St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church
| St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
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| Basic information | |
| Location | 715 East Canfield Street Detroit, Michigan |
| Geographic coordinates | 42°21′21″N 83°3′10″W / 42.35583°N 83.05278°W |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Country | United States of America |
| Year consecrated | 1901 |
| Leadership | Fr. Gregory Tokarski |
| Website | www |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Joseph G. Kastler, William E. N. Hunter |
| Architectural type | church |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival |
| Completed | 1901 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 1,100 |
| Length | 132 feet (40 m) |
| Width | 56 feet (17 m) |
| Height (max) | 200 feet (61 m) |
| Materials |
brick, limestone |
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St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church
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| Built | 1901 |
| NRHP Reference # | 82000555 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1982 |
| Designated MSHS | 1985 |
brick, limestone
St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church located at 715 East Canfield Street in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1985. Since 2013, it has been one of two churches that comprise Mother of Divine Mercy Parish.
In 1889, the Polish community of St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church was outgrowing the capacity of the church, and the parish of St. Josaphat was started on June first to serve the burgeoning community. The church is named after St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a Greek Catholic priest, who became archbishop of Polotsk, Poland (now Belarus) in 1617. He was martyred in 1623 and canonized in 1867, thus it is likely that this parish, founded only 22 years later, was among the first to bear his name.
The church was located on Canfield not far west of the Sweetest Heart Of Mary Roman Catholic Church. It is possible that the choice of location was intended to compete with Sweetest Heart, which was at the time a Polish Catholic church unsanctioned by the diocese. On February 2, 1890, parishioners dedicated the first building of St. Josaphat, a combination church and school. However, in the next decade, the church grew to over 1,000 families under the leadership of Father Razadkowski. In response, Razadkowski raised funds to build the current church. The structure opened in 1901, along with a rectory and janitor’s home. A school was built in the 1920s.
By 1960, the Polish community that had once attended the church had scattered to the suburbs. The school was closed and demolished, and St. Josaphat struggled with dwindling membership and the upkeep of the aging church. However, the parish began a building rehabilitation program, and it continues to serve the Polish community.
In 2004, St. Josaphat became the home for the Archdiocese of Detroit's first regular celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass since the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council. Attendance at weekend Masses has significantly increased as people from all over southeastern Michigan travel to St. Josaphat for this liturgy. St. Josaphat has also developed a choir and music program to accompany the Tridentine Mass. Since Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 widened permission for the 1962 form to be used as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, St. Josaphat has added weekday and Holy Day Masses and special events for its Latin Mass Community.
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