CHICAGO (WLS) — Former parishioners gathered at Saint Adalbert’s Church in Pilsen Tuesday, where crews were removing a religious statue from that shuttered church.
Police are on hand to keep people away from the property so crews have room to remove the replica of Michelangelo’s ‘La Pieta’ statue.
Despite parishioner objections, Saint Adalbert’s was closed back in 2019 due to declining attendance and millions needed for repairs.
Neighborhood groups fight to keep Pilsen’s St. Adalbert Church
The statue is being moved to a nearby church.
Crews cut a hole in the church, which has now been boarded up.
Read Related Also: ‘Vabbing’ is dangerous: Doctors warn against TikTok craze of using vaginal discharge as perfume
Some protesters have camped out in an alley in back of the church for forty days.
A group of residents have been working to try and buy the building from the Archdiocese of Chicago to try and preserve the building for the neighborhood.
“Mayor Lightfoot and Cardinal Cupich, listen to the people of our community, 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez. “We have the right to due process. We have the right to have a conversation about the future of St. Adalbert.”
The Archdiocese of Chicago released a statement saying in part that parishioners will have access to worship before the sculpture at its new home.
Copyright © 2022 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
