Description
Succeeding Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan, Archbishop James Edward Quigley became the Archbishop in 1903. Born in Canada in 1855, Quigley was ordained in Rome and was a consecrated Bishop of Buffalo until he was transferred to Chicago. This period in Chicago was marked by intense anti-Italian immigration stemming from the dominant ethnic group in control, the Irish. Because many of the Italian coming to America were extremely dissatisfied with the Roman Catholic Church, they had constructed a folk religion based on magic, mysticism and Charms more so than on Christianity. Recognizing the need to mend these relationships and connect with the growing population of Italian immigrants, especially in Chicago, bishops began sending students to seminaries in Italy as a way to prepare for the new Italian missions. By 1903 Italian priests coming to Chicago were able to revers this anti-church sentiment by paying attention to the immigrants social and cultural needs and preserving the Italians sense of community. Not long after that, with Archbishop James Edward Quigley leading Chicago Catholic Church, there were a dozen Italian parishes established in Chicago, shown in the above image in pink dots . After his death in 1915, the position of Archbishop of Chicago was taken over by Cardinal George Mundelein (1915–1939).
Source
Corrigan, Owen B. "Chronology of the American Hierarchy." The Catholic Historical Review 3, no. 2 (1917): 151-64.
Spinney, Robert G. City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2000.
McNamara, Denis Robert. Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2005.
