The Chicago Province dates back to 1865, when French-Canadian leaders south of Chicago invited Viatorians from the Province of Canada to Bourbonnais, Illinois. They were asked to take charge of Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church and to direct a boys' school. Thus, Fr. Pierre Beaudoin, CSV, Bro. Augustin Martel, CSV, and Bro. Jean-Baptiste Bernard, CSV, came to the United States, and MBVM became the Viatorians’ first permanent ministry here.
In 1882, as the membership and ministries of the Viatorians grew, the congregation established the Province of Chicago with Fr. Cyril Fournier, CSV, as the first Provincial Superior. We founded St. Viator Parish in Chicago in 1888 and relocated our novitiate to the city. We continue in Chicago today as co-sponsors of Catholic Theological Union, the seminary where Pope Leo XIV visited and where many Viatorians have studied and taught.
The Viatorians continued to minister in the Bourbonnais region, where they established and ran St. Viator College from 1868 to 1938, and played various roles in local Catholic schools. In addition to MBVM, they continue to be the pastors of St. George and St. Patrick, and in 2025, they added Sacred Heart Church, a small parish in a very poor rural community reminiscent of Vourles.
In the 1950s, the Viatorians purchased farmland in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The building there was originally the novitiate and later became the Province Center, with our community chapel, administrative offices, and retirement community. This land was then subdivided to create the campus for Saint Viator High School, which we founded in 1961.
Still in the 1950s, the Viatorians were invited to the Las Vegas area to establish a school. We founded Bishop Gorman High School and administered it for nearly 50 years. We were also asked to establish a parish, and we founded the St. Viator Catholic Community and Parish School, which we continue to run today. Additionally, we previously built and served as rectors of Guardian Angel Shrine, which became Guardian Angel Cathedral, and as pastors of the St. Thomas More Catholic Community in Henderson, NV, a large, thriving archdiocesan parish.
As the Church encouraged religious communities to send members to developing countries, Fr. John Stafford, CSV, Provincial, sent three Viatorians to establish Colegio San Viator in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1961. The Colombia Foundation grew to foster religious vocations among Colombian men and associate vocations among laypeople. In 2017, the Viatorians established a second Colegio San Viator in Tunja, and in recent years, we have built a new church for the parish of the same name, Parroquia San Viator in Bogotá.
In modern times, the Chicago Province adopted lay association, beginning in 1999. Additionally, the Viatorians became involved with the Cristo Rey High School network, which serves economically limited families with a rigorous Catholic education and corporate work-study experience to prepare them for professional careers. In 2004, the Viatorians assisted a group that founded Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, Illinois, where we continue as a sponsoring religious community. In 2019, we established Cristo Rey St. Viator College Prep in North Las Vegas, Nevada, which we continue to lead today.
Furthermore, our commitment to reading the signs of the times and walking closely with those whom society considers of little importance has led the Viatorians to accompany persons in migration. In addition to numerous forms of activism, advocacy, and service, two of our members founded Viator House of Hospitality in 2017, a residential program for young men seeking asylum in the United States.
Today, Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, serves as Provincial Superior. He is assisted by Fr. Richard Rinn, CSV, Assistant Provincial, and counselors Br. Michael Gosch, CSV, Fr. Edgar Suarez, CSV, and Fr. Thomas von Behren, CSV.
