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Annunciation Parish
Formerly St. Mary Assumption in Joliet, Illinois and St. Mary in
Chicago and Oak Lawn, Illinois
The Joliet Parish
At the beginning of the 20th century, the only Eastern Christian parish
in Joliet, Illinois, was St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church located on
Joliet's ethnically populated east side. This parish eventually came
under the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church. Greek
Catholics of Slovak, Rusin and Ukrainian descent who were attending St.
Nicholas parish gathered in 1903 to lay plans for their own Greek
Catholic Church.
It was not until 1915 that a new Greek Catholic church edifice was
built on the east side of Joliet by these individuals. Carved into the
keystone of this new parish in the original Slavonic language was the
name, "Dormition of the Mother of God, Uhro-Rusin Greek Catholic
Church." For convenience sake, and as a result of the process of
Americanization of these original immigrant founders, the parish became
known as "St. Mary Assumption, Greek Catholic Church." A small
Hungarian Greek Catholic contingent in this largely Carpatho-Rusin
parish eventually became members of a neighboring Hungarian Roman
Catholic parish. The Hungarian Greek Catholic presence at St. Mary's
faded.
The original cornerstone document makes mention of two Apostolic
administrators at the time of the dedication of St. Mary's on August
20, 1917: Fr. Gabriel Martyak for the Uhro-Rusin people and Fr. Peter
Ponyatishin for the Ukrainian people. The first priests to serve St.
Mary's during this time were Michael Balog, Joseph Dzendzera and Myron
Volkay.
During the next several decades St. Mary's parish grew in size and
strength. Eventually, the parish established its own "Mt. Calvary"
cemetery on 20 acres of land. In 1959 an elementary school was built.
Later a convent and an auditorium for the school and other
multi-purpose facilities were added.
Throughout a long period of St. Mary's history, the Byzantine Catholic
Benedictine Orders of nuns and priests were of invaluable assistance to
the school and to the parish itself. Much of the building occurred
during the pastorate of Benedictine Father Gregory Petruska. Throughout
the years the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle,
Illinois, not only assisted St. Mary's parish in Joliet but also
offered the use of their college chapel for outreach efforts on the
part of the parish.
Major demographic changes began to occur in the complexion of American
society especially in the 1960's and 1970's. The once proud and
tightly-knit ethnic neighborhoods began to dissolve, and the younger
generations of the original Greek Catholic Rusin founders of St. Mary's
became more and more dispersed.
An upshot of the changes that St. Mary's witnessed during this period
was the closing of the parish school in 1988 and a change of pastors.
Fr. Bruce Riebe, a newly ordained priest who was native to the region,
was assigned as pastor to St. Mary's during this difficult transition.
In October, 1993, Fr. Thomas J. Loya was assigned as pastor of St.
Mary's and the parish entered into a period of serious discernment
about its future. It was this process of discernment that gave rise to
the a new parish which would be located in Homer Township, Illinois.
The Chicago Parish and Oak Lawn Mission
On June 11, 1903, a group of faithful Carpatho-Rusin Greek Catholics
organized into a parish. By 1905 a new church was built on the corner
of 50th Street and South Seeley Avenue on Chicago's renowned south
side. It was near the area fondly known as the "Back O' the Yards"
(stockyards.) The members referred to their church as the "First Greek
Catholic Church of St. Mary's of Chicago."
The "First Greek Catholic Church" was formally dedicated On October 14,
1906, on the Feast of the "Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
However, the church building was destroyed by fire on February 14,
1909. Rebuilding the church was completed nearly one year later on
February 1, 1910. The parish's first pastor was Fr. Victor Kovaliczky
who was assigned to St. Mary's in 1905.
The 1910 church eventually became a school for the parish. In 1926 a
new and much larger church structure was built at the South Seeley
Avenue location. The new church was built for an approximate cost of
$140,000 and dedicated on Labor Day 1926 by Bishop Basil Takach.
Holy Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary's) parish began to
realize a period of great growth and dynamism. During the twenty-two
year pastorate of Fr. Eugene Bereczky, the parish saw the construction
of a convent and a parish grade school. By 1955 the grade school had an
enrollment of 93 students.
During the 1960's and 1970's, St. Mary's parish began to feel the
impact of the dramatic demographic changes occurring across America's
once proud ethnic neighborhoods In an attempt to reach out to the
increasing diaspora of its younger generation, Pastor Fr. John Kurty
and the members of St. Mary's purchased a building and property in 1978
on the corner of 90th Avenue and Oak Park Avenue in the nearby suburb
of Oak Lawn. The building was a former Methodist church, but for St.
Mary's, it would now become known as their "Mission parish."
The establishment of Annunciation Parish, Homer Township, IL.
In response to the major demographic changes and rapidly changing urban
profile impacting both parishes and mission, the Eparchy of Parma,
during the time of the administration of Bishop Andrew Pataki,
initiated the Midwest Development Project. Through the medium of this
new Project the Eparchy took a hard took at how the demographic changes
of recent decades had impacted the Byzantine Catholic community in the
Northern Illinois region. Three principle resources were also
evaluated: available clergy, number of Faithful and financial assets of
the two St. Mary parishes and the Mission in Oak Lawn.
There were, however, other dynamic forces and changes occurring in the
life of the Church both East and West during this same time. Through
the implementation of new Statutes, Codes of Canon Law, Vatican Council
documents and Papal Letters, the Eastern Catholic Churches were being
called to a new era of self-discovery and evangelization.
With all of the factors considered, the process of discernment lead the
Eparchy into what was deemed to be the direction that would provide for
the strongest future for Byzantine Catholics in the Northern Illinois
region. It was decided that the Chicago parish, the Oak Lawn Mission
and the Joliet parish would combine their resources and together build
a new parish in the heart of one of Northern Illinois' most rapidly
developing suburban areas. The far flung Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic
Community would be called together to a new home. From that new home,
Byzantine Catholics of Northern Illinois would prophetically,
creatively and courageously respond to the call of the Byzantine
Catholic Church in the new Millennium.
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