This story is part of a special section marking the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Perhaps one of the most loved icons of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s jubilee celebrations was Our Lady of the New Millennium, a 34-foot, 8,400-pound stainless steel statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue was commissioned by Oak Lawn resident Carl Demma as a gift to the faithful. After it was completed in 1999, Demma brought it to St. Louis, where the visiting Pope John Paul II saw it from the popemobile and then made the Sign of the Cross. Thus blessed, it toured parishes, mostly in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It made appearances at several archdiocesan events, including the Field of Faith Corpus Christi Mass at Soldier Field in 2000 and the first Festival of Faith in 2003. The schedule was published in the Catholic New World for those who wanted to see it, and parishioners would turn out in large groups to greet the statue when it arrived, usually late in the evening. The statue traveled on a special flatbed truck, outfitted with a hydraulic lift to raise it into a standing position for display and lower it for transport. In 2011, Demma’s widow decided that the statue’s permanent home would be at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion in St. John, Indiana. It stood on the grounds of the nearby St. John the Evangelist Parish for two years before being permanently installed at the shrine.
175th anniversary: Meet the archdiocese’s oldest living priest Father George McKenna was born less than a year after the end of World War I. He was ordained a priest a month before D-Day. He had been, officially, retired for 13 years when 9/11 happened, but he was still the volunteer chaplain at Midway International Airport.
175th anniversary: St. Stanislaus Kostka: Once one of the largest parishes in nation Founded in 1867 as the first Polish parish in Chicago, the Resurrectionists have administered St. Stanislaus Kostka since 1869, and founded many other North Side Polish parishes from St. Stanislaus such as St. John Cantius and Holy Trinity Mission. At the end of the 19th century it was one of the largest parishes in the city and country.
175th anniversary: St. Frances Cabrini: a saint for Chicago, America Even though St. Frances Cabrini was a native of Italy, the Archdiocese of Chicago will forever consider her one of its own because she ministered here and died here in 1917.