St. Adalbert Catholic Church, where crumbling towers overlooking the Pilsen neighborhood have been hidden under scaffolding for more than a year, must close its doors, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said Sunday.
In addition to the closure, the archdiocese added that St. Pius V, St. Paul and St. Procopius Catholic churches will remain as the three central Pilsen parishes. St. Ann will become a worship site of St. Paul, and Providence of God will become a worship site of St. Procopius by the end of June. Catholic schools in the neighborhood will be unaffected.
“When you get off the ‘L’ stop, and you see the towers, you know you are home,” said Joseph Schutz, 32, a lifelong St. Adalbert parishioner. “It’s a family here. When they tear it down, what is this going to be in four years, condos?”
Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich made the decision to reorganize the Pilsen parishes based on recommendations from representatives of the six parishes as well as the Jesuit and Dominican religious orders who met last fall to discuss options.
The announcement follows news last weekend that the archdiocese could shutter many more houses of worship in Cook and Lake counties by 2030 as it confronts decaying buildings and an expected shortage of priests. The reorganization process kicked into high gear last week as auxiliary bishops began meeting with parish leaders and staff in their regions to discuss solutions.
The Rev. Don Nevins, a pastor and dean who oversees 15 parishes on the West Side including Pilsen, said the costly repairs needed at St. Adalbert and news that the Jesuits could no longer staff St. Procopius precipitated the Pilsen project.
Though it was not intended to be a pilot for the wider consolidation, Nevins said, it has provided a useful template for community collaboration. Dealing with St. Procopius and St. Adalbert without looking at the neighborhood as a whole seemed like “cutting off our nose to spite our face,” he said.
Conversations in their meetings centered on the question, “How can we form parishes that are going to respond to future needs with future resources that we’re going to have?” Parish leaders also discussed the ministries that set their communities apart, which led to more discussions about making sure those ministries continued even if parishes closed, Nevins said.
That kind of collaboration is exactly how clergy and church officials hope the process will unfold across the archdiocese — in a way that is particular to each community.
“We asked each of them what they’re really proud of in their parish,” Nevins said. “If that parish closes, how do we make sure this ministry is going to continue?”
In answer to that question, leaders discussed soup kitchens at St. Procopius and Providence, domestic violence education at St. Pius V, the school at St. Ann and religious education and catechists at St. Paul, Nevins said.
At St. Adalbert, parishioners have tried to maintain a gem of magnificent architecture and a fixture in the community. Modeled after St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome and designed in Renaissance Revival style, St. Adalbert features Italian marble, stained-glass windows and one of the world’s largest Kimball pipe organs.
The church’s 185-foot towers are the highest structures in the Pilsen neighborhood, according to Preservation Chicago, which in 2014 dubbed St. Adalbert one of the seven “most threatened” buildings in Chicago. But in recent years, those towers have been crumbling and hidden under scaffolding. Parishioners had been trying to raise $3 million to fix them by April.
Demographic changes also forced conversations in the Pilsen neighborhood, where almost every parish offers a Mass in Spanish and English. But Nevins said more students from the University of Illinois at Chicago are moving in and transforming the neighborhood.
An analysis of ZIP codes at each of the six parishes also revealed a surprising number of parishioners from outside the neighborhood, Nevins said. While that can signal a parish’s wide reach, it also often translates to less involvement during the week.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Nevins said.
Melva Aparicio, 50, a parishioner at Providence of God, said she resents the fact that gentrification has spurred the consolidation plan.
“And you know who suffers? Us as parishioners,” Aparicio said. “To me, it’s just the start of saying that we’re going to be closing.”
The Rev. Juan Carlos Arrieta, who has been at Providence of God for about five months, said the office staff at the church will move to St. Procopius by July 2017. How long Masses, services and activities will remain at Providence will depend on the size of the congregation.
“It would be ideal for us to be our own parish, but things are changing around the neighborhood,” he said. “But whether or not we understand God’s will for us, we have to understand, God’s in charge. Things happen for a reason. And we have to be a people of faith.”
Aparicio and her friend Rose Torres, 50, shook their heads as the priest urged members to avoid the temptation of becoming upset with decision-makers.
“I don’t understand what this means,” said Torres, a lifelong member. “My faith is bringing me to believe that they are lying to us. They’re just telling us something that we want to hear. To me, I consider it like they’re taking away my church.
“This is our church since we were kids,” she said. “We’re Catholics. We believe. But sometimes our faith is shaken.”
At St. Adalbert, where Auxiliary Bishop Alberto Rojas delivered the news in person, there was anger. About 50 parishioners surrounded him and another priest before they finished processing down the center aisle to get answers to their questions. At Providence, parishioners heard an audio recording of Rojas.
Elizabeth Orona-Flores, 57, graduated from the former St. Adalbert grade school, had confirmation and first Communion at the church. She got married inside, as did several of her children.
“I’m really, really disappointed,” Orona-Flores said. “This is tradition.”
