Chicago, IL (November 1, 2007) – Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, today announced that the two locations that will house Archdiocesan offices, agencies and administrative staff would be named the Archbishop Quigley Center and the Cardinal Meyer Center.

The former Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary High School at Pearson and Rush Streets will be named in honor of the Most Rev. James E. Quigley, D.D., Archbishop of Chicago from 1903 until 1915. The redeveloped site at 35 th Street and Lake Park will be named for His Eminence, Albert Cardinal Meyer, Archbishop of Chicago from 1958 to 1965.

“These two new headquarters for over 400 Archdiocesan administrators and staff hold important historic significance for the Catholic Church in Chicago,” remarked Cardinal George. “Catholics were the first Europeans to visit and settle the site where the City of Chicago now stands. The cornerstone for Quigley was laid in 1916, while Catholic organizations have occupied the 35 th Street site since immediately after the Civil War. God has given His Church the grace to help shape not only the culture, architecture, educational and heath systems in the region, but to share these gifts as universally as possible with the people of Cook and Lake Counties.“

For the last four years, the Archdiocese of Chicago has been considering various options for dealing with long-term space needs for the Pastoral Center located at 155 East Superior Street, while streamlining its operations and consolidating its other Chicago area locations. The renovation of the former Quigley seminary building at Pearson and Rush Streets began in June of this year, after Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary High School was closed. Ongoing renovations of the 1864 building at 35 th and Lake Shore Drive, designed by W.W. Boyington, the architect of the Chicago Water Tower, is on schedule with construction of a new three-story addition planned to begin this fall.

After conducting a national architectural search for a company that could accomplish the renovation and new construction work at both locations, the Archdiocese selected the local firm of Jaeger, Nickola & Associates Ltd., as architects for this significant and historic building project. The general contractor for the Archbishop Quigley Center is Pepper Construction; the Frederick Quinn Corporation is the general contractor for the Cardinal Meyer Center.

A number of Archdiocesan departments and ministries that are now housed at the Pastoral Center and other locations will be consolidated into the renovated buildings upon completion. About 150 Archdiocesan employees are expected to move to the Cardinal Meyer Center, while approximately 250 employees will move to the Archbishop Quigley Center. Employees are expected to make the move to the two sites by November 2008.

Inquiries regarding the lease/sale of the Archdiocesan property at 155 East Superior Street should be made to Patrick J. Caruso, President & CEO, or Miraya Vlacho, Vice President, L.J. Sheridan & Co., 940 West Adams Street, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607, 312-738-9500.

Albert Cardinal Meyer
Tenth Ordinary and Third Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago
September 1958 - April 1965

Albert Gregory Meyer was a churchman of great stature and renown, whose biblical expertise and service during Vatican Council II influenced the U.S. and the international Catholic Church in the areas of education, ecumenism, social justice and greater lay involvement in the Church. He was the shortest-serving Archbishop of Chicago, yet his influence had far greater impact than the six and one half years he served here.

Albert Gregory Meyer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 9, 1903, the son of a grocer. Coincidentally, this was one day before the installation of Bishop James Quigley as the Archbishop of Chicago. Brilliant and articulate he became a priest, seminary rector, bishop, archbishop and cardinal in quick succession. Despite his accomplishments, he was recognized as a humble person, considerate of the views of others.

After study at St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee and the North American College in Rome, he was ordained a priest in 1926. He received a degree in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Bible Institute in 1930.

Following a brief assignment at St. Joseph’s Parish, Waukesha, Wisconsin, he began a long association with St. Francis Seminary in 1931, first, as a professor, then, from 1937 to 1946, as rector.

In a little over a decade, he became Bishop of Superior, Wisconsin (1946), Archbishop of Milwaukee (1953), Archbishop of Chicago (1958) and was named a Cardinal of the Church (1959).

