Fraternité Notre-Dame is a Traditional Catholic Order of Bishops, priests, Friars and Nuns. There is also a Third Order attached to them.
Contents |
The origins of Fraternité Notre-Dame lay in the apparitions of the Virgin Mary that were reported in Frechou, France.[1] They are led by Bishop Jean Marie Kozik, a Frenchman of Polish origin who was consecrated by Vietnamese Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.[1]
The general religious practices of followers of Fraternité Notre-Dame are in line with other Traditionalist Catholics.
Fraternité Notre-Dame operates religious and humanitarian missions on four continents. The church operates soup kitchens and weekly food pantries in Paris, New York, Ulan Bator and Chicago. Additionally a hospital for the poor has been opened in Mongolia and they have also operated humanitarian convoys to benefit those victimized by war in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda.[1]
In 2000, The movement opened its Mother House for North America in Chicago's Austin neighborhood in the former Gammon United Methodist Church, a structure built by noted Cleveland architect Sidney Badgley and featured in a number of books on Chicago architecture, notably "The AIA Guide to Chicago" by Alice Sinkevitch (Harvest Books 2004). Fraternité Notre-Dame uses the complex as a Novitiate/Seminary for religious friars and future priests, as well as a Novitiate for religious nuns out of the complex.
Since then Fraternité Notre-Dame nuns have become a fixture at numerous Chicago area farmer's markets selling traditional French pastries to raise funds for the group.[2]
The church has faced controversies since entering the Chicago area with the opening of its mother house in a former Methodist Church in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago in 2000.
A religious retreat operated by Fraternité Notre-Dame in suburban Marengo was vandalized in 2006.[3] Many neighbors were reportedly opposed by the presence of a religious complex in their area.[4] Racial epithets and slurs had been spray-painted on the statues including the words "KKK", "Leave" and "go away", while the face of the Virgin Mary was blackened.[5]
The order found itself in the news again as one of its members, Sister Marie Marot was charged in a car accident at the intersection of Randall Road and Illinois Route 72 on October 7, 2007.[6] The prosecution had contended that the Fraternite Notre Dame nun had run a red light which resulted in the death of 16 year-old Keith Forbes.[6] Sister Marot was found not guilty in May 2009.[6]