Chicago Catholic parishes facing steep hardships during pandemic, but leaders remain hopeful

CHICAGO — When parishioners gathered for Christmas Eve Mass at St. Clement Catholic Church last month, the Rev. Peter Wojcik was elated that for the first time since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pews at the majestic Lincoln Park church were once again filled with families.

But the robust attendance at St. Clement was fleeting, Wojcik said, and on Christmas Day and the Sunday after, the parish priest was disheartened to see the century-old, Byzantine-style church was once again echoing with half-empty pews.

“The new variant hit us like everyone else, which is absolutely heartbreaking, because all of us were hoping at this time, we’d be in a better place, and a safer place, but this pandemic just seems to keep going,” Wojcik said.

Nearly two years after the Archdiocese of Chicago’s 247 parishes in Cook and Lake counties were shuttered in the wake of the pandemic, the now fully reopened churches are struggling with steep declines in Mass