Sharing Sacred Spaces: Old St. Patrick's Church

This year, religious and spiritual communities are coming together in partnership with the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) to visit one another’s Sacred Spaces, a program designed to engage religious diversity and widen participation in interreligious activity across the Chicago metropolitan area.

Overview: Beginning in October 2011 and continuing through May 2012, eight places of worship and practice in downtown Chicago will open their doors to extend hospitality to visitors from the general public. Through these visits to spaces where people pray, worship, engage in religious practices and celebrate life's events, visitors will be invited to listen, learn and connect with one another. This is more than a tour; it is an experience. Each community will have members available to talk about their tradition during the Sharing Sacred Spaces events. Visiting a variety of Sacred Spaces in this way is designed to deepen understanding of one another and lay groundwork for building a greater sense of community together.

At the end of the project, those who have visited and those who have hosted will gather in celebration of this time shared together. We will invite each community to consider, from their own tradition, what it would mean to be in solidarity with one another. Each participating community will be invited to sign a solidarity pledge. The pledge is intended to build bridges and strengthen bonds across traditions when a community is faced with religiously-motivated defamation or hatred. Standing in support of one another may bring these communities closer together as they move into the future.

It is envisioned that the Sharing Sacred Spaces initiative in Chicago will become a model program for other cities. Engagement with sacred spaces can be used as a vehicle to inspire individuals to build more diverse and vibrant communities.

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