This is one of the largest and most impressive Gothic Revival churches that you will find in the Midwest, perhaps in the United States. This parish was founded and rooted in the immense conflict that the Catholic Church had with the assimilation of Poles. Indeed, a separate Polish Catholic Church was founded by Polish immigrants to escape the dominance of the Catholic hierarchy that, in the late 19th century, included few Poles.
The first Poles arrived in Detroit just before the Civil War. They attended St. Joseph's Church, now located at Jay and Orleans, but they did not appreciate this arrangement. They wanted priests who spoke Polish, not German. The diocese, apparently with considerable reluctance, approved a Polish parish in 1871—St. Albertus. The Reverend Simon Wieczorek had been coming down from Port Huron from time to time to serve the needs of Detroit's growing Polish population, so he was selected as pastor. Shortly thereafter, a young but very dynamic priest from Krakow, Dominick Kolasinski was chosen to serve as pastor. Father Kolasinski built a large following and effectively raised funds for church buildings, but in 1888, Bishop Burgess fired him, perhaps because of insubordination or because of his reluctance to surrender parish funds to the diocese.
Realizing his popularity with his parishioners, Father Kolasinski formed his own parish, Sweetest Heart of Mary. Bishop Burgess excommunicated him for doing this, but Father Kolasinski continued to raise funds, and in 1890, began constructing what would become the largest Catholic Church in Michigan—larger that any of the church ruled by Bishop Burgess. It is a cruciform structure of red brick with a cross gabled roof. The entrance along Russell includes a rusticated stone lower level with a triple portal, a pointed arch structure and then topped with a stone balustrade. Note all spires are identical. The soaring towers of Sweetest Heