / Lower West Side)
18th Place and Leavitt Street
1903 – 2018
Closed 2018 and sold to a developer for residential reuse

Providence of God (Pilsen / Lower West Side)
18th St. and Union Avenue
1900 – 2016
Consolidated with St. Procopius 2016, Closed for regular use

Holy Family Church (Near West Side)
1080 W. Roosevelt Road
1857- 2020
Now used by St. Ignatius College Prep High School

St. Maurice (McKinley Park)
36th Street and Hoyne Avenue
1890 – 2020
Closed 2020, for sale

St. Camillus (Garfield Ridge)
55th St. and Lockwood Avenue
1921 – 2020
Consolidated with St. Jane de Chantal 2019 Closed 2020

Santa Maria Incoronata-Santa Lucia / St. Lucy (Armour Square)
3022 S. Wells Street
1901 – 2019
Closed 2019

St. Roman (Marshall Square / Little Village / South Lawndale)
2311 S. Washtenaw Avenue
1928 – 2020
Closed 2020

Assumption Church BVM (Little Village / South Lawndale)
2434 S. California Avenue
1903 – 2019
Closed 2019

St. Matthias (Bowmanville/Lincoln Square)
2310 W. Ainslie
1887 – 2021
Consolidated with Queen of Angels 2020 Closed 2021

St. Thecla (Norwood Park)
6725 W. Devon Avenue
1925 – 2021
Consolidated with St. Cornelius and St. Tarcissus, 2020 Closed 2021

St. Cornelius (Jefferson Park)
5430 W. Foster Avenue
1925 – 2021
Consolidated with St. Thecla and St. Tarcissus, 2020 Closed 2021

Transfiguration of Our Lord (Budlong Woods / Lincoln Square)
2609 W. Carmen Avenue
1912 – 2021
Consolidated with St. Hilary 2020 Closed 2021

St. Columba (Hegewisch)
3340 E. 134th Street
1884 – 2019
Consolidate with St. Florian, 2019 Closed 2019

St. George (East Side)
9546 S. Ewing Avenue
1903 – 2020
Closed 2020

St. Francis de Sales (East Side)
10201 S. Ewing Avenue
1888 – 2019
Closed 2019

St. Clare of Montefalco (Gage Park)
5443 S. Washtenaw Avenue
1909 – 2020
Consolidated with St. Rita 2020, now “site of” St. Rita

St Timothy (West Ridge)
6336 N. Washtenaw Avenue
1925 – 2021
Closed 2021

St. Henry (West Ridge)
6325 N. Hoyne Avenue
1851 – 2021
Closed 2021

Our Lady of Peace (South Shore)
7851 S. Jeffery Boulevard
1919 – 2020
Consolidated with St. Philip Neri and 2 other now closed churches Closed 2020

St. Bride (South Shore)
7801 S. Coles Avenue
1893 – 2020
Consolidated with St. Philip Neri and 2 other now closed churches Closed 2020

Our Lady Gate of Heaven (Jeffrey Manor / Calumet Heights)
2338 E. 99th Street
1947 – 2020
Consolidated with St. Philip Neri and 2 other now closed churches Closed 2020

Our Lady of Victory (Jefferson Park)
5212 W. Agatite Avenue
1906 – 2021
To be closed November 2021

St. Ignatius (Rogers Park)
6569 N. Glenwood Avenue
1906 – 2021
To be closed July 2021

St. Clotilde (Chatham)
8430 S. Calumet Avenue
1928 – 2021
To be closed

St. Dorothy (Chatham)
450 E. 78th Street
1916 – 2021
To be closed

St. Elizabeth (Bronzeville / Grand Boulevard)
24 E. 41st Street
1881 – 2021
To be closed

St. Anselm (Washington Park / West Woodlawn)
6045 S. Michigan Avenue, 61st and Michigan Avenue
1909 – 2021
To be closed

St. Ambrose (Kenwood/Hyde Park)
1012 E. 47th Street
1904 – 2021
To be closed

Corpus Christi (Bronzeville / Grand Boulevard)
4900 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
1901 – 2021
To be closed

St. Mark (Humboldt Park)
1048 N. Campbell Avenue
1894 – 2021
To be closed

Santa Maria Addolorata (West Town)
528 N. Ada Street
1903 – 2021
To be closed

Holy Rosary (West Town)
604 N. Western Avenue and Ohio Street
1904 – 021
To be closed

Resurrection (Avondale)
3043 N. Francisco Avenue
1909 – 2021
To consolidate with Our Lady of Mercy July 2021

Our Lady of Lourdes (Uptown / Ravenswood)
4640 N. Ashland Avenue / 1601 W. Leland
1892 – 2021
To consolidate with St. Mary of the Lake July 2021

St. Michael the Archangel (Back of the Yards / New City)
4825 S. Damen Avenue
1898 – 2021
Consolidated with 2 parishes (below) Consolidated 2021, schedule drastically reduced

Immaculate Heart of Mary (Back of the Yards / New City)
4515 S. Ashland Avenue
1947 – 2021
Consolidated with Holy Cross to form Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary; later consolidated with St. Joseph and St. Michael Archangel on Damen Closed for “regular worship activity” 2021

St. Simon the Apostle (Back of the Yards / New City / Gage Park)
5157 S. California Avenue
1916 – 2021
Consolidated with, and made “chapel of” St. Gall

St. Michael the Archangel (South Chicago / “The Bush”)
8237 S. South Shore Drive
1892 – 2021
To consolidate with Immaculate Conception on Commercial Ave