Is it safe to visit the Catholic Churches of Milwaukee? (St. Francis: houses, neighborhoods)

[cath4ever]

Hello,
I am from a small town in northern Michigan and I would like to possibly sometime visit Milwaukee. I have a hobby of taking pictures of historic and beautiful Catholic churches and I would like to do this sometime in your city. However, big cities being what they are I would like to know if I would be safe doing this.

My exact itinerary involves ONLY visiting churches. I would stop at no place else in the city nor in the neighborhoods surrounding the churches. I will probably call some of the prettier churches in advance to be sure they are open when I visit them. I would go only be in the city during the day since it makes no sense to be there at night for taking pictures anyway. I literally go to a church, take a picture of the outside, go in and take pictures of the inside and then leave and drive to the next church. I know to keep my car locked, my windows rolled up, my GPS hidden, and my eyes alert. Would I be safe doing this in Milwaukee?

At the end of this post I am listing all of the churches I would like to visit. If any of you have any first-hand experience with these areas and feel they would be unsafe for me to go to, please let me know. In regards to “safe” or “unsafe”, I define “unsafe” as any area where there would be a good possibility of physical harm to myself, my property, or my car. It does not bother me to drive through rundown neighborhoods as long as I will not be in physical danger while simply driving through them.

I recently made 2 trips to Detroit by myself taking pictures of its many beautiful Catholic Churches, so I am familiar with the situation there. Detroit is considered by many to be one of the most dangerous cities in America, but I handled myself just fine and would have no problem going back again. I travelled down side streets and everything there and never felt in danger, but I always kept aware of my surroundings as any prudent person would and I would do the same in Milwaukee. So, if you believe your city to be less dangerous than Detroit then I don’t foresee any problems.

If you could take a look at this list and let me know of any locations that would fit my definition of “unsafe”, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would let me know. Also, if you know of any other Catholic Churches I missed, or any other sites I should see, you could tell me that too if you want. Thank you in advance for your kind attention!

Sincerely,

Cath4ever


Saints Peter & Paul
2490 N. Cramer St.

Immaculate Conception
1023 E. Russell Avenue

Saint Sebastian
5400 West Washington Boulevard

Saint Vincent Pallotti
5424 W Bluemound Rd

Saint Catherine
5101 W. Center St.

Saints Cyril and Methodius
2427 S. 15th St.

Gesu
1145 W. Wisconsin Avenue

Old Saint Mary
836 N. Broadway

Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist
812 N. Jackson St.
Saint Anthony

1711 S. 9th St.

Basilica of Saint Josaphat
601 W Lincoln Ave

Saint Stanislaus Oratory
524 W. Historic Mitchell Street

Saint Francis of Assisi
1927 N. 4th Street

Saint Florian
1233 South 45th Street
West Milwaukee

[caieva]

You are pretty much fine anywhere in Milwaukee in broad daylight. The only church on that last that I personally think is in a marginal area is St. Francis on 4th - though I'm less familiar with the south side.
Beautiful churches on your list, have fun!

[Milwaukee City]

You'll be fine anywhere. I have done the same thing you have, you will be safe.

Checkout this site:

The Polish Churches of Milwaukee

[cath4ever]

Hello,

As some of you might have seen I have posted the same question “Is it safe to visit the Catholic Churches of __________” on several other cities’ forum listing churches in each respective city that would be neat to visit. A few posters on various forums have questioned suspiciously why I want to visit churches. It is a fair question and one I might ask too if someone were to pose the question I posed. So, I thought it would be beneficial to explain exactly why I would like to visit these churches.

I am a practicing Catholic and have been all my 22 years of life. For quite nearly 16 years of my life I wanted to be a Catholic Priest, so I have always had a natural interest in sacred things including churches. Back in the Holy Year 2000, when I was in 6th grade, the Bishop of Gaylord, MI (my diocese) decreed that for anyone in the Diocese who could not make the pilgrimage to Rome’s 4 major basilicas he would designate 3 churches in the Diocese that we could go to instead. I was eager to do this for some reason, but then I got the idea to visit all 81 churches of the Diocese of Gaylord instead of just 3. In about 2 years time my parents and I visited 80 of the 81 churches in the Diocese of Gaylord (the only one I have not visited is Holy Cross on Beaver Island). Around that time I also visited several churches in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is the Diocese of Marquette, and a couple churches in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. After that I didn’t visit new churches for about 9 years.

Last year I had the privilege of making a trip out to Winona, MN to attend the ordinations of 9 Priests at Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary. A coworker of mine told me that, since I was making the trip all the way out to Minnesota, I really needed to go visit the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, MN because it is a really pretty church. I did this the day before I was to head home, and I was stunned at what a pretty church the Cathedral is. I also visited the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lacrosse, WI. If I had done this earlier on my trip I maybe could have visited more churches out there, but I can’t change the past of course.

Getting to visit those 2 churches brought back a desire to visit churches again. So, throughout last fall I went on the websites of every diocese in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky looking for churches that were architecturally glorious. I wanted to make a big trip throughout the Midwest last fall to visit a bunch of these cities, but I ended up only going to Grand Rapids, MI.

