Palos Hills church digs up a piece of history
By Carlos Morales, Tribune Staff Reporter.
Source: Chicago Tribune - Date: March 13, 2002

Officials with a church in Palos Hills have found what they believe is a time capsule buried in 1904 in the building they bought 15 years ago. Rev. Andrew Harrison of St. Luke the Evangelist Orthodox Church said Tuesday that a contractor working on a church expansion told him that a compartment area in the cornerstone had been found with a steel plate covering the opening.

Harrison said he was not sure how his parish would proceed in handling the discovery. "I would imagine we would contact the priest at Sacred Heart Church [the previous tenants], the mayor of Palos Hills, and the parish council," a 10-member body, Harrison said. He noted the church would consider using X-ray technology to determine if there is something within the stone.

A priest at Sacred Heart said his church would want to be a part of the discovery, if it is confirmed. "We'd like to have a formal opening," Rev. Richard Homa said. "We'd like to put something [from a capsule] in a display case we have at the church." Homa said his parish's first church was destroyed in a fire in 1903 and rebuilt in 1904, the date on the cornerstone. Sacred Heart Church relocated to the 8000 block of West 111th Street in 1972.

The Eastern Orthodox church on the 10000 block of Kean Avenue is adding space inside the church entrance and building a 10-room school next to the church. Harrison said the church's contractor told him the cornerstone is about 16 inches square, with an 8-inch-square steel plate next to the engraved 1904 date. The cornerstone also has Latin writing that Harrison could not decipher.

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