Fwd: The Catholic Chicago that Pope Leo XIV grew up in

[William Zambrano MD]

Post from a revered brother in Christ.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David J Sheehan <davidjsh...@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, May 10, 2025, 12:51 PM
Subject: The Catholic Chicago that Pope Leo XIV grew up in
To: DAVID SHEEHAN <davidjsh...@yahoo.com>

Friends,

I am 2 years older than Pope Leo and I grew up on the southside of Chicago, about a mile east of Midway airport.

This is the Catholic Church that I remember growing up.

In 1960, the Church was very strong.  Schools and hospitals were top notch.  There was an 

understanding between the priests and the nuns.  The priests ran the parish and the nuns

ran the schools and no pastor who valued his life would cross the nun running the school.

Just imagine a "Bells of St Mary's" with solid church buildings and solid schools. Everyone

is doing his/her job and things are running like a fine tooled machine.  That is the perception.

There is no hint of scandals and the few things that do happen, are kept out of sight. 

On the economic and political scene, Chicago was well run with Mayor Daley the 1st

in charge and there were plenty of jobs with everything on the rise. Some would joke

that the graft was being spread evenly. Nevertheless, everything did work well.

Then, things began to happen.

John Kennedy was killed Nov. 22nd, 1963

Then, we lost one of the best, Albert Cardinal Meyer on April 9, 1965 and except

for Cardinal George, Chicago has not had guys worth their salt ever since.

Vatican II ended in December 1965 and then the changes began. The initial changes

were welcomed by the people. The beauty of the liturgy in their own language brought

out the beauty of the Mass.  The priest facing the people brought us all more into the

divine moment of Consecration.  That was the best of it.  Then, things went downhill.

Chicago that had been the epicenter of American Catholicism has now become a vacant

shell of its former self. Parishes are shut down, schools are closed and Cardinal Cupich

has gone out of his way to suffocate the one growing arm of the Church, the Traditional

Latin Mass. The TLM is very hard now to find in Chicago. 

So, I tell you all this because this is what Pope Leo has experienced, a once mighty 

Church proclaiming the Gospel in thought, word and deed to one that is on life

support with Cardinal Blaise Cupich types jumping up and down on the oxygen hose

while yelling nonsensical slogans about climate change, illegal immigration, etc. You

get the picture.

If I read Pope Leo XIV correctly, he will become a type of martyr as he tries to

get the Church back on the proper rails.  He was born on September 14th,

the Feast of the Holy Cross and I believe by the end of his pontificate, he

will be nailed to that Cross.

Please keep him in  your prayers; the job before him is enormous.

 

God bless and guard you and yours

Joan of Arc

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David Sheehan 

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