Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church - History

History

The rise of Detroit brought in many Polish Immigrants into the city in the 19th century; by the mid-1850s, the number of Polish families who had settled in the city was significant. These Émigrés from Poland first attended St. Joseph's, which was at the time a German-speaking church. However, the Polish congregants were dissatisfied, and agitated for a Polish church. In 1871, three hundred or so Polish families organized St. Albertus Parish and built a frame church at St. Aubin and Canfield Avenue. In 1882, the charismatic Father Dominic Hippolytus Kolasiñski became pastor of St. Albertus. Father Kolasiñski organized the parish to construct the present St. Albertus Church, which was dedicated in 1885. In November 1885, the parish became factionalized; Father Kolasiñski was reassigned. When a new bishop of Detroit was appointed in 1888, Father Kolasiñski returned to the Detroit and began the Parish of the Sweetest Heart of Mary outside the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church. Shortly afterward, the church school on Canfield was built; it still stands today behind the main church.

Kolasiñski negotiated to bring his flock, numbering nearly 4,000 families, into the fold of the Catholic Church. The depression of the 1890s hit the parish hard. Parish members secured a loan in order to keep the building. Eventually, Rome directed the bishop of Detroit to make peace with Kolasiñski, and on February 18, 1894, the congregation of the Sweetest Heart of Mary was officially received into the Diocese of Detroit.

Father Kolasiñski died in 1898. He was temporarily succeeded by the Kashubian priest Rev. Jan Romuald Byzewski OFM, previously pastor of Detroit's Saint Francis of Assisi Parish. When Father Byzewski rejoined the Franciscan Order in 1899, he was succeeded by the assistant, Rev. Joseph Folta, who served as pastor until 1919. Father Folta built a second school, constructed a permanent rectory, and built an ornamental fence about the church. Folta was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Casimir Plagens, who served at Sweetest Heart from 1919 until 1935, and later became Bishop of Marquette and then Bishop of Grand Rapids. Plagens added embellishments the church interior and built a permanent convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph, who staffed the church school.

During Father Plagens's tenure, the parish flourished. The church schools were filled with almost 1,500 pupils, and the church was the social as well as spiritual center of the community. Over time, with shifting demographics, membership waned. This trend accelerated through the tenures of the next three pastors: Monsignor Michael Grupa (1935 to 1949), Rev. Adam Koprowski (1949 to 1959), and Rev. Boguslaus Poznañski (1959 to 1976). During the 1960s, the congregation numbers fell. Membership waned in the early 1970s.

In 1976, Rev. Bohdan Kosicki, joined Sweetest Heart and began a building restoration and implemented a plan which revived church membership. He reached out and established ties to earlier parishioners, raising funds for the restoration. Sweetest Heart of Mary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It received state historic designation in 1974, and city of Detroit designation in 1981. A state of Michigan historical marker was also erected in 1981. The stained glass windows and organ were restored, and much of the main altar was renovated. In addition, the convent and fencing was restored, the second school building was demolished, and the historic old school building was stabilized. Kosicki's work was carried on through the tenure of Rev. Alphons Gorecki, who served from 1981 through 2002. The interior was completely refurbished, including plasterwork and statues. The electrical wiring was replaced.

From 2002 until early 2010, Fr. Mark A. Borkowski was pastor and continued the restoration and revival of Sweetest Heart of Mary. During this period the Annual Pierogi Festival greatly expanded to become the largest religious festival in the City of Detroit.

Effective July 1, 2011, Fr. Darrell Roman was appointed the new Pastor. He will also be the Administrator for the other two churches in the cluster, St. Joseph, and St. Josaphat.