Why Church of the Holy Cross matters to its neighborhood

In the Holy Cross neighborhood on Indianapolis’s Near Eastside, a building has become the battleground for more than bricks and mortar.

It is the locus of a collision between institutional authority and community memory. The question is this: Which side is imagining the future, and which is clinging to old privilege?

The Church of the Holy Cross, constructed in the early 20th century, has stood as a landmark for generations. Its 136-foot bell tower remains one of its most distinctive features. Over time, however, the congregation declined from more than 1,000 families at its peak to fewer than 200 before it was merged into St. Philip Neri Parish in 2014. The last Mass was held in 2016, and since then the building has sat unused, its future largely left to speculation. Letter to the edit