Holy Innocents in Chicago

The Church of the Holy Innocents in Chicago, referred to in Polish as "Kościół Świętych Młodzianków" is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located in Chicago, Illinois. It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches in both its opulence and grand scale.

History

Founded in 1905 as a Polish parish. The first school and church were in buildings bought from the St. John Evangelical Lutheran church that had been built in 1867. It remained an ethnic Polish parish until 1975 when it was assigned territorial boundaries. The former school is now the home of Bishop Alfred Abramowicz Seminary. The parish retains its strong identification with Polonia while welcoming Hispanics and Catholics of other ethnic groups. Although there has been much recent gentrification in the neighborhood, the parish continues to minister in English, Polish and Spanish.

Architecture

The church was designed by the architectural firm of Worthmann and Steinbach who built many of the magnificent Polish Cathedrals in Chicago. Completed in 1912, the church is built in a Romanesque Revival style with Byzantine flourishes. Distinguishing features of the building include seven copper domed roofs (one centrally located main dome and six lesser domes), bell towers on the west façade, and stained glass windows imported from Austria and Poland. Varied hues of red brick masonry and limestone constitute the primary building materials for the church. The interior was redesigned after a 1960 fire and recently restored for the Parish centennial in 2005. Words of welcome are engraved in three languages over the triple entrance doors- Welcome, Witamy and Bienvenidos.

Holy Innocents in architecture books

Holy Innocents is featured in a number of books on church architecture, among them "Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage" by George A. Lane (Loyola Press 1982), "Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago" by Denis R. McNamara (Liturgy Training Publications 2005), "The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith" by Edward R. Kantowicz (Booklink 2007) as well as the Polish language book "Kościoły Polskie w Chicago" {Polish Churches of Chicago} by Jacek Kociolek (Ex Libris 2002).

ee also

*Tadeusz Żukotyński, Catholic fine art painter and mural artist
*Sr. Maria Stanisia, Polish-American fine art painter and restoration artist
*Jozef Mazur, Polish-American painter and stainglass artist

*Polish Cathedral style churches of Chicago
*Polish Americans
*Poles in Chicago
*Polish Roman Catholic Union of America

*Roman Catholicism in Poland