Chicago - a Catholic city? (St. Joseph, Bridgeport: real estate, neighborhoods, school)

[ndfmnlf]

While browsing the net looking for interesting Chicago architecture, I found a long list of Catholic churches. There's plenty of them in Chicago. It's obvious that the Catholic church has a significant presence in the city. According to Sperling's: "57.63% of the people in Chicago, IL are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 39.93% are Catholic; 6.77% are Protestant; 0.17% are LDS; 4.57% are another Christian faith; 4.36% in Chicago, IL are Jewish; 0.05% are an eastern faith; 1.78% affilite with Islam."

Given Chicago's ethnic composition (plenty of Irish, Italians, Poles, Hispanics, Filipinos, etc), it makes sense that Chicago is heavily Catholic, but I never expected them to far outnumber the other religious groups.

[via chicago]

Yes, it was and is heavily Catholic. There was a great book put out by the archdiosese of Chicago with both interior and exterior photos of every single church in the city/ butbs. Its mind boggling. You can check a preview here:
http://www.archchicago.org/pdf/book_..._flyer1215.pdf
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...ctive%26sa%3DG

I was raised Roman Catholic (no longer), but I never tire of the architecture. And Chicago really is blessed in that regard.

[oakparkdude]

I think the Archdiocese of Chicago is the second largest in the US (after LA). NYC would probably be larger but its split into multiple dioceses.

[Irishtom29]

I grew up in Austin and didn't knew a single Protestant; just Catholics, Jews and Orthodox.

[ndfmnlf]

The value of the Catholic church's real estate holdings in Chicago alone must be in the area of hundreds of millions of dollars. Possibly approaching a billion?

[Manigault]

Chicago is the largest archdiocese in the US. I don't think LA is as large and NYC has Brooklyn as a separate diocese. But I think that the cathedral for the diocese, Holy Name, is not all that impressive. I was spoiled by St. Patrick's in NY.

If the value of the church's holdings in Chicago are impressive you should understand that it usually gives away the closed churches to Protestant congregations for nothing. Also, it has hung in with its valuable school grounds (while Catholic congregants fled to the 'burbs) to educate non-Catholic kids, because it has an education as part of its ministry. So the archdiocese gives back millions to the city in educating its kids and preserving some nice architectural gems.

[Lookout Kid]

I agree that Holy Name is pretty unimpressive for a Cathedral. It's a nice old church and all, but just doesn't have the grandeur you would expect from a major city's Cathedral. I think it's just older, and was built before there was a lot of wealth in Chicago. Some of the later churches throughout the city are much more impressive.

Milwaukee was like this too. They have St. John's Cathedral downtown, but there are many larger more awe-inspiring churches througout the city (like St. Josephat's on the South Side).

[Chinolala]

I grew up in the city and am not Catholic. I was a kid in the 70's. I'm Christian, just not Catholic. Whenever kids asked me what religion I was, I'd tell them and they'd reply, "Oh, so you're Jewish." It was funny. In my old neck of the woods, if you weren't Catholic, you had to be Jewish! lol

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by via chicago

I was raised Roman Catholic (no longer)

Ah yes, we're both in that huge religious category - Ex-Catholics!
The Pew study they did this year suggested that 10% of all Americans identify themselves as "Ex-Catholics!"

[Mister Mappy]

I grew up in Jefferson Park, and had no concept of Protestanism as a kid. My area was basically Polish, Italian, and German. I remember once my mom took me to a Presbyterian church since the guy she was dating went there. They had this Sunday school thing for the kids, and when I said I was Catholic some girl said her mommy told her Catholics were idolators. I told my grandmother this, and boy did she give it to my mom for taking me there. Obviously, I never went to that church again.

I do believe LA has surpassed Chicago as the biggest archdiocese in the country, but for a long time we were the biggest. Neighborhoods like Wicker Park, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Englewood, Roseland, South Chicago and others would have different Catholic churches for the different ethnic groups, Within the space of a mile you'd have churches for the Irish, Polish, Germans, Italians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, and others.

Also, about that book from 2006! It is amazing. A cousin of mine asked me to take a picture of every Catholic church in Chicago back in '96. I basically did only the outside, since it would've taken literally years to do the insides, too. There was a bit over 200 in the city at that time. (I know a number of them on South & West sides have been closed since then. I think at the peak in the 40's & 50s' there were over 300 in Chicago alone.) It was a fascinating way to see the city, especially many parts I'd never been to before like Englewood. I've also attended Mass at close to 100 churches in the Archdiocese. (That came about due to the project.)

Yes, Chicago is a very Catholic city. Not quite as much as it once was, but the church is still a big part of the city.