In an effort to raise money to restore the closed St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, 1850 N. Hermitage St., parishioners have formed a nonprofit corporation called the Marian Fund Ltd.
Granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service, the corporation`s purpose is to ”attract money that cannot be given directly to churches because of company bylaws,” said Eugene Urbaszewski, president of Marian Fund and the church restoration committee.
The group is trying to raise nearly $1.7 million for the first of three phases of the restoration of the 68-year-old Roman Catholic church, which was closed Jan. 3, 1988.
”The most critical is the water seepage at the base of the dome,”
Urbaszewski explained.
Parishioners have been in talks with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for 14 months regarding the restoration and its funding.
In a Dec. 5 letter, John Benware, archdiocesan chief financial officer, asked that $220,000 already donated for the restoration project be turned over to the archdiocese.
”It is our standard policy to maintain monies raised by a parish. The monies would be deposited, earmarked and available for use,” Benware said in the letter to Rev. Edwin Lapinski, pastor of the church.
But parishioners want to keep the money in their bank account.
”The parishioners have taken exception to the request because we feel money raised by the people to restore should stay right where it`s at,”
Urbaszewski said.
A Wednesday meeting between the two parties to discuss finances was postponed after they couldn`t agree on the number of representatives who would attend the meeting.
Since the fundraising began, parishioners have expressed fear that their money wouldn`t be used properly. The Marian Fund was established partly to ease those fears, but the recent request from the archdiocese has renewed the concerns.
”People are reluctant to give because they are not sure what will be done with their money,” Urbaszewski said. ”We have no guarantee that the church will be restored or reopened.”
About $1.2 million in cash is needed before restoration can begin on the $4.1 million project.
In the meantime, parishioners will continue to seek the approval of the archdiocese, hoping to stimulate more donations.
But Benware said, ”This is not a matter of approval.” Archdiocesan guidelines are intended to be helpful, he said.
”If we could just get the doors open,” Urbaszewski said, ”it would be a tremendous relief, probably a miracle.”
