The parish of St. John of God was the second Polish community established in the Chicago meat industry district, the Back of the Yards, in the part known as the New City. It was organized by Father Jan Jędrzejak, who in early spring 1907 bought a plot of land suitable for a multifunctional building designed by William J. Brinkman, a renowned Chicago architect. The work went well, because as early as in July the first Mass was celebrated in the chapel under construction.

The building, dedicated by Archbishop James E. Quigley on October 27, comprised the chapel for 800 people on the ground floor, and a school and rooms for the Felician Sisters on the first floor. Adjacent buildings housed an auditorium, a presbytery and meeting rooms for parish organizations and societies, which was particularly important because of their social and charity activities.

Unfortunately, the sudden death of Fr. Jędrzejak in September 1908, when the parish consisted of 300 families, interrupted its development, because unrest appeared in the community due the influence of the Polish National Catholic Church. However, thanks to Fr. Ludwik Grudziński, the parish priest appointed in June 1909, born in Iwno in Greater Poland, the situation was brought under control. Thanks to his activity three Polish parishes in the Back of the Yards (St. Joseph, St. John of God and the Sacred Heart of Jesus) in 1913 founded a charity “Ochronka Anioła Stróża”, providing care to orphans and homeless mothers, who were relatively numerous in this working-class district. The charity was run by the Franciscan sisters of St. Kunegunda, members of the congregation founded in 1894 in Chicago by Maria Teresa (actually Józefina) Dudzik, an immigrant from Płocicz (now the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship).

In 1910 a new presbytery was built, and the old one was renovated to house the Felician sisters, whose lodgings were turned into school rooms. In the following years, due to the growing number of students and teachers, the convent was constantly enlarged, and in the years 1952-1953 a new school building was constructed, while the old seat was turned into a parish house.

The community of St. John of God was extremely important among the Polish parishes of Chicago, which is why it was frequently and willingly visited. Among its guests were: Archbishop of Vilnius Jan Cieplak, Bishop Teodor Kubina from Częstochowa, Ignacy Paderewski, General Józef Haller and many others. However, with the collapse of the meat industry, the district started to depopulate and the parish started to decline. In 1992, when it was closed, the church still held services in Polish, as well as in English and Spanish. In 2010 the church was dismantled, and its façade was transported to Old Mill Creek, 50 miles north of Chicago, where a new parish community is building St. Raphael the Archangel Church using elements from two closed Chicago churches: St. John of God and St. Peter Canisius (built in 1932 in the Austin district, closed in 2007). The façade of St. John of God’s Church was reconstructed there in its original shape. Three bells and some stained-glass decorations were also transported to Old Mill Creek, where they will be installed in the new church in the coming years.

Out of the whole complex of parish buildings, only the building of the school designed by Leon Strelka still exists. Where the church was located, there is now a lawn, and the area has been called the Peace Garden. There is a cross in it, a reminder of the church which used to stand there and of the place where 46 volunteers from the parish of St. John of God who had died during World War II were commemorated.

The cornerstone of the church was consecrated by Bishop Alexander J. McGavick on 13 October, 1918. Three brass cans containing three Polish newspapers: Dziennik Chicagowski, Dziennik Związkowy and Dziennik Narodowy were placed right next to it, as well as a document about the history of the parish, some earth from the Kosciuszko Mound in Cracow and a flask of holy water from Lourdes.

The church was consecrated on March 20, 1920 and dedicated by Bishop Eduard F. Hoban on June 6. The first Mass for parishioners was celebrated on Palm Sunday 1920. It was a large building with the capacity of 1800 seats and was designed by the architect Henry J. Schlacks in a style that combined Renaissance and Baroque motifs. A particularly impressive feature was the two-tower façade, with an arcade sheltering the entrance. The rosette of the façade contains a stainedglass window with the image of St. Cecilia, the patroness of church music. In 1935, the largest organ in the diocese at that time, designed by Richard O. Whiteleg and made by the Moeller company, was installed in the temple. It was replaced with a new organ in 1979.

The church’s rich polychrome was executed by John A. Mallin in the years 1940-1941. He painted the stations of the Way of the Cross and scenes related to the life of Christ (in the main body and the porch), and above all the figures of the patron saints of Poland and St. John of God (chancel) and apostles with Christ (chancel arch). In addition, the church houses, as parish documents put it, “a beautiful historical painting depicting King John III Sobieski, the conqueror of Turks and Tatars and the defender of Christianity” paying homage to the Mother of God and Child Jesus on the throne. He is accompanied, among others, by St. Casimir, as well as a Polish winged hussar and a Kościuszko Uprising soldier armed with a scythe. The painting was ideologically associated with the representation of St. Maurice and other Christian soldiers which was located on the opposite wall. Importantly, the subject matter of both frescoes appeared in the temple in the context of World War II, as the “soldier class” fought “against subversive and pagan Nazists, communists and other -ists trying to control the whole world”, as written in the same parish chronicle.

The first major repairs in the church were carried out in the years 1949-1950. The heating system was replaced, the walls of the church were grouted, a new floor was laid, and a new balustrade and lectern were installed. The next restoration of the interior was carried out before the golden anniversary of the parish, i.e. in 1956. The Grajer Electric Construction Company replaced the electrical system and new candlesticks were ordered from Van Esso M. A. Inc. The works also comprised John A. Mallin’s restoration of the paintings. The last time the church was renovated was before its diamond anniversary in 1982.

Chronology

1907 - erection of the parish of St. John of God purchase of land and construction of a multifunctional parish building

1910 - construction of a new presbytery

1913 - establishment of the charity “Ochronka Anioła Stróża”

1918 - consecration of the cornerstone for the church

1920 - dedication of the church

1952 - construction of the school

1982 - the last renovation of the church

1992 - closing the parish

2010 - dismantling the church and leveling the ground to create the Peace Garden municipal park

Text originally published in a book issued by the POLONIKA Institute.
Katarzyna Chrudzimska-Uhera, Anna Sylwia Czyż, Jacek Gołębiowski, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Polish parishes and churches in Chicago, Warszawa 2019, pp.​​​​​​​ 271-276.