Cabrini shrine reopens

Saint Frances Xavier shrine back in action in Chicago after a decade

Construction workers are seen outside the newly renovated National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini in January. CNS photo / Karen Callaway / Catholic New World.

Catholic News Agency reports that, after being closed for 10 years, the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago has reopened.

For a decade the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have worked to reopen the shrine, which is the former chapel of Columbus Hospital. Mother Cabrini founded Columbus Hospital in 1905, but the hospital was torn down in 2001 and the shrine closed in 2002.

Mother Cabrini, born in Italy, arrived in the U.S. in 1889. She went on to establish 67 institutions including hospitals, schools, and orphanages across North America and Latin America. She became the first U.S. citizen to be canonized and she is the patron saint of immigrants.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.