English, Spanish and Polish melded as a group of about 40 people braved the cold to protest the removal of the La Pieta sculpture from St. Adalbert Church in Pilsen.
The removal, which was scheduled for Tuesday, was ultimately not completed due to a permit issue, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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Protesters took breaks from chanting “Save our church!” and “Shame on you!” in order to pray in different languages, holding rosaries and American and Mexican flags up as they stood in an alley behind the church. About 30 police officers flanked the group.
“It just isn’t right,” said Anina Jakubowski, who was a regular at the church at 1650 W. 17th St. from when she was a kid until it closed in 2017.
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She looked at the building. Since parishioners learned St. Adalbert Church would close, some of them have been fighting to reopen the church.
The removal of the La Pieta statue — which depicts Mary holding Jesus’ body on her lap after he’s brought down from the cross — would bring the church closer, protesters say, to a point of no return.
The Archdiocese of Chicago has said the replica of Michelangelo’s La Pieta statue will be moved from St. Adalbert to St. Paul Catholic Church, about a mile southwest.
“Parishioners will have access to worship before and better enjoy the sculpture in its new home,” said a statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago. “Moreover, this valued community treasure can be better safeguarded and preserved in an active parish church.”
Protesters had a clear line of sight to the statue, which was still inside the church but perched perilously close to the edge of a drilled church wall, its back to the outside world.
“This is a sad day in the city of Chicago,” said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, who represents the Pilsen area.
Sigcho-Lopez called on Cardinal Blase Cupich and Mayor Lori Lightfoot to meet with parishioners and protesters who are concerned about the future of the statue and the church. He said the group hasn’t been able to secure a meeting since February.
A single counterprotester spoke up, interrupting media interviews. “That’s not true,” Miguel Chacon said about the possibility of a meeting.
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Chacon wondered out loud what the group is trying to save. He said the church couldn’t stay open five years ago because it had very few parishioners.
“The church cannot be open, and they are not going to reopen (it),” Chacon said. “These groups — noble missions, and I respect them — but it is not likely to ever happen.”
Sigcho-Lopez noted he didn’t know about a permit that a crane operator would need to remove the sculpture by using the public alleyway.
“As an elected official, we have a responsibility to due process,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “We are not going to be stepped on as immigrant communities — the Polish, Mexican communities are large. We’re not going to be stepped on like this.”
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The Archdiocese of Chicago said in its statement: “The parish is continuing to follow the proper permitting process and is working with the city to attain all the permits needed for safely moving the statue and rebricking the opening in the side of the building.”
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Judy Vazquez, one of the protesters, said the group has been guarding the sculpture day and night for 40 days. She said she hopes one day the group can claim victory for the church at the corner of West 17th Street and South Paulina Street, so it can “continue for our children and our children’s children.”
Police remained on site as an officer made the announcement that the statue wouldn’t be removed Tuesday.
“It’s an atrocity to even talk about arresting parishioners for demanding a seat at the table, to say ‘we need to talk about this,’” Sigcho-Lopez said. “Cardinal Cupich, as the leader of the Catholic Church in Chicago, what would Jesus do? Would he ignore the poor? Would he step on the parishioners? Would he arrest them? Or would he listen to us?”
