A wooden rosary around her neck and a white tuft of hair combed neatly over her forehead, a 73-year-old devout Catholic sat on a hard wooden bench in a Cook County criminal courtroom Wednesday morning, holding her hands in her lap, ready to face charges.
Wladyslawa Domaradzka, of Norwood Park, was facing a judge because of trespassing charges. As a widow with no children, Domaradzka’s religious community is her family, and she was arrested in part because of her strong faith.
“It’s my church,” Domaradzka told the Tribune with the help of a Polish translator before her court hearing. “I want to pray.”
Domaradzka was arrested Aug. 8 for trespassing while protesting the removal of stained glass windows and art from her beloved but shuttered church, St. Adalbert in Pilsen, fighting for what she believed was inhumane treatment of a sacred space to her and many in her community.
Constructed in 1874 to serve Polish immigrant families, the church, a fixture of Chicago with a multicultural history and looming towers, has been a point of contention for the past four years as former congregants have fought to keep it open after its last Mass in 2019.
Former St. Adalbert congregants — the St. Adalbert Rosary Group — continue to pray outside. Domaradzka said she still goes to St. Adalbert every Friday to pray.
[ St. Adalbert Church in Pilsen to be sold: ‘This is erasing our history, our legacy’ ]
St. Adalbert Church is now part of St. Paul Catholic Church in Pilsen, about a mile southwest, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. When St. Adalbert closed, Cardinal Blase Cupich attributed the church’s closure to declining parish populations and at least $3 million in renovations.
Activists spent years trying to protect the church, and on Aug. 7, the city held a meeting where the church received preliminary historical landmark, according to a spokesperson from the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. This is a monthslong process that involves multiple hearings and a vote by City Council.
“The parish is completing work it began several weeks ago to protect the property and the sacred items in the church which were being repeatedly vandalized and destroyed. The preliminary landmark status vote by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks does not affect the efforts of St. Paul Parish to protect these items,” the archdiocese said in a statement Wednesday.
The day following the preliminary historical landmark — the day of her arrest — Domaradzka and a few other devoted former parishioners went to the church around lunchtime. To Domaradzka’s surprise, she said, she walked inside and saw archdiocese officials removing relics and stained glass.
She remembered entering St. Adalbert and asking for a reason why the items and art were removed from the church. She said officials closed and latched the door behind her by putting a two-by-four across the handles.
After officials locked the door, she said, her friend Izabella Sadowska called the police. Sadowska sat next to Domaradzka at her court hearing.
Sadowska said calling the police backfired. Archdiocese officials refused to tell the 73-year-old woman why they were removing items from the church, Sadowska said, so Domaradzka stayed.
“She told them she came to pray, and that they were taking action that was in violation of the building law. But when the police got there, they decided to arrest her,” her friend recounted.
When Domaradzka was arrested, she said she was crying, scared and confused. She was handcuffed and brought to the 1st District police station in the South Loop.
To the relief of the 10 former parishioners who went with Domaradzka to court in Garfield Park Wednesday morning, her case was dismissed because the archdioceses didn’t show up with a witness, said her attorney, David Drwencke. The archdiocese had a duty to send a representative, he said, but failed to do so.
Outside court Wednesday morning, Domaradzka’s entourage stood in the heat and humidity and expressed outrage at the archdiocese for allowing the church to close, and proceeding to remove glass and art from inside. Domaradzka was handed a plant of pink roses.
“This is the most support I’ve ever had. Typically there will be family,” Drwencke said. “But not this level of support, and it’s clear that not everybody is family.”
The church’s history is layered. In 1912, it was rebuilt following a fire. Though Polish immigrants have left Pilsen long since the 19th century and the neighborhood is now home to a large Latino immigrant community, the former congregation has maintained its Polish roots.
Despite receiving preliminary historical landmark status, the church is currently under contract with a Anew Holdings, LLC, according Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, whose ward includes the church property.
Sigcho-Lopez said he received a letter Aug. 10 from the company confirming their contract, asking to open up conversation with neighborhood stakeholders. More than 20 leaders, including preservation groups, responded unanimously saying they couldn’t accept the company’s proposal, Sigcho-Lopez said.
“Neighborhoods are made stronger because of community gathering sites like St. Adalbert,” he said. “We hope we can collaborate to preserve the landmark, as we just started the preliminary process. Special spaces that mean a lot to our communities are port of entries for immigrants.”
Felix Gonzalez, the attorney representing Anew Holdings, LLC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anina Jakubowski, who grew up in Pilsen and attended St. Adalbert as a child, still goes to St. Adalbert every Sunday to say a rosary for her mother, who also attended the church. She calls their group of former parishioners the “Faithful of St. Adalbert.”
“A church is supposed to be a public face,” she said. “So why are they locking the doors?”
Last fall, the archdiocese had the replica of Michelangelo’s La Pieta statue moved from St. Adalbert to St. Paul . Protesters at the time told the Tribune the move would bring the space to a point of no return. The statue depicts Mary cradling Jesus’ body on her lap after the crucifixion.
The work permit cleared workers to create a 6-by-7½-foot hole in a wall on the east side of the church, following months of complaints from advocates. The move was originally delayed due to a permit issue.
[ La Pieta statue at St. Adalbert Church is moved after months of protests ]
Andy Bobak, 46, who stood outside with the group of “Faithful,” said that the church is their way of bringing Poland with them.
“She (Domaradzka) didn’t rob a bank. She didn’t shoot anybody,” he said. “This is war.”
“Pray with us to save St. Adalbert Church. Friday vigil 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Uniting in prayer,” a sign on the side of the church reads.
Scaffolding currently covers its centuries-old tan brick towers, and prayer stations are set up along the plywood covering its base.
