"The popularity of the car reshaped Catholicism in the city, forcing churches to adapt their worship practices to attract newly mobile parishioners."Livia Gershon at JSTOR Daily on "Riding with St. Paul in the Passenger Side": The Archdiocese of Milwaukee Enters the Automobile Age, 1920-1965" by Peter S. Cajka, American Catholic Studies, Vol. 121, No. 2 (Summer 2010), pp. 65-93.
continue at Fox6MILWAUKEE -- The Bel Canto Chorus will dedicate part of its final concert to Carlie Beaudin. She was killed outside her workplace, Froedtert Hospital, in January -- and was supposed to be part of that final concert. Bel Canto's final song will be dedicated to Beaudin.
At the Basilica of St. Josaphat, rehearsals were underway Tuesday, May 14 ahead of the concert Friday, May 17.
"It's going to be tough. She was wonderful. She was just radiant. She was sunshine. She was amazing," said Kristin McGowan.
Beaudin, 33, a Froedtert Hospital nurse practitioner, was found brutally beaten in a hospital parking structure on Jan. 25. Prosecutors said Kenneth Freeman kicked and stomped Beaudin roughly 40 times in the head and neck before ditching her body.
There are many beautiful Catholic churches in Milwaukee, but if I had to make a Top Ten list, I’d go with the following. With a few of these, you’ll have to overlook some unfortunate “renovations” which seriously damaged the original integrity of the interior (see Saint Casimir). But thankfully, much of the splendor of the original buildings remains. Follow the link to learn more about each church’s history and view more photos.continue at Cream City Catholic
Jake and I had the opportunity to visit a stunning hidden gem, St. Joseph’s Chapel (1501 S. Layton Blvd., Milwaukee, WI 53215), on a recent weekend and capture this brief video tour.continue at Cream City Catholic
We brought in our equipment, were greeted by a kind receptionist, signed in, got our visitor badges and then made our way up to the chapel. Once we walked through the chapel doors, it was immediately evident that there is more beauty there than we could possibly capture in a short film.
We hope you take the time to make a visit of your own to pray and appreciate such a rich piece of Milwaukee history.
A zoning change for a proposed 118-unit senior living facility and new St. Rita’s Catholic Church was recommended for approval by the City Plan Commission. Developer James A. Tarantino is proposing to purchase and demolish the existing church and a handful of other structures to create two six-story buildings and a church that draws heavily on the design of the long-since demolished Blessed Lady of Pompeii Church.continue at UrbanMKE
Tarantino & Co. would buy the church and its former school and convent for $1, demolish the existing structure, construct the senior living facilities and church and sell the new St. Rita’s back to the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee for $1. The existing church was built in 1925 as a mission church for Blessed Virgin of Pompeii.
The new church’s design will borrow heavily from the former “Little Pink Church” in the Historic Third Ward. The original church was demolished for the construction of Interstate 794 in 1967. St. Rita’s became the de facto church of the Scillian community following the demolition.
The new building will include stained-glass windows from St. Rita’s and artifacts from both churches. The sanctuary will be built level with the street. This will come as a notable improvement over the current St. Rita’s, which requires parishioners to scale stairs to enter the building.
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| Parishioners carry a statue of St. Joseph in a parade as part of the annual celebration by members of Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Catholic Church honoring the saint. on June 22, 1952. This photo was pubished in the June 23, 1952, Milwaukee Journal. |
For more than 60 years, the "little pink church" was the spiritual heart of Milwaukee's Italian community.continue at JS
But the church — Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Catholic Church, 419 N. Jackson St. — was also in the path of "progress," a dangerous place to be in Milwaukee in the 1960s.
Built in 1904, the church was the center of Italian Catholic life in the Third Ward for decades. But by the 1960s, urban renewal and freeway construction had left the church — known for the pink bricks it was built from and the marble statue of an angel that stood watch atop its steeple — isolated in a sea of weeds and parking lots.
On Oct. 11, 1966, the county Expressway Commission voted to offer $95,450 for the church property, so that it could be razed for the new Lake Freeway.
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| Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Catholic Church, 419 N. Jackson St., was the spiritual heart of Milwaukee's Italian community for half a century. In this photo, war mothers gathered in the church to pray on Aug. 14, 1945, V-J Day. Ivan J. Mashek/Milwaukee Journal |
St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, dedicated to the Polish martyr and saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów, is the oldest Polish church in America.continue at MKE Independent
Although Poles had been trickling into the south side of Milwaukee for several years, it was not until 1866 that they were numerous enough to organize a Roman Catholic parish. Thirty families bought a small brick church, formerly owned by Lutherans, and dedicated it to St. Stanislaus. They had come to the city to escape religious perception in Poland, and made many sacrifices to establish their own place of worship.
Like many historic churches, Saint Stanislaus suffered from the misguided trend of the 1960s to transform its classic architecture into a modern style. Ironically, recent church restoration projects in Milwaukee over the past few years have sought to undo those changes.
