Churches

By Kathryn Dobies
Medill Reports - Chicago

As Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Chicago priests remembered the grandeur of the last papal visit to the windy city, in 1979 - not only by the day's events, but by the pride felt by Chicagoans.

"It was a wonderful visit," said Bishop Timothy Lyne, auxiliary bishop of Chicago. "One of the unique things I remember is there was no major crime in the city when the Pope was here."

Two blocks off bustling I-57, a sacred sound rises above the crunch of snow under latecomers' feet. Beth Eden Baptist, the "Mother Church of Morgan Park," is gearing up another Sunday service at the intersection of the newly named Robert E. Wooten Sr. Drive and 111th Street.

As the debate continues about the merits of public schools education vs. private school education, staff and administrators at area Catholic elementary schools are probably pleased with the latest news about their students' standardized test scores: Students in the Archdiocese of Chicago recorded scores higher than the national average this year.

Read the whole story here.

By Elizabeth Gibson
Medill Repotrs - Chicago

Rev. Rene Mena didn't realize what he was getting into when he came to the U.S. to become a priest.

"I expected the church in the U.S. to be just like Mexico," he said. "I thought I was going to be like a monk, you know, and wear a long, white cassock."

Instead, Mena said he makes house calls to the sick, baptizes children by the dozen and worries about the homeless in Little Village. At his church's Augustfest, he wore a plaid shirt as he swept up napkins from the sidewalk in front of St. Agnes of Bohemia Catholic Church.

New pastors have been appointed at Beverly area churches St. Barnabas and Christ the King.

Rev. William E. Malloy will be the new pastor at St. Barnabas (South Longwood Drive). He comes from St. Germaine parish in Oak Lawn, where he was also the pastor. This change will be effective July 1.

Rev. Raymond Tillrock, the current pastor at St. Barnabas, will be on sabbatical from July 15 to January 15, 2008.

Thomas P. Conde was a member of the faculty at Saint Joseph's College at Loyola University. He is now the pastor at Christ the King (9235 S. Hamilton)

Children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade are invited to attend vacation Bible school at Trinity United Methodist Church, 9848 S. Winchester Ave.

The school, which will run from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Aug. 6-10, will feature sing-alongs, teamwork-building games, movies, crafts and food.

For more information call 773-445-5300.

Perch, perch and more perch

The wildly popular St. Christina fish fry, which serves hundreds of Mount Greenwood families each week during Lent, is in its 13th year. On Friday - the last before Holy Week - the fish fry completed another Lenten season. Dozens of volunteers, from cooks to servers, have spent the last six Fridays serving up perch, spaghetti and grilled cheese in an annual Catholic Lenten tradition.

To see more photos of the St. Christina fish fry, click here.