Organizacja duszpasterstwa w języku polskim w Archidiecezji Chicago

In this article, the author presents the organization of pastoral care for Poles who live in the area of the Archdiocese of Chicago. This area is the largest concentration of Polish diaspora in the United States and in the world. The article examines the origins of the Polish settlement in the city of Chicago itself and the surrounding area with a particular focus on the mass emigration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was exactly the emigration from that particular period that made Chicago the largest Poles community in the world. The article presents the beginnings of the creation of pastoral structures and their rapid development with the influx of Polish emigrants reflected in the establishment of numerous ethnic parishes. The second part outlines the changes associated with the movements of the Polish population and their leaving the so-called “Polish districts”, which contributed to the need to change pastoral structures that proved inadequate. The article presents the structures of Polish-speaking pastoral ministry currently in place in the archdiocese, which is based primarily on multicultural parishes. The latest statistics related to the attendance of the congregation at Sunday Mass and the latest initiatives, challenges and perspectives for this ministry are also presented.