News update

Guadalupe shrine dedicates new entrance for pilgrims

In early December, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines dedicated the new entrance that will greet the more than 2 million people who visit the shrine each year.

When the shrine decided to build a new entrance, it was with the pilgrims in mind, said Father Esequiel Sanchez, shrine rector, in his bilingual remarks during the blessing.

“The pilgrims who will come next weekend with their heart in their hand … they’ll come with their pain, with their fear, with their joy, with their confusion and with their enlightenment. They do not come seeking movie stars. They don’t come looking for a concert. They do not come seeking anything else except the help and the love of our Blessed Mother,” he said.

It is in that spirit that the design of the new entrance was created. It was inspired by various cultures with a spirit of triumph, he added.

The shrine launched the “Raising the Doors of the Guadalupano Heart!” campaign to raise $800,000 for

Two schools again receive Blue Ribbon honors

Winning a National Blue Ribbon Award is a familiar feeling for the two archdiocesan schools that were honored this year.

The awards honor high-achieving schools and those that close achievement gaps; of the 367 schools recognized across the United States this year, 50 are nonpublic schools.

This year, Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, an independent Catholic school, received its fifth Blue Ribbon Award, and Prince of Peace School in Lake Villa received its second award. Both schools were in the highachieving category.

“We are incredibly proud of the two Chicagoarea Catholic schools for being recognized with distinguished Blue Ribbon awards,” said Greg Richmond, superintendent of Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools. “The benefits of a Catholic education include developing a child holistically through faith formation, academic achievement and the importance of civic and community engagement. With the challenges of a global pandemic, it’s gratifying to know the efforts of our teachers, administrators, students and their families have been deservedly honored.”

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago have won 119 Blue Ribbon awards over the years. the entrance, which was designed in a colonial style with archways for pilgrims to walk through. The style symbolizes the mixing of cultures that came together “under the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Sanchez said.

Construction of the new entrance reflects the growth and increased popularity of the shrine in the lives of the faithful and is part of a plan to grow the shrine.

Mundelein Seminary marks 100 years of forming priests

Hundreds of alumni, benefactors and guests gathered on the crisp morning of Oct. 17, 2021, to celebrate the beginning of University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary’s centennial year.

The day included Mass celebrated by Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory, an alumnus of the seminary, and Cardinal Cupich; trolley tours of the grounds; and talks about the history of the university, founded in 1921 on its current campus by Cardinal George Mundelein under the 1844 charter of the University of St. Mary of the Lake.

The seminary educates future priests for dioceses around the United States. This year, it has approximately 116 seminarians from 24 dioceses.

In addition to the seminary and its associated graduate school of theology, the university includes institutes for the education and formation of deacons and lay ecclesial ministers, the Liturgical Institute and the Instituto de Liderazgo Pastoral, as well as the Joseph and Mary Retreat House.

—Articles reprinted with permission from Chicago Catholic