While conducting missionary work in Texas, Father James Tort CMF was told by Mexican Catholics about an influx of Mexican immigration to South Chicago to work in the steel mills. With permission from the Provincial Superior, Father Tort traveled to South Chicago to perform missionary work among the Mexican steelworkers. This work then led to the establishment of the first Mexican Catholic parish in Chicago, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, of which the Claretians assumed ministry of. Throughout the following years, the Claretians were invited by the Archdiocese to Saint Francis of Assisi in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, out of which grew Immaculate Heart of Mary Vicariate.
This collection is arranged by parish.