It was almost destroyed in 1988, due to a bad financial situation and the movement to “update” church architecture. Thankfully, it was saved by a resourceful priest and with the help of Cardinal Francis George.

And now St. John Cantius church has been voted “America’s Most Beautiful Church”! Isn’t it amazing how fortunes can change?

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The contest was called Church Madness and held on the website Art & Liturgy, which is run by Patrick Murray. It started wth 16 churches, separated out into four sections that met in the middle like the annual NCAA tournament. Each match-up was determined by polls held on the website.

As you can see, Chicago’s St. John Cantius parish had some stiff competition. But it managed to barely eke out a win in the championship match-up: with a total of 16,363 votes cast, St. John Cantius won by only 181 votes.

If you can visit St. John Cantius parish, we recommend it! But if you can’t, our virtual tour below might be the next best thing. (The stranded pro-life students who sang beautiful chant at their Mass in a motel bar in January 2016 were from St. John Cantius parish.)

You can click on any image to view it full size. Enjoy!

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