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The Catholic New World

Residents of the Brighton Park neighborhood around Five Holy Martyrs Church turned out in force to catch a glimpse of the pope in 1979.

Catholic New World/file

Mementos of the pope

By Mary Claire Gart
contributor

While thousands of Catholics from around the world will visit Pope John Paul’s tomb in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, Chicagoans can pay homage to the late pope by visiting places closer to home.

Indeed, the Archdiocese of Chicago is dotted with sites that recall his three visits to Chicago—as archbishop of Krakow, Poland, in 1969 and 1976, and then as pope in 1979.

One stop that was on his itinerary for all three visits was Five Holy Martyrs Parish, 4327 S. Richmond St. It’s hardly surprising, then, that a stretch of the city’s 43rd Street has been renamed Pope John Paul II Drive. His biggest welcome there, of course, came on Oct. 5, 1979, when he visited the parish less than a year after his election to the papacy.

It was at Five Holy Martyrs that members of 180 Polish parishes from across the country came to see the first pope from their homeland. Some 20,000 were expected to attend the Mass in the parking lot, but the event drew almost 75,000, including those on nearby roofs and clinging to trees, according to Father John Rolek, co-director of the event.

The altar and canopy erected outside for the Mass are still located in the parking lot, along with a 25-foot cross .

“Every year, on the first Sunday of October, we offer Mass there as a reminder of the pope’s Mass,” said Society of Christ Father Gerald Grupczynski, current pastor of Five Holy Martyrs. The throne used by the pope—which was carved by a parishioner—is now located in the sanctuary. His processional cross is another memento at the church.

The pope’s first trip to the archdiocese, besides Five Holy Martyrs, included a stop at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice where he blessed the Polish Shrine at the mausoleum.

In 1976, the future pope led a delegation of Polish bishops who attended the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. He then traveled on to Chicago—home of the greatest number of Poles outside of Warsaw—where he was welcomed by Mayor Richard J. Daley and honored at a banquet. During that stay, he toured St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital, 2233 W. Division St., and offered Masses at St. Hedwig Parish and St. Hyacinth Basilica.

A plaque on one of the pews in the hospital chapel notes that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, had knelt there to pray. At St. Hyacinth Basilica, 3636 W. Wolfram St., the papal coat of arms and an image of the pope grace the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in the church, which was raised recently to the status of a minor basilica.

For most Chicagoans, the most vivid memories of the Holy Father are from 1979, especially the Mass in Grant Park. On Oct. 4, the pope was welcomed at O’Hare Airport by religious and civic leaders and then his motorcade took him directly to Holy Name Cathedral, where he asked the faithful packed into the pews to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus that I come to you.”

He returned to the cathedral the next evening for a concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Both visits to Holy Name are marked by a plaque and photo in the vestibule of the cathedral. “We also have some of the vestments that were worn at the Mass in Grant Park,” said Father Daniel G. Mayall, cathedral pastor. “We used them at the Mass marking the 25th anniversary of his installation.”

After his stop at the cathedral and dinner at Cardinal Cody’s residence, the Holy Father went to St. Peter’s Church in the Loop where 1,000 religious brothers from 25 states waited to pray with him. In a 12-minute talk to the brothers, he repeated the words of St. Paul: “I thank my God whenever I think of you ... remembering how you have helped to spread the good news.”

Today, visitors to the busy Loop church will notice a plaque in the lobby marking that particularly memorable feast of St. Francis.

Early the next day, Pope John Paul went to the Pilsen neighborhood where 75,000 people, most of them Hispanic, had started gathering before dawn outside Providence of God Church. The pope’s tight schedule didn’t allow him to enter the church. Instead, the roof of his limousine was opened and he spoke from there about the Campaign for Human Development, which had helped to boost the community.

“He was there about 10 minutes and the people were very excited,” recalled parish secretary Lucia Salazar. “One of the children gave him a letter from the school children.”

The occasion is now commemorated by a plaque on the cornerstone of the building at 717 W. 18th St.

From Pilsen, the pope traveled continued south to 7740 S. Western Ave., then home to Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, where he addressed the U.S. bishops, acknowledging his “deep appreciation for the fidelity of your faithful and the renowned vitality that they have shown in Christian life.”

The former Quigley South site is now home to St. Rita High School, a secondary school for boys where his visit is still commemorated. “Outside our chapel we have a gold plaque and three photos of the pope—one taken in the chapel, another in the auditorium and a third of the pope waving to the crowds from atop the building,” said Augustinian Father Thomas R. McCarthy, St. Rita president/principal.

While Pope John Paul was traveling around the South Side, almost a million people were converging on Grant Park, enjoying a four-hour ethnic praise festival that preceded his arrival. At 3 p.m., church bells rang throughout the archdiocese, signaling the entrance procession for the Mass that was celebrated by the Holy Father and 350 bishops from all over North America.

The faithful who trekked to the park for the Mass were joined by on-lookers who filled the balconies of nearby high-rises and the thousands who watched on local television.

Many other archdiocesan institutions have paid tribute to Pope John Paul II and his contributions to the Universal Church.

At St. Helen Church, an eight-foot bronze statue of the Holy Father was unveiled and dedicated by Auxiliary Bishop Thad Jakubowski on Oct. 14, 2001. Visitors will find the statue atop a four-foot pedestal outside the church on Oakley Avenue, near the corner of Augusta Boulevard.

The Polish Museum of America, 984 N. Milwaukee Ave., has a permanent Pope John Paul II exhibit which includes photos and artifacts from his pilgrimages.

Campus ministry at the University of Illinois at Chicago is headquartered at the John Paul II Newman Center, 700 S. Morgan St.

Pope John Paul II Catholic School, 4327 S. Richmond St., serves elementary students from four South Side parishes.

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