wfn.org | O'Hare Airport Expansion Threat to United Church of Christ Cemetary

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

O'Hare Expansion Opponents Decry Possible Loss Of Cemetery

Mon, 02 Feb '09

Court Case Seeks To Stop Destruction Of 160-Year-Old Cemetery

More than 150 family members of people buried in St. Johannes 
Cemetery, located next to Chicago O'Hare Airport, have filed a 
petition to stop the City of Chicago from removing those graves to 
make way for new runways and terminals at O'Hare.

The cemetery has been at the center of the O'Hare extension 
controversy since 2005, with opponents deeming the 160-year-old 
burial ground sacrosanct. Religious experts and lawyers have also 
weighed in on the matter, saying the ruling could have widespread 
implications for religious rights and religious freedom across the 
United States.

"St. Johannes is an active cemetery, and destroying it not only 
desecrates holy ground but also affronts the religious beliefs of the 
people buried there and their living family members," says Rev. 
Michael M. Kirchhoff, Sr. "Should it come to pass, this act would be 
nothing more than state-approved and state-sponsored religious 
desecration by Chicago."

The petition, filed last week in DuPage County Circuit Court, asserts 
the destruction of St. Johannes constitutes a violation of the 
Illinois Religious and Restoration Act and notes that "petitioners 
have a central religious belief that the graves of those departed and 
buried in the consecrated ground of St. Johannes must remain 
inviolate and undisturbed." At issue is the assertion made in an 
earlier Seventh Circuit Court decision that Chicago could seize St. 
Johannes because the city's motive is "secular."

"In other words, if Chicago prevails in this case, municipal, state 
and even the federal government anywhere in this country can seize 
and destroy any church, synagogue, mosque or other religious 
structure to pursue a government project, as long as the motive has 
nothing to do with religion," says Joe Karaganis, attorney for St 
John's Church of Christ. "This is like saying the government of the 
District of Columbia could pave over the Washington National 
Cathedral to make way for a public parking lot."

The petitioners also accuse Chicago of abusing its power and "seeking 
to unlawfully take more land than is necessary by concocting a second 
fictional development which Chicago has no realistic or reasonable 
likelihood of every constructing."

The City of Chicago seeks to seize St. Johannes through eminent 
domain for the O'Hare Modernization Program, a $20 billion expansion 
project. Members of the group Stop-OMP maintain the plan is 
ill-advised... a contention backed up by several airlines serving 
O'Hare, which have also questioned the wisdom of proceeding with the 
ambitious project.

As ANN reported, opponents note Chicago has yet to secure funding for 
the project... and the airlines have said they will not pay for it.

"I am horrified to think that my relatives and forbearers cannot rest 
in peace, even though everyone knows that the O'Hare expansion cannot 
possibly go forward," says John Geils, president of the Village of 
Bensenville, IL. "Given that Chicago will never build the overall 
project, Chicago's claims that it must destroy this sacred religious 
cemetery are a cruel hoax. The city's actions are deplorable and show 
us a side of Chicago political greed that's even uglier than what we imagined."

St. Johannes Cemetery holds the bodies of more than 1,300 members of 
St. John's United Church of Christ and their relatives. Multiple 
generations of families are buried at St. Johannes, and many living 
members of the St. John's congregation plan to be buried there as well.