CHICAGO — Taking a page from the pope’s playbook, incoming Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich will forgo the historic Gold Coast mansion that has housed the city’s archbishops for more than a century, opting for more modest digs inside the rectory of Holy Name Cathedral.

While Cupich will continue using the mansion to host guests for at least another year, Roman Catholic Church officials say that he will move into a 945-square-foot apartment and will establish a committee to study how the property can best serve the mission of the archdiocese.

Cupich, who inspected the apartment for the first time in September, has said he didn’t want to be rushed into a decision about whether to live in the grand mansion overlooking Lincoln Park.

“Wherever I live, I want to have a place where I can get some rest and feel the support of people who are around me,” he said.

“It is a lovely place, and I really want to honor that,” he said. “At the same time, I would have to say I’m going to take my time to make that decision. I’m going to see where I can be most effective.”

Many wondered if he would take his cue from Pope Francis, who after his selection last year chose to live in the Vatican’s guesthouse for visiting clergy instead of the Apostolic Palace, or pontifical household. In fact, Cupich already lives in a small apartment at the seminary of the Spokane, Wash., diocese, which he has led since 2010.

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The move ends more than a century of tradition, which is not always viewed favorably in a city of neighborhoods like Chicago.

Cardinal Francis George learned as much when he proposed selling the house to finance Catholic schools in 2002. Because the home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and included in the Astor Street historic district, George said the lot would have been difficult to redevelop and therefore wouldn’t have fetched enough money to make a sale worthwhile. He has since found the residence useful.

“This is like the White House,” George said this week. “It’s a public office. You have to have receptions. The pope hasn’t sold the papal palace.”

Still, finding alternative uses for the house is “worth talking about,” George said.

The cardinal’s neighbors include the Chicago History Museum as well as the Latin School of Chicago, one of the city’s elite private academies; the Moody Church, a historic evangelical Protestant church; and an enclave of trendy bars and restaurants.


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