Peak Catholic Church.
Does he have the authority from Rome to do so, and to do so unilaterally?
They should be grateful Cupich didn’t sell the church to Planned Parenthood, or to Man’s Country.
This is happening in my diocese here in NJ; Italians are steamed that two of their churches were closed and very upfront that the future sales of the properties were the driving force. They’ve said they reached out to the Vatican, but as of now I’ve seen no indication that the sales will be stopped.
I’m afraid that Cupich is one of Pope Francis’s left-wing buddies. Might do better to appeal to the Chicago Mafia.
This is why I never donate to a “capital campaign” for a parish church that answers to a local bishop. The people trying to save this church should stop wasting their time dealing with the bishop and hierarchy. Instead, they should mount their own PR campaign, using the events at this church to explain to Catholics in Chicago how the archdiocese’s capital campaign is a hoax and a fraud.
Suspect donations to the Church under Pope Francis is, shall we say, not keeping up with inflation and are declining to an alarming level. Selling real estate will keep the Party going for a while but not long. May soon see some “dusty” or “secular” items from the Vatican museum up for auction soon.
There is plenty of blame to go around. That particular area of Chicago is no longer Italian except in historical name only. It has developed into a population of new immigrants from Mexico- as well as white yuppies and students (UIC).
There are always those who want to preserve every single parish, despite changing neighborhood demographics. The fact is that this St. Adalbert church is less than one mile away from the other parish church that it was merged with.
This is far from an isolated incident and will become the norm. The Church cannot continue to hold and maintain these beautiful monuments to the faith. Sadly, I also don’t see any great new churches being undertaken in the next few decades.
The a Church will become small (as Benedict warned) and will worship in modest places. Sad, but perhaps necessary.
Basically it is a building....a pretty one, a historic one, but a building. If it cannot be supported in its present status, then to sell it to a reputable music organization where it will be loved and treated with respect sounds O.K. to me. Our city had trhee Catholic churches when we moved here...as the population changed we couldn’t support all of them,. We now use one, one has been razed, and one is in use by a mission type organization that feeds the hungry and homeless....time goes by.
99% this is a done deal, like scores of others across the country. If the church has been desacralized (blessed Sacrament removed) it’s 100%.
