St. Thomas More Church on Chicago's Southwest Side holds final mass

CBS News

26-05-2025

A Southwest Side church said goodbye to its parishioners Sunday.
St. Thomas More Catholic Church, at 2825 W. 81st St., held its final mass Sunday morning.
The 67-year-old church was once a thriving parish. But the Archdiocese of Chicago decided to close the church due to a lack of funds.
In a letter to the Mission of St. Thomas More community on April 13, Archdiocese of Chicago Vicar General Most Rev. Lawrence J. Sullivan explained the challenges.
"Limited resources of priests, people, and funds has put us in a position where, to meet those commitments we must focus our efforts on focus our efforts on fewer vibrant churches, parishes, and worship sites," Sullivan wrote. "We must be judicious in our placement of priests, but just as importantly, we must also be mindful of not spreading our parishioners too thinly. Your presence at the other parishes you will now join will be a welcome and necessary gift to their communities."
The Archdiocese of Chicago plans to keep the building as a spiritual resource center — in particular serving the African American and African immigrant populations of the area.
"The Spiritual Resource Center will not hold regularly scheduled masses, but will offer a wide range of activities, ministries, and experiences with an emphasis on African American spirituality," Sullivan wrote. "These experiences will include Catholics already worshiping in parishes and will offer evangelizing opportunities to introduce Christ to others."