Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Chicago)


Immaculate Heart of Mary is a church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located on South Ashland Avenue near 45th Street in Chicago, Illinois. The church was constructed more recently, compared other places of worship in the Back of the Yards area, such as St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church or Holy Cross Church. The church, along with Holy Cross, forms part of the Holy Cross - Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.

History

In the latter half of the 1930s, the workforce involvement and population as a whole of Mexican immigrants increased across the United States as the socioeconomic effects of the Great Depression started wearing down. The steady increase of their population lead to mass being given on storefront "chapels" due to the lack of a physical church for the Spanish-speaking community. Claretian priests from St. Francis of Assisi Church were traveling to the area on Sundays to give mass. In 1941, a former butcher shop was rented and outfitted as the Our Lay of Guadalupe chapel. For the next three years, Reverend Aloysius Dot, CMF, served the Mexican community in Back of the Yards. Donations eventually helped the community gain a permanent place of worship.
On March 5, 1944, the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish was relocated to 45th and Ashland, just a couple of blocks away from its original location. The new facility consisted of four storefront locations which were purchased by Reverend James F. Tort, CMF, Reverend Joachin DePrada, CMF, and the Archdiocesan Chancery Office. Archbishop Samuel A. Stritch encouraged Father Tort to enlarge the new chapel by completing $20,000 worth of renovations. Father Tort complied with the request and on December 30, 1945, Archbishop Stritch dedicated the church. Eventually, it was renamed to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. From August 1, 1947 onward, daily mass was celebrated in the church, with Reverend Raymond Sunye, CMF, as pastor. The church currently offers regular services consisting of both weekday and weekend masses.
In 1990, the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, closed 40 Catholic churches and schools in an effort to save resources with which to pay off the Archdiocese's debt. Several schools in Back of the Yards, like St. Rose of Lima, were closed, increasing attendance at the remaining churches.
The population of Mexicans had still shown no signs of slowing down, especially in the latter half of the twentieth century. With the growing population of the neighborhood, Immaculate Heart of Mary was not big enough to accommodate all of the people. It eventually merged with Holy Cross Church to form a single parish, Holy Cross - Immaculate Heart of Mary, with both locations still being used for worship to this day.