By REY FLORES
It has been a few months now since members of the Shrine of Christ the King endured their latest setback in restoring their church. The 92-year-old edifice suffered a fire that took 150 firemen to put out. Now the Archdiocese of Chicago has made the recommendation to demolish the church building because it says that restoring the damaged edifice would be “cost prohibitive.”
It’s not the first time the building has been in the crosshairs of the wrecking ball. Back in 1976 when it used to be St. Gelasius, there was also a fire which did shutter the church, but it survived demolition. The building may not be so fortunate this time around.
The sad part is that back in 1976 when St. Gelasius shuttered its doors, along came the loss of a Catholic presence in the south Woodlawn neighborhood. Despite its close proximity to the more upscale Hyde Park area just east of it, Woodlawn became a haven for gangs, drug dealers, and crack houses.
As Catholics we also know that Jesus truly exists in the tabernacle of every Catholic church in the world, so in reality, when St. Gelasius closed its doors, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord also left the neighborhood.
Fast forward to 2004 when the Institute of Christ the King started its ministry to the then-still troubled neighborhood. Little else was being done by anyone else to help revitalize that neighborhood when the late Francis Cardinal George, OMI, invited the Institute to open its North American Headquarters.
Since then, Woodlawn has seen a housing boom, with former crack houses now turned into single family homes and formerly abandoned multi-unit buildings turned into condominiums and apartments for people and families of all income brackets.
Thanks to the positive influence of the Institute and Shrine, the neighborhood has also seen the opening of its first expanding business in 30 years when the popular Robust Coffee Lounge opened its doors to serve the community in 2010.
It is without a doubt that the little basement chapel where the Institute started celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass in 2004 (it eventually started using the large church in 2006) has brought the light of Jesus Christ our Lord into a community which had long been abandoned and neglected.
It would be a shame to let the Institute lose its place in a community it has helped bring back to life.
Today, over 1,000 community residents and others from around the city and suburbs attend Mass, participate in the parish ministries and or attend many of the parish life activities and free classical music concerts hosted by the Shrine.
The Shrine of Christ the King Church is working in partnership with the Archdiocese of Chicago to see if it will either save the damaged building or rebuild from scratch on the same property, or move to an unused Catholic church building. Please keep praying that the Shrine can remain in its community.
Thanks to the First Presbyterian Church just across the alley from the Shrine, Canons Talarico and Stein continue to celebrate Mass in the church’s unused gym which has been converted as the Shrine’s temporary home.
As for now, most of the paperwork has been signed off on and the city of Chicago, the aldermen, and the Archdiocese of Chicago all make up the symbolic wrecking crews. Perhaps the intercession of the saints whose name this old church has borne — St. Clara, St. Gelasius, and even St. Therese who also had a national shrine here — can save this edifice.
The Institute appreciates the community and parishioner-led efforts and groups who have created petitions, started funding campaigns, and pleaded with the archdiocesan and municipal officials to keep the Shrine in Woodlawn and save it from destruction.
Parishioners and supporters of the Shrine have also brought their concerns to save the Shrine to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, but the commission has already signed off on demolition efforts and now the final decision sits with the Chicago Department of Buildings and the archdiocese itself.
The Institute of Christ the King’s North American headquarters in the meantime remains in the adjacent rectory building which suffered no damage from the most recent fire. A good sign from the archdiocese is that it has renewed the Institute’s lease on the rectory building and the parking lot next to it.
It won’t be easy whatever happens, but whatever does happen to this fantastic parish, Canon Talarico maintains that “we’re just inches from the ashes here and that’s very significant, very symbolic of our resurrection of our community. Being so close to home and rising up again.”
My opinion is that the Shrine has been a boon to the city, to the Woodlawn community, to the archdiocese, and to the many eternal souls who are being saved there. Everything should be done to save the Shrine.
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(Please visit and support the efforts to save the Shrine at SaveTheShrine.org.)
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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