His administration of the dioceses of Milwaukee and Superior was indicative of what he would later accomplish in Chicago. While he was Archbishop of Milwaukee, that archdiocese witnessed an expansion program, which included almost fifty new churches planned or completed, seventy-four new school buildings erected and the seminary capacity enlarged from 190 to 400 students.

By the time he was appointed to head the Archdiocese of Chicago, he was well prepared to face the challenge of leading the largest archdiocese in the U.S. at the time, with a school enrollment of nearly a half million students.

Just sixteen days after assuming his duties, the new Archbishop was faced with one of the worst school disasters in American history when a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School took 90 lives. A rapid program of school modernization was begun immediately.

Education was a special interest of Archbishop Meyer. The year he was appointed Archbishop of Chicago, he joined the Administrative Board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference and became the Episcopal Chairman of the NCWC Department of Education. As chairman, Cardinal Meyer presented to Congressional committees statements of the department’s stand on Federal aid to education, and became well-know as a spokesman for Church schools.

Between 1958 and 1965, 69 new grade schools, 15 new high schools, 2 seminaries (Quigley South and Niles College) were built, and 30 parishes established.

He was a staunch supporter of Vatican Council II, defining its purpose “to confront the Church with the modern world, and the modern world with the Church.” He long emphasized the need for greater lay participation in the activities of the Church. “Let us always remember that the work of the Church in the midst of men is a common obligation,” he said. His was a voice of strong, open support during the Council for a declaration on religious liberty. He also saw worth in the ecumenical movement and in an address entitled, “Some Catholic Approaches to Ecumenism,” made a strong statement in support of pluralism as native to the American way of life. He urged discussion during the Council on the true relationship between Christians and Jews.

But the most compelling problems facing this leader of Chicago’s Catholics concerned civil rights, and perhaps nothing has so enhanced his local reputation as his forceful opposition to social injustice.

In 1959, in a striking statement to the President’s Commission on Civil Rights, Archbishop Meyer criticized racially segregated housing in the city and appealed to all men to cooperate against it. In 1960, he ordered all-white, Catholic schools to accept African-American children. Addressing a clergy conference in 1961, he appealed to the more than 2,500 Archdiocesan priests to “see that Negroes are integrated into the complete life of the Church.” His beliefs were perhaps best summed up in his statement in 1963 that “no one can say to himself, ‘this is not my problem.’” He created an Office of Urban Affairs and appointed Msgr. Jack Egan to focus the Church’s concern on the problems of the city in terms of housing and urban renewal.

Chicago’s Black and religious leaders alike were universal in their praise for Cardinal Meyer’s position on the matter of race, referring to it with such expressions as “great moral pronouncement” and “courageous stand.”

He blended his concerns for ecumenism and social justice in 1963, when he hosted the First National Conference on Religion and Race, appearing on television to talk about the importance of the meeting and its theme, Interracial Justice and Love.

It seems exceedingly fitting that Albert Cardinal Meyer’s coat of arms should bear the motto: Adveniat regnum tuum, Thy Kingdom Come, for, as he said, “Our sole common aim is the establishment of His Kingdom in the souls of men.”

Cardinal Meyer died on April 9, 1965 having served as a priest for 38 years, a bishop for 19 years and a cardinal for five years. He was 62 years old at the time of his death.

Most Rev. James Edward Quigley, D.D.
Seventh Ordinary and Second Archbishop of Chicago
January 1903 – July 1915

The second archbishop of Chicago, James Edward Quigley, was a just and charitable man, a thorough and prodigious worker for whom the education of seminarians was a predominating and abiding interest. His 12-year tenure was distinguished by the remarkable growth of both the parochial school and seminary systems.

James Edward Quigley was born on October 15, 1854, in Oshawa, Canada, his parents having settled there from Ireland. While still a child, his family moved to Buffalo, N.Y., where he received his education, including some years at the diocesan seminary. He concluded his preparation for the priesthood at the Propaganda College in Rome, where he received his doctorate in theology summa cum laude. He was ordained there in 1879. Following work in St. Vincent Parish in Attica, N.Y., and as rector of St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo, he was named Bishop of Buffalo in 1897. Five years later, he became the Archbishop of Chicago.

