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Our welcoming Christian community of St. Irenaeus Parish inspired by the words of our patron - "Humankind fully alive is God truly glorified" - journeys together to bring the love of Christ to all in our parish family through worship, faith formation, social justice, and loving service while reaching out to the broader community.

Message from Cardinal Blase Cupich

Listen to the message on the Archidocese website here.

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

You may know that Pope Francis has called a meeting in Rome, of the presidents of bishops’ conferences and other leaders in the Church from around the world to address the crisis of clerical sex abuse of minors. As I work with others to organize this meeting, I want to tell you that your concerns are close to my heart. I truly appreciate the input I have heard and received from you.   I will carry your concerns and insights with me as I go to Rome. 

At the same time, I know how hard these past few months have been for you. I understand the anger and disappointment many feel as the Church suffers from the scandal of clergy sexual abuse, and the mishandling by some church leaders.

Victim-survivors have been courageous in telling their stories.  Listening to them, taking measures to protect children and holding everyone accountable is the only response to make.

We are and have been doing all of this in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and will continue to provide support for victims, to report every allegation of clerical sexual abuse to civil authorities, and to permanently remove anyone from ministry who is credibly accused. 

I invite you to learn more about what the Archdiocese does to protect children, heal victims and make sure all priests and church leaders are held accountable, by visiting our website heal.archchicago.org. I’ve also asked pastors to print the website address in your bulletins.

Pope Francis understands that abuse in the Church is a global problem that needs a global solution.  The Holy Father’s aim in calling the meeting at the end of this month is to make sure that every bishop in the world takes personal responsibility and is held accountable for how he handles these matters. But, the pope also intends to make clear to all bishops the concrete steps for complying with this agenda. Getting this right is the priority.

I also want to tell you how sorry I am, for the harm done to victims, but also the harm done to you, the faithful who also have been deeply wounded by all of this.  You continue to be in my prayers and I ask for yours, not just for me and the success of the February meeting, but especially for our priests and all who work for the church faithfully during these very challenging times. They need our support now more than ever. God Bless you all.

PANTRY NEWS

We always have more requests for help from our pantry guests than we have donors. We’ve a great idea to make the sponsorship work for all. Would you like to help provide a meal for one of the families who come to our pantry? Our average family size is four, and we have many families with 7 or more children.

Many people struggle every week to find the resources to prepare nutritious balanced meals for the family table. Often there’s nothing extra after holiday season ends to prepare the kinds of daily meals so many of us take for granted. A Scrip card from Target, Walmart, Jewel or Meijer could help make their days brighter by allowing them to choose the food items for their families..

If you want to help, please consider purchasing a Scrip card through the weekly program here at St. Irenaeus and drop your card(s) into the box that will be provided before and after every Mass. Our families will gladly use the cards to buy the ingredients for favorite traditional dishes, desserts or perhaps diapers for the baby or bathroom tissue or other essentials. The need is huge.

Thanks for all your prayers and donations of food and money for the pantry program. We couldn’t do this without each of your contributions!!
 

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