Chicago Prepares to Replace Columbus Statue with Tribute to Mother Cabrini

Chicago's progressives claim Columbus' scalp. What icon is not on the chopping block?

The Chicago Park District has announced that a statue to Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, will be placed in Arrigo Park after former Mayor Lori Lightfoot purged statues of explorer Christopher Columbus from Chicago's public spaces in 2020 to satisfy her extremist, left-wing "social justice" agenda.

The raising of the Mother Cabrini statue comes as part of a settlement after Chicago was sued by the city's Italian community for tearing down the Columbus statues without civic engagement.

The Mother Cabrini option won the most votes in an online search for notables to replace the Arrigo Park Columbus statue after a lawsuit by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans forced the city to make amends.

The Columbus statue that once stood in the park will be displayed in the upcoming Chicago Museum of Italian Immigration on Taylor Street to be operated by the committee.

However, not everyone is happy with the arrangement.

Lou Rago, the president of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago, called the deal nothing short of "cultural treason."

Rago said the deal to place the Columbus statue inside the museum "is not a return," but "a burial, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The statue will be hidden away indoors — out of public sight — as part of an undefined ‘museum-style’ exhibit," Rago said. "A sad final disposition of a statue of the heroic navigator whose voyages led to the introduction of Western European civilization and culture to a new world."

Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the selection process and also defended the permanent ban of statues to Columbus.

“When Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini came to Chicago in 1899, she didn’t just serve immigrant families, she built institutions that transformed lives," Johnson said in a statement. "She founded schools, orphanages, and hospitals that cared for Italian immigrants facing hardship, and she ensured that resources flowed back into the neighborhoods that needed them most. Her work reflects Chicago at its best: a city that rises by lifting others. This monument at Arrigo Park will honor her enduring legacy and all of the communities who continue to shape our city."

During a press conference, Johnson claimed the "process" to honor Cabrini was an "open" one after Italian American groups said they were shut out from having any influence in the process to replace the Columbus monument.

And the Chicago Park District also insisted they were engaging with the community.

"The Chicago Park District is committed to diversifying our statuary to ensure we are honoring Chicago’s rich history and diversity," Chicago Park District Superintendent Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said last May. "Throughout these processes, we will continue to engage Chicago’s diverse communities."

Despite these claims by the Park District and the mayor, Chicago's Italians say the process was not really all that "inclusive" at all.

Last year, Italian Americans were furious when the Park District said the idea of returning the Columbus statue was simply not an option.

The fact is, when the Park District announced its plan to have "dialog" with the community, the option to put the Columbus statue back where it belongs was summarily rejected and not even offered as an option. Further, activists say that when a poll was taken, the majority of the community voted to bring the Columbus statue back despite the Park District’s prohibition. But the Park District entirely ignored that poll result.

"When a city sets up a sweeping process, and the only permanent punishment falls on one ethnic community, that’s not principled governance. It’s selective punishment," said Salvatore Camarda, VP of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, before adding, "This was never about listening. It was about managing dissent until it could be ignored. Italian Americans saw through it. They wrote in Columbus anyway."

Nobody really denies Mother Cabrini is deserving of a statue in recognition of her wonderful works. But to have one raised to her at the expense of another famed individual is a disservice to her legacy and makes her life’s work just an “also ran” or a poor “compromise” instead of the tribute it should be.

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