In the case of Saint Stanislaus, many of its beautiful features were obliterated during its remodeling in 1966 as the parish prepared for its 100th year anniversary and changes in the liturgy. The beautiful altar rail was removed and the sanctuary became radically altered.
continue at JSA developer is proceeding with plans to convert downtown Milwaukee's Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center into a hotel, a project that would include a 14-story addition to the historic building.
Madison-based Ascendant Holdings Real Estate plans to buy the three-story Masonic Center, 790 N. Van Buren St., and convert it into the hotel's lobby, restaurant and meeting rooms, owner Eric Nordeen said Wednesday.
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Scottish Rite wants to sell the building because the fraternal organization's dwindling membership can no longer afford to maintain it. Those ranks have dropped from 6,000 in 1985 to 700 today, of which just 100 are active members.
The building was constructed as a church in 1889 and became a Masonic facility in 1912, according to city historic preservation report. It was extensively remodeled in 1936 and includes an auditorium that is rented out for events.
Klisch, owner of Lakefront Brewery, shared his interest in Milwaukee’s bells with Michael Horne, a writer and columnist for urbanmilwaukee.com. Out of that conversation was born Bells of Milwaukee, a tax-exempt public charity, of which Klisch is president. The organization’s mission, according to a November press release, is to “identify those buildings that have inoperable bells, and to seek to repair them to working order.”
But the group’s first order of business is to have bells ringing throughout the Milwaukee area at midnight this New Year’s Eve. According to Horne, project manager for Bells of Milwaukee, the group asked the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to invite its parishes to participate – an invitation that was extended to the parishes by the archdiocese’s office of communications.
A 112-year-old former Catholic school in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood later used to house nonprofit groups will be demolished and replaced with a new convent.
Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi will develop the new building on the site of the now-closed Marian Center for Nonprofits, 3195 S. Superior St., the order has announced. The property is on the Milwaukee-St. Francis border.
The Marian Center originally was St. Mary’s Academy, a Catholic girls high school which opened in 1904 and closed in 1991.
The new three-story convent will provide apartments for 80 nuns and office space for the order.continue at JS
continue at RadioMilwaukeeComing up on November 5th, four Milwaukee-area churches are opening their doors and inviting you in.
Organized by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the day-long event — VIP MKE — will grant access to areas not normally seen by parishioners. VIP, short for “Very Important Parishes,” will also provide shuttle service connecting each church.
So, leading up to the event, OnMilwaukee’s Bobby Tanzilo and I are giving you a peek behind the scenes and touring a few of the churches taking part.
Keep scrolling to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Walker’s Point. Originally a German congregation in the 1850s, the church is now a staple in the Latino community, offering Spanish language services.
The elegant beauty of most of Milwaukee’s historic Catholic churches has been captured in our gallery page. Stepping inside these sacred buildings is always a moving experience. Many were built by immigrants from Poland or Germany. These churches represent some of the city’s most impressive architectural heritage. Preservation of these local treasures should be a concern of everyone in Milwaukee. As so many popular restoration shows on television highlight, the preservation of historic homes and other buildings is the “in” thing to do. In addition to structural upkeep, a significant part of any restoration movement involves the peeling back of inconsistent and dated accretions that were added over the years. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that anyone would think concealing rich hardwood floors with green carpeting, for example, would be a good thing to do. But it was done, over and over again, in house after house. Maybe you’ve done some work in your old home and discovered something beautiful that was concealed for decades beneath layers of paint or carpeting.continue at Cream City Catholic
It's that time of the year again...time for Doors Open Milwaukee! I'm cramming on other projects right now, along with making my plans to attend both days of Doors Open. To be brief, below is a list of the eleven Catholic sites that I am aware will be open beyond regular Mass times this weekend. The links will take you to an information page on each site, including the hours that each of them will be open this weekend.
continue at WTMJMilwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki offered a blessing to police officers Monday during a special Mass at the Basilica of St. Josaphat on South 6th Street.
Listecki's words of praise and encouragement were heard by a church filled with officers from throughout Southeast Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel agreed. Back in January, while Schimel recognized National Law Enforcement appreciation day, he referenced his faith.
“On behalf of all of us at the (Wisconsin) Department of Justice, I am grateful to all of our law enforcement partners on this day, and every day, and I pray for their safe return home at the end of every shift,” Schimel said.
Back in Milwaukee on Monday, the Archbishop honored current law enforcement personnel, retirees, and their families.
Monday’s blessing follows what has been a challenging month for authorities. An officer was shot by a suspected armed robber May 5. That officer had been on the force for more than a decade and was pursuing a man who allegedly robbed an auto parts store on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
Only about ten days later, two Milwaukee County Sheriff’s deputies were thrown into a lane of traffic on I-43. The dash cam video that captured the incident has gone viral and made international headlines. A woman who had been pulled over for speeding threw her car into reverse and sped off, but not before injuring the two deputies.
