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Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary

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Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, is the Archdiocese of Chicago's high school for boys considering the priesthood. The predecessor of the school, Cathedral College, was founded in 1905. George Cardinal Mundelein announced plans for the building of a preparatory seminary at Rush and Chestnut (103 East Chestnut Street) in downtown Chicago in 1915. Cardinal Mundelein named the school in honor of his predecessor, Archbishop James Edward Quigley.<ref name="skerstyle">[1] Ellen Skerrett, Edward R. Kantowicz, and Steven M. Avella, Catholicism, Chicago Style, Loyola Press, 1993</ref> Classes were first held at school's current location in September 1918.

Cardinal Mundelein, following the educational theories of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, surrounded Quigley students with great architectural beauty. Quigley's chapel of St. James, with stained glass modeled after Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of Chicago's most breathtaking spiritual spaces.

Perhaps the most memorable event in Quigley Seminary's history came on Tuesday, May 18, 1937, when Cardinal Mundelein, speaking to 500 priests at Quigley during a quarterly diocesan conference, lashed out at Nazi leaders Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Hermann Goering for using the pretext of "immorality" and sexual scandals to attack Catholic religious orders, organizations, and German Catholic schools, which at the time educated two million children, saying:

The fight is to take the children away from us. If we show no interest in this matter now, if we shrug our shoulders and mutter, 'Maybe there is some truth in it, or maybe it is not our fight;' if we don't back up our Holy Father (Pope Pius XI) when we have a chance, well when our turn comes we, too, will be fighting alone. . . . Perhaps you will ask how it is that a nation of sixty million people, intelligent people, will submit in fear to an alien, an Austrian paperhanger, and a poor one at that I am told, and a few associates like Goebbels and Goering who dictate every move of the people's lives...<ref name="paperhanger">[2] "Mundelein rips into Hitler for Church attacks," Chicago Tribune, 5/19/1937, pg. 7</ref>

Nazi minister Goebbels, labeled a "crooked minister of propaganda" in the same speech by Mundelein, responded furiously within days at a mass rally with 18,000 attendants, demanding that the Vatican discipline Mundelein, which it refused to do. Nazi attacks on German Catholic institutions intensified, and 200 Catholic newspapers were shut down.<ref name="nazireaction">[3] Chicago Tribune, 5/23/1937; "Nazis unleash vicious attacks on Roman Catholic Church," Chicago Tribune, 5/29/1937</ref> In Philadelphia, the International Brotherhood of Painters, Paperhangers, and Decorators for their part took exception to the Cardinal's classification of Hitler as a "paperhanger" in any case, despite Mundelein's remarks "he was not a very good one."<ref name="unionoffended">[4] Chicago Tribune, 5/27/1937</ref>

Mundelein similarly championed Quigley,<ref name="kantmund">[5] Edward R. Kantowicz, Corporation Sole: Cardinal Mundelein and Chicago Catholicism, Notre Dame Press, 1983</ref> and personally recruited Catholic families to send their sons into the priesthood, including Frederick and Reynold Hillenbrand, sons of a nearby dentist. In a January 2, 1938 speech to 2,000 members of the Holy Name Society at Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, Mundelein said:

Our place is beside the poor, behind the working man. They are our people; they build our churches, they occupy our pews, their children crowd our schools, our priests come from their sons. They look to us for leadership, but they look to us, too, for support.<ref name="mundathnc">[6] "Cardinal in Chicago calls on Holy Name members to align with Social Justice," New York Times, 1/3/1938, pg. 7</ref>

In the late 1950’s because of over-crowding, at the direction of Cardinal Albert G. Meyer the seminary built a new high school, Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, near 79th St. on Western Ave., which opened in 1961. For a short period in the early 1960s, both Quigley campuses held joint events, including graduations, in order to instill among the students the spirit of sharing one school.<ref name="oneschoo">[7] Quigley: One Hundred Years of Memories, 1905-2005, Taylor Publishing, Dallas, 2006, pg. 35</ref> On October 5, 1979, Pope John Paul II visited Quigley South, and said:

Dear seminarians, I extend a special greeting to all of you who are present here today. I want you to know that you have a special place in my thoughts and prayers. Be strong in your faith--faith in Christ and His Church...revealed and accomplished through His Son and the Holy Spirit. Study the faith diligently so that your knowledge of Christ will continually increase. And nourish your faith each day at Mass, for in the Eucharist you have the source and greatest expression of your faith. God bless you.<ref name="jpiiquote">[8] Quigley: One Hundred Years of Memories, 1905-2005, Taylor Publishing, Dallas, 2006, pg. 41</ref>

In December 1989, facing declining enrollment, the Archdiocese announced the closure of both Quigley North and Quigley South as of June 1990, combining both schools into Archbishop Quigley Seminary at the original downtown site for the 1990 Fall term. For several weeks in early 1990, Quigley students<ref name="nytQstds">[9] "Students Deplore Plan to Shut Chicago Seminary," New York Times, 2/25/1990</ref> and alumni from both institutions picketed the mansion<ref name="tribpicket">[10] "Parishioners gather to fend off closing," Chicago Tribune, 1/29/1990</ref>of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and published a full-page ad in the Chicago Sun-Times,<ref name="stopenlet">[11] "An Open Letter to Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago " Chicago Sun-Times, 3/4/1990, pg. 38</ref> but many of the protesters later joined in supporting the combined Archbishop Quigley Seminary.

As of the Fall of 2006, with an enrollment of approximately 200 students, Quigley was the largest of the seven remaining preparatory seminaries in the country.<ref name="lasthsem">[12] Milwaukee Catholic Herald, 10/3/2002</ref> The school is located one block west of Water Tower Place.

The Archdiocese announced on September 19, 2006 that Quigley's doors will be shut at the end of this school year in June 2007.<ref name="qcloseletter">[13] Letter from Fr. Peter Snieg, 9/19/2006</ref><ref name="q06demo">[14] "Quigley families say church misses calling," Chicago Tribune, 9/26/2006</ref> The site will become home to the new archdiocesan Pastoral Center after 1 year of renovation, with a "Quigley Scholars" program being established to support priestly vocations among high school boys.

Quigley alumni have made significant contributions to the quality of life in America and beyond, and continue to make their mark within Catholicism in particular.

[edit] Noted alumni

p. i11</ref><ref name="tribrud2">[26] Chicago Tribune, 5/9/1966, p. b14</ref><ref name="tribrud3">[27] Chicago Tribune, 5/15/1967, p. b10</ref><ref name="tribrud4">[28] "Concerts and Recitals," Chicago Tribune, 5/19/1968, p. n16</ref> pianist, organist, composer, seminary professor

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

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