St. Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church
Under the request of the wealthy Irish Catholics of the Uptown neighborhood, Archbishop George W. Mundelein established St. Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church on March 4, 1916. Its demographic would shift over time, however, and St. Thomas would go on to support the burgeoning population of Hispanic and Southeast Asian immigrants in the area. The diversity of the parish would go on to become one of its defining characteristics as the “church that spoke five languages.”
Dedicated to Service
Alongside the diversity of the parish community, St. Thomas also has offered a variety of social and community services to the wider Uptown neighborhood. Throughout its history, the parish has had a rotation of over a half dozen priests who have attended to the needs of the community in many ways. For nearly half a century, the parish has offered both a food pantry and a soup kitchen that serves both church members and community alike.
In the summer of 2020, St. Thomas merged with St. Gregory and St. Ita to form Mary, Mother of God Parish. Yet even in this merger, St. Thomas remains the new parish’s service center as the ongoing home of its food pantry and kitchen.