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Announces pending changes for Catholic churches on the Ridge as part of the “Renew My Church” effort

A hazy photo from old histories showing the building of St. Benedict Church in 1895. St. Benedict Parish was the first Catholic parish established on the Ridge, in 1861. Now the name will no longer be used, as several parishes are combined into a new parish.
A colorized postcard showing the church built in 1895 that was torn down in the late 1960s.
The skyline of Blue Island showed the steeple of St. Benedict Church for many years. This photo postcard was taken of the old central park, which was replaced by St. Francis Hospital which in turn became Metro South Hospital, now closed.
A newspaper clipping showing the “new” St. Benedict Church.
A newspaper clipping about St. Walter Church from when it was established. Southtown Economist, Feb. 9, 1955.

The Ridge Historical Society

Changes for Catholic Churches on the Ridge

By Carol Flynn

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has announced pending changes for some of the Catholic churches on the Ridge as part of its “Renew My Church” effort.

St. Benedict in Blue Island, St. Walter in Chicago (Morgan Park), and St. Peter Claver Mission in Robbins will combine into one parish, with a new name, and one pastor.

Gone – in name – will be St. Benedict Church, the first Catholic Church established on the Ridge.

Volp’s Blue Island history, “The First One Hundred Years,” tells us that St. Benedict Parish was organized as a mission by the Benedictine Fathers of Chicago in 1861. Services were held in a building at the corner of York and Western Streets.

In 1862, the lot on the corner of York and Gregory Streets was purchased for $125 and the first church was built in 1864. The first school was built in 1880. In 1895, a church was built that had four school rooms on the ground floor, and the church proper on the upper floors. This was torn down in the late 1960s for the “modern” church there now.

St. Walter Church was established in the 1950s in the Morgan Park neighborhood of Chicago, at 117th and South Western Avenue.

Not technically part of the Blue Island Ridge, St. Peter Claver Mission in Robbins was established in 1958.