I found the article online (see here). Here are some excerpts from the article. I will note, they did at least feature some of the traditional Chicago parishes in the article:
Meanwhile, 14 percent of the residents of those two counties—more than 800,000 people—used to be Catholic but have left the church. Put another way: For every 10 Catholics here, there are now four ex-Catholics. Among those born in the United States, the exodus has been greater still. Says Susan Ross, who chairs Loyola University’s theology department, “If it weren’t for Latino immigration, the church in Chicago would be losing many more people.”I've added a rather lengthy comment to the article in the comment box. I encourage you to add your own comments, especially fellow Catholics in Chicagoland. Let's take a stand for Tradition. Continue here.
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Add in Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, Misericordia (a group home for the developmentally disabled), 17 Catholic hospitals, and Catholic Charities (which offers over 150 services in 160 locations), and “there’s no single entity beyond the State that does more for Chicagoans than the Catholic Church,” says Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois and the archdiocese’s chief lobbyist in Springfield.
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Mary Anne Hackett, a grandmother of 18 from west suburban La Grange, attends yet another church revived by a conservative pastor: the elaborately baroque St. John Cantius in Chicago’s River West neighborhood. Every Sunday, she and her husband, a retired ophthalmologist, make the half-hour drive. “There are tons of young families there,” says Hackett, who is also the president of Catholic Citizens of Illinois, a group that aims to restore traditional Catholic values. (Most of its 1,400 members range from age 40 to 70, and virtually all are white, she says, adding that CCI welcomes those of all races.)
4 comment(s):
" Can new archbishop Blase Cupich change that?" asks the article. I am absolutely certain that Archbishop Cupich can change that; he'll make it far worse.
Yes I fear Cupich will inspire a mass exodous of unprecedented proportions. Chicago deserves far better than what they got it as the new Archbishop and if Francis bestows him a Red Hat at the upcoming Consistory it will be a clear sign of Francis' radical efforts at forcing his brand of Liberation Theology on the Church.
I read in an ancient history book that these people called "Catholics" actually used to live in Chicago! But it was 55 years ago. The majority of Catholics in Chicagoland have grey hair and bald heads, they won't leave because of Cupich, they'll leave because human life expectancy in the USA is 75 years.
ECCLESIA DEI LETTER DECEMBER 2014
LETTER FROM MARY M KRAYCHY CHAIRMAN, ADVISORY BOARD
HOW THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE LATIN MASS HAS PROGRESSED, AND YET THERE IS MUCH MORE THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. THE DEVIL HATES THE LATIN MASS AND DOES NOT WANT IT TO SPREAD. DISCOURAGEMENT IS ONE OF HIS MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS. IF YOUR BISHOP , PRIEST, OR POPE FRANCIS EXPRESS DISINTEREST, DISAPPROVAL , OR DISTAIN FOR THE MASS AND YOUR EFFORTS,DON'T LET THIS ATTITUDE KEEP YOU FROM PRAYING FERVENTLY AND WORKING STEADLY TO PROMOTE THE MASS OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS. IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, THOUSANDS OF PRIESTS HAVE TRAINED TO SAY THIS MASS. IT IS NOW BEING TAUGHT IN SEVERAL SEMINARIES. AS FATHER ZUHLSDORF WROTE RECENTLY,
"THE PROVISIONS OF SUMORUM PONTIFICUM STAND. THEREFORE....DO NOT WAIVER....DO NOT SLOW DOWN, DO NOT BE DOWNHEARTED..DO NOT RELENT, DO NOT BUDGE, DO NOT STOP WORKING. WE NEED MORE CELEBRATIONS OF THE OLDER FORM OF THE HOLY MASS, IN MORE AND MORE PLACES, BY MORE AND MORE PRIESTS. KEEP ATIT.GET THOSE RESOURCES TO PRIESTS. PAY ANY PRICE, OFFER ANY HELP, GO THE EXTRA MILE"
CATHOLICS WERE NOT CALLED TO BE COWARDS, BUT IN BAPTISM AND HOLY CONFIRMATION, CALLED TO BECOME SOLDIERS OF CHRIST. WE CAN NOT FAIL, WE MUST NOT FAIL. NO MATTER WHAT BLOCKAIDES THEY PUT BEFORE US, WE MUST OVERCOME.
IT IS UP TO US TO INSIST THAT A LATIN MASS BE HELD IN OUR PARISHES. JUST AS JESUS TOLD US ABOUT THE WOMAN THAT KEPT INSISTING BEFORE HER KING UNTIL HE FINALLY GAVE IN TO HER REQUEST, SO TOO MUST WE DAILY RENEW OUR EFFORTS.
THE COALITION IN SUPPORT OF ECCLESIA DEI IS NOW LOCATED AT 4545 WEST 63RD STREET IN CHICAGO, IL. 60629, AND CAN BE REACHED AT TELEPHONE # 1-773-284-7785
GOD BLESS YOU
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