In 1903, Chicago had 252 parishes served by 417 diocesan priests and 149 order priests. With the growing number of Polish, Italian, and Bohemian immigrants, the city was becoming predominantly Catholic. He quickly began adding new parishes spurred on by the tremendous influx of these immigrant groups. His concern in particular for the Polish immigrants caused the number of Polish churches to double. This growth led Archbishop Quigley to seek an auxiliary bishop of Polish decent for Chicago, thus giving the City the distinction of having as an auxiliary bishop the first Pole in the United States to be raised to the episcopacy.

With the Archdiocese of Chicago on a solid path of unprecedented growth, Archbishop Quigley turned his attention to the need for a seminary. Clergy personnel needs were critical. Archbishop Quigley understood that the solution to the population expansion and priest shortage lay in the foundation of a seminary system in which Chicago boys could be trained, educated and formed for the priesthood of Chicago. The minor seminary was a popular concept in the early twentieth century, and Archbishop Quigley thought that was a good place to start.

The doors to the Cathedral College of the Sacred Heart, as the minor seminary was originally called, were opened in the remodeled German consulate on the southeast corner of Wabash and Superior in October 1905 with 52 high school freshmen. It was Archbishop Quigley who also resurrected the Corporation of the University of St. Mary of the Lake, thus bringing the project of a major seminary to the attention of the Archdiocese.

In his opinion the future of the Catholic Church was in the hearts and minds of the children, so one of the distinguishing features of Archbishop Quigley’s administration was the remarkable growth of the parochial school system. In his time as the Ordinary of the Archdiocese the diocesan schools increased from 166 to 256 and the students from 57,329 to 109,162. One of the principles governing the construction of new churches, which he asked pastors to follow, was the provision for a parochial school wherever a church was planned.

Archbishop Quigley was interested in all aspects of the social welfare of his people. During his administration the first Catholic social settlements were organized, including nurseries under Catholic direction. For the protection of women, he cooperated with the founding and development of the Catholic Women’s Protectorate, which patrolled railroad stations to offer protection to Catholic girls and women traveling alone. Under his leadership the St. Vincent de Paul Society made remarkable gains in membership and activities in the archdiocese.

He helped to establish the Catholic Church Extension Society that served home missions and convened the third diocesan synod in 1905, which promulgated rulings on everything from norms for sermons and the life style of the clergy to the sacraments and worship. The First Catholic Missionary Congress was held in Chicago during this time under the auspices of the Catholic Church Extension Society.

He faced great tasks and problems during his tenure, yet never limited his time or energies in his efforts to solve them. He was successful as both a builder of structures and a builder of men, who were shaped and directed in the schools and seminaries of Chicago. His beneficence was noteworthy as illustrated by his custom of performing the funeral rites of every deceased priest of his Archdiocese, a practice he carried out even when he was ill.

He died on July 10, 1915, having served as a priest for 36 years and a bishop for 18 years. He was 60 years old at the time of his death.

CARDINAL MEYER CENTER
35 th Street and Lake Park Avenue - Chicago

The site holds a unique history of ministry in Chicago’s history, as it is the last surviving building in Chicago associated with the Civil War. Designed by W.W. Boyington, architect of the Chicago Water Tower, the original building was constructed in 1864 at the corner of Lake Park Avenue and 35 th Street on the edge of Camp Douglas, and across from the monument and tomb of U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, remembered for his role in the nation’s debate about slavery and for losing the 1860 presidential race to Abraham Lincoln.

