St. Adalbert Slated To Close Despite Major Donation To Keep Church Open

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Despite a last minute push to keep it open, a parish in Pilsen will close later this year.

In February, the Archdiocese announced that it was closing St. Adalbert Church at 17th and Paulina as part of larger consolidation of parishes in Pilsen.

A month later, an anonymous donor left a gift originally estimated at $3 million. Supporters hoped it was enough to rehab the church and keep it going.

The gift turned out to be stock later valued at $1.5 million.

St. Adalbert is more than 100 years old, and parishioners have been trying to raise money to fix two church towers that are crumbling.

The towers of St. Adalbert's Church are in disrepair, and the condition of the building was cited by the Archdiocese as a factor contributing to its decision to close the church.

"It breaks our heart," said fourth-generation parishioner Richard Olszewski. "My mom was crying. Everyone's crying. My aunt is here from California and she was crying. It's hard because my mom helped save the church in '74 when they tried to close it."

Delma Estrada Vargas has been a parishioner for 45 years.

"It's sad because they don't care about us," said Estrada Vargas. "They don't understand that this this is the church we've been coming to come to over and over. Our grandkids come to this church."

In a letter sent to parishioners Sunday morning, the archdiocese said Mass attendance at St. Adalbert had not topped 600 per week since 2013 and when combined with the shrinking population of Pilsen, it would be difficult to raise enough money to keep the parish going.

The Archdiocese says the money left over from the campaign to save St. Adalbert's will be used to pay some of the church's debt and the rest will likely go to St. Paul, which is another church in Pilsen.