Our story
An Igbo-speaking Catholic community of the Archdiocese of Chicago, founded in 2008 and still growing in faith and in number.
The Igbo Catholic Community, Archdiocese of Chicago (ICCAC) brings together Catholics who came to America from the Igbo-speaking southeast of Nigeria, together with their children and everyone who wishes to pray with us.
We were established in 2008 as a not-for-profit organization to help our members keep and share their Catholic faith and their cultural heritage. Membership is open to all. We use the Igbo language in our Mass and our catechism, and since the beginning we have grown steadily, in spirit and in number.
Today we gather at Our Lady of Africa Parish in Bronzeville on the South Side, a parish formed in 2021 from five historic South Side parishes and home to several African Catholic communities. Our Igbo Mass is celebrated on the last two Sundays of every month. We are also a chapter of the Igbo Catholic Community USA.
Our chaplain
Prof. Fr. Stan Chu Ilo
A priest of Nigeria and professor at DePaul University, Fr. Stan has served as chaplain to the Igbo Catholic Community at Our Lady of Africa. He celebrates the Igbo Mass, guides our sacramental life and walks with families in joy and in grief.
Faith that sings
Our liturgy carries the sound of home: the ogene and the drums, hymns in Igbo, the offertory procession danced up the aisle. Come once and you will understand why our elders call it a homecoming.
Mass times