Chicago’s plans to uproot a church cemetery to expand O’Hare International Airport got a boost Thursday from a state appeals court, leaving opponents who claim moving it violates the 1st Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom with few options.
A dissent in a 3-1 decision by a panel of judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals did give them hope that they could raise the issue with the full court of appeals and even the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Chicago-based appellate court said the city was within its rights to relocate the 158-year-old St. Johannes Cemetery in Bensenville in order to make room for an additional runway, part of the $15 billion airport expansion project. “Over the years, Illinois has condemned cemeteries, both religious and otherwise, for a variety of public uses, such as highways,” the court stated.
The city will try to negotiate with the cemetery’s owner, St. John’s United Church of Christ, to buy the property, said Rosemarie Andolino, executive director of the O’Hare Modernization Project.
A purchase offer of $630,000 remains on the table, Andolino said. If the church refuses to sell, the city will seek to condemn the property, officials said.
Andolino said her office will “proceed with the utmost compassion, dignity” in its dealings with families of those buried in the cemetery in finding new resting places under standards set by the federal government.
But Joseph Karaganis, a lawyer for the church and the Village of Bensenville, said opponents plan to request a stay to prevent the moving of the cemetery and press ahead with the case.
