Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church

The Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church is located at 4440 Russell Street in Detroit, Michigan, in the Forest Park neighborhood on the city's central East side. The Gothic Revival cathedral styled church is the largest of the Roman Catholic churches in the City of Detroit. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It, along with St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church, 0.4 miles east on East Canfield Street, and St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church, 0.3 miles west at East Canfield Street and Chrysler Drive, served the large Polish community through most of the twentieth century. In a diocesan reorganization instituted by Archbishop Allen Vigneron in 2013, Sweetest Heart of Mary joined with St. Josephat to form Mother of Divine Mercy Parish.

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 parish, 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 Kolasinski became pastor of St. Albertus. Kolasinski and organized the parish to construct the present St. Albertus Church, which was dedicated in 1885. In November 1885, the parish became factionalized and Kolasinski was reassigned. When Reverend John Foley became the new Bishop of Detroit in 1888, Kolasinski returned to the city and began the Parish of the Sweetest Heart of Mary outside the jurisdiction of the Detroit Diocese. Shortly afterward, the congregation added the school structure on Canfield, which still stands behind the church.

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