During the war, it served as a hospital for soldiers traveling to and through Chicago, and afterwards it was a home for disabled Union Army veterans. An additional wing was constructed in 1866, and in 1872, the year after the Chicago Fire destroyed the original St. Joseph Orphan Asylum at Wabash Avenue and Superior Street, the building was sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

In 1872 the St. Joseph Carondelet Child Center began to serve children who were temporarily transferred to orphanages in Cincinnati and St. Louis following the fire and then returned to Chicago. To ease overcrowding, a new wing, which included a chapel, was constructed in 1873 using recovered bricks from the original asylum. Additional, architecturally compatible wings were also constructed in 1878 and 1923.

Through the 1950’s, the Sisters of St. Joseph continued to staff, at various stages, an orphanage for neglected children and a home for abused and single women and their children. In 1953, Catholic Charities asked the sisters to extend their ministry to the care of dependent, emotionally disturbed children. A final building was constructed in 1957. After owning and using this property for more than 100 years, the Archdiocese closed the building in 2005.

In the current construction project, the walls of the 1864-1868 building are being rehabilitated and readapted, thus protecting the Civil War era construction. The result will be a new, three-story facility that will house 17 Archdiocesan agencies that now operate from the Pastoral Center on Superior Street and other locations.

When completed in the Fall of 2008, the facility will include a newly restored chapel that will be rededicated in honor of St. Joseph.

ARCHBISHOP QUIGLEY CENTER
Pearson and Rush Streets - Chicago

Chicago’s seventh Archbishop, Most Rev. James E. Quigley, D.D., is credited with establishing the concept of the high school seminary with the founding, in October 1905, of the Cathedral College of the Sacred Heart in the former German consulate at Superior Street and Wabash Avenue . Prior to his death in July 1915, Archbishop Quigley shared his vision of a complete Chicago seminary development system while waiting for a train with his eventual successor, Bishop George Mundelein, then Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn.

After Archbishop Mundelein’s installation as Archbishop of Chicago in February 1916, this vision became reality the following November when ground was broken at Rush and Chestnut Streets. The cornerstone for the early French Gothic structure was laid in September 1917, and one year later, the first classes were held at the new Quigley Memorial Preparatory Seminary. Archbishop Mundelein celebrated the first Mass at Quigley Memorial Preparatory Seminary on December 8, 1918 (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), during which he ordained six priests. Quigley's Chapel of St. James, with stained glass modeled after Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, was dedicated on June 10, 1920, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Quigley Memorial Preparatory Seminary was designed to hold 500 students. As enrollment surpassed 600 in 1922, multiple nearby sites, including the old Cathedral College, were used to ease the overcrowding. Construction of a Flemish/Gothic west wing to hold an additional 500 students began in March 1925 and was completed the following December. Once again, all the seminarians were studying under the same roof.

During the 1950’s, enrollment continued to increase. The multiple site concept was again used, and plans for seminary expansion were back on the table. These plans included the construction of a new high school and college on the city’s south side. In November 1960, ground was broken at a site at 79 th Street and Western Avenue. Classes began at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in September 1961.

Quigley Preparatory Seminary North and Quigley Preparatory Seminary South operated throughout the 1980’s. However, by December 1989, facing declining enrollment and a reduction in the number of graduates completing studies for the priesthood, Cardinal Bernardin made the difficult announcement that both sites would close the following June. The new Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary was dedicated on August 26, 1990 and earned national recognition in 1999 as one of 96 outstanding high schools in America.

The trend of graduates who went on to be ordained as priests continued to decline throughout the early 2000’s. Following consultations with a committee that included the rectors of the various seminary systems, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., approved the recommendation to close Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary High School in Chicago on June 15, 2007.

After serving the Archdiocese for 101 years, Quigley's final graduation ceremony took place this past June 7. The Archdiocese provided transition grants to juniors, sophomores and freshmen to continue their education in Catholic high schools for the 2007-2008 school year. In addition, the Quigley Scholars Program was initiated to support Catholic young men in Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese who have an interest in Diocesan Priesthood.

Renovation of the building began in late June. Completion and the relocation of Pastoral Center departments is scheduled for November 2008 .