Religion
Polish Downtown is perhaps most noted for its opulent "Polish Cathedrals", magnificently ornate structures that dazzle many of those driving through the area along the Kennedy Expressway. The buildings express the religious zeal and faith of the large immigrant Polish congregations. The combined membership of the exclusively Polish Roman Catholic parishes of Polish Downtown together had over 100,000 parishioners in 1918, all located within a one-mile radius.
Although most of these are Roman Catholic churches, a schism that escalated into violence by parishioners of St. Hedwig's Church led to the founding of an independent Polish Catholic parish. This parish eventually joined the Polish National Catholic Church. Raised to the status of a cathedral, the parish erected a new building designed by famed architect J.G Steinbach in 1930. The Cathedral of All Saints still stands today, now owned and occupied by the Presbyterian Church in America, which bought the building in 1993.
Read more about this topic: Polish Downtown (Chicago)
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