From their plane windows, people traveling to and from Chicago may notice the shape of a cross in a field outside the city. This cross is made entirely of rows of solar panels that help power a Catholic seminary.
“The shape of it is really something I think is special,” says Father John Kartje, the rector and president of Mundelein Seminary at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake.
He says the 300-kilowatt array, which went online in December, is the first solar installation at a U.S. Catholic seminary.
The project is saving the seminary money on electricity bills. And Kartje says it represents the environmental stewardship that’s central to Catholic teaching.
