La Pieta statue could soon be removed from shuttered St. Adalbert church in Pilsen
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A beloved statue could soon be removed from a Pilsen church. Parishioners protested for months to prevent the removal of the replica of Michelangelo's La Pieta statue from St. Adalbert Catholic Church, but now a permit has been issued to begin the process.
Work to remove the statue could begin this week.
For parishioners and activists, the statue is more than just work of art. For them, it's a part of the a building that has united the Latino and Polish communities in Pilsen.
Even though the church has been closed since 2019, they fear that with the statue gone, this could mean a closure for good.
"We just see this is a beginning of a long-termed deterioration, or some type of change, or some type uncertain future," said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, among the groups that has championed keeping the statue inside St. Adalbert. "It's undermining the building's wholeness, its design, its representation to the community."
For more than 40 days, a group of activists camped out around the clock at St. Adalbert, trying to keep the statue there to preserve the history of the building and as a symbol of their faith.
Plans to remove it last month were halted, because the Archdiocese of Chicago didn't have a city permit.
But as of last week, they now have the green light to open a hole on the side of the church to remove the statue.
The archdiocese said the sculpture will have new home at nearby St. Paul's Catholic Church in Pilsen, to preserve and protect it.
But preservationists, like Miller, fear the removal of it could mean the closure of St. Adalbert for good.
"We're really undermining so many things here, when we see holes created, big gaps in the wall, and objects that are a part of that history of that building that were built – in this case, built into the church," Miller said.
The archdiocese didn't specify when the statue's removal will happen.
Miller said his organization will now work towards designating St. Adalbert as an official Chicago landmark, in order to keep it intact and in the neighborhood.