Then, in late December 2010 I found out about a church tour of some of Detroit’s Catholic churches being sponsored by a parish in Sterling Heights (a suburb of Detroit). Other than just passing through on the freeway I had never been to Detroit before but I had heard plenty about how dangerous it is. But, Detroit also has really nice churches, so I really wanted to go see them but I didn’t want to get murdered in the process. When I saw the possibility of a church tour of Detroit I jumped at the idea. On January 7th I went on the church tour and visited 9 of the nicest Catholic Churches in Detroit, still decked out in their Christmas best because the Church’s Christmas season starts on Christmas Eve and lasts until February 2nd. While on the tour bus going down the streets of Detroit I was able to see it was as overtly dangerous as what I had heard, especially for the activity that I was doing. So, I stayed the night outside of Detroit and the next day visited 10 more churches on my own. Then, because Detroit has way more than 19 pretty churches, I made a second trip 4 weeks ago and visited 34 more. I still haven’t visited them all, but I am more than half done. Hopefully I will get down to Detroit again sometime and finish them up.

I deeply appreciate the architectural beauty of these houses of God. All of the work put into them by the Catholics of 100 years ago or more is a testament to their faith and their devotion to the Catholic Church. As a Catholic attached to the preservation of the unchanged Faith, including the Traditional Latin Mass, I am edified by the architectural beauty of the churches built before the Second Vatican Council, and have a very low opinion of modern Catholic church buildings built after it.

It is also a sad fact that many of these beautiful churches are being closed because of poor attendance and low finances in these parishes. The Archdiocese of Detroit infamously closed over 30 churches in 1988-1990 and has closed more since. Some of these churches (like Saint John Cantius in Detroit) were among the most beautiful in the city. I know the Diocese of Cleveland has also closed many churches, and I’m sure it is a similar story in other Dioceses throughout the United States. This is a true shame, but by photographing these churches we’ll always have a remembrance of what was. That is part of the reason why I do this.

Hopefully this sheds some light on why I have posted these questions.

Sincerely,

Cath4ever

[John241]

So why didn't you become a priest?

[cath4ever]

Originally Posted by John241

So why didn't you become a priest?

1) I am an only child and my parents are lower middle class. I will probably have to support them in their old age both financially and by taking care of them. That is something I would really like to do and it couldn't be done very well if I was a Priest because I would need to tend to my parish.

2) I would have to move away and I like the area where I live and don't really want to live somewhere else (although I do like to travel).

3) I have been in college since I graduated from high school and I am majoring in Accounting. At the end of the fall semester I will have my bachelor's degree in Accounting. Even though I had never considered Accounting until I was in college for 2 years I have come to really like it and am now looking forward to becoming a CPA.

I wanted to be a Priest for sure until I graduated from high school. Before that the Priesthood was far enough away where I didn't have to consider the practical implications of it i.e., moving away. When I was approaching graduation and had to take the first concrete step toward entering the seminary I got cold feet since now I really had to do it. But I'm happy with my choice and don't feel any regret.

[Macrina]

Originally Posted by cath4ever

Hello, . . .


I deeply appreciate the architectural beauty of these houses of God. All of the work put into them by the Catholics of 100 years ago or more is a testament to their faith and their devotion to the Catholic Church. As a Catholic attached to the preservation of the unchanged Faith, including the Traditional Latin Mass, I am edified by the architectural beauty of the churches built before the Second Vatican Council, and have a very low opinion of modern Catholic church buildings built after it.

Here's a blog you may like, as the author is very much a Traditional Catholic.
Seraphic Goes to Scotland
She's a good author and often writes about important issues. And she has a good sense of humour.

I know this is a bit off-topic, please forgive...

[northbound74]

I'm not Catholic, but I do admire the incredible architecture around here. Take 43/94 south out of downtown and you'll see the 'skyline' of steeples across the south side.
I find myself taking 6th Street into downtown sometimes just to see the Basilica of St. Josaphat up close.

[cath4ever]

Hello,

I worked very hard in the last couple of days to get all of my pictures of the churches I've been to uploaded to City-Data. They are in City-Data's albums and here is the link:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...15-albums.html

I hope you enjoy and are edified by them. I certainly had a fun time taking these pictures.

God bless,

Cath4ever

[cath4ever]

I just privatized my photo albums due to some rude comments made on another forum (not Milwaukee's) about my pictures. I am not a professional photographer and I do not pretend to be nor do I want to be one. I take my pictures so that I can remember what the churches looked like since I don't live around any of them.

On Sunday, February 20 I visited 10 churches in a matter of 4 hours and I had to get them within 30 minutes or so before or after their services. It also takes time to drive to each church. I did not have time to set up a tripod and take perfect shots, nor do I want to invest a large amount of money in something that is just a hobby. I have an Olympus FE-330 8.0 Megapixel Camera as well as a Nikon Coolpix 14.2 Megapixel Camera that I use, and I think they work fine and I do not want to buy anything further.

From now on I'll keep my photos to myself. The link that I posted will no longer show photos. Anyone who expressed a desire to see my photos before I posted them, I'll contact you later so that you can see them. I will not reply to any new requests to view my photos.

Thank you to everyone who gave me productive help in assessing the safety of visiting my churches and for all the encouragement in producing my photos. I really do appreciate it.

Sorry,

Cath4ever