ABSTRACT
The role of religious institutions as indicators and facilitators of change within the twentieth-century urban environment is often overlooked or underestimated. The present chapter addresses institutional and physical changes to a parish within a neighbourhood, using as its case study the Carmelite church of St Clara, later known as St Gelasius, in the South Side of Chicago.
Until 1950s, Woodlawn neighbourhood of Chicago experienced a steady growth, which was reflected in its increasing population, and numerous schools and houses of worship. Yet by the 1970s, the South Side experienced decline, and local Catholic parishes suffered from the effects of urban decay. In 2002, the archdiocese closed the only Catholic parish in the neighbourhood altogether and slated its church for demolition. However, in 2004, an international Catholic religious organization, the Institute of Christ the King, took over the church and the rectory of St Gelasius. The Institute began a slow process towards a complete restoration of the church and revived parish life in the area through the introduction of the Traditional Latin Mass. Fortunes of St Gelasius as a parish and a building largely mirrored those of the neighbourhood at large, and in both instances, religious institutions were catalysts of success.
