Photos

Catholics gather across the archdiocese to mark Holy Week

Each Holy Week and Easter, parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago mark this most sacred time by taking part in various liturgies and devotions. Here are a few from 2026. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

University of St. Mary of the Lake archives hold treasures of church history

Samantha Lynn Seay, director of the Feehan Memorial Library and McEssy Theological Resource Center, shows off artifacts from the archives on March 26, 2025, at the Feehan Memorial Library on the campus of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. The archives include handwritten letters by saints, an early copy of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica and the chair St. John Paul II sat in during the Mass in Grant Park in 1979. Some of the artifacts are on display in the library's museum. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Students assemble prosthetic hands for people in need

Students at Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts, 1439 W. Wellington Ave., take part in a service project making prosthetic hands for children in need throughout the world with the nonprofit Helping Hands on April 16, 2026. Students from St. Malachy and St. Ann schools also took part in the event. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Archdiocese gathers students for annual pinwheel planting

Students from Annunciata, St. Agnes of Bohemia, St. Patricia and St. Therese Schools joined student leaders from Ignatius College Prep for the Archdiocese of Chicago's 15th Annual Prayer Service for Child Abuse Prevention and Pinwheels Planting on April 17, 2026. The annual event takes place at the Healing Garden at Holy Family Parish, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago. The Healing Garden is a place dedicated to the healing, recovery and reconciliation of child abuse victims and their families and the larger Catholic Church community. It has served as the site where the community comes together each spring to recognize April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Nazareth Academy students dive into roots of immigration

Nazareth Academy students lead a panel discussion with Sisters of St. Joseph who have worked with immigrant communities on March 26, 2026, in La Grange Park. The panel is part of a Lenten project in cooperation with the La Grange's sister schools in Cleveland and Baton Rouge to explore immigration and the experience of immigrants in this country. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

St. Frances of Rome students prepare for Easter through Tenebrae service

Fourth through eighth graders at St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero take part in a Tenebrae service on April 1, 2026. A devotion that takes place in a darkened church usually on the evening of Wednesday of Holy Week, the name “Tenebrae” is taken from the Latin word meaning “shadows” or “darkness.” It is traditionally celebrated on Spy Wednesday for when Judas made a bargain with the high priests to betray Jesus. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Holy oils blessed, priests renew promises at chrism Mass

Cardinal Cupich was the main celebrant during the chrism Mass at Holy Name Cathedral on March 31, 2026. Three oils are blessed by the cardinal each year during Holy Week. Chrism is used in baptismal anointing, confirmation, priestly and episcopal ordinations, and during the dedication of churches. The other holy oils are used in the anointing of the sick and for catechumens. Priests from the Archdiocese of Chicago also joined Cardinal Cupich in renewing their vows. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Chicago new twin city for home of St. Rita of Cascia

Parishioners of St. Rita of Cascia Parish, 6243 S. Fairfield Ave., welcomed a delegation from Cascia, Italy, for Mass on March 14, 2026, to celebrate Chicago being selected as a twin city for the torch of Forgiveness and Peace. Every year since 1958, the city of Cascia, the birth and resting place of St. Rita of Cascia, chooses a city with a devotion to the saint to visit and share the lighting of the torch. The delegation was also scheduled to celebrate Mass with Cardinal Cupich during its five-day visit, visit Pope Leo's hometown of Dolton, Illinois, visit the National Shrine of St. Frances Cabrini and visit Chicago’s City Council. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Notre Dame College Prep students shave their heads for a cause

Students and families at Notre Dame College Prep in Niles had their heads shaved as part of a St. Baldrick's Day event on March 13, 2026. The school raised over $11,000 as they joined other schools and parishes around the archdiocese for the annual event usually around St. Patrick’s Day to raise money for pediatric cancer research. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Childhood classmates from the United States reunite with Pope Leo

Pope Leo XIV meets with former classmates who graduated from the lower school of St. Mary of the Assumption in Chicago in 1969 after the general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 18, 2026. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
1 2 3 4 5 >

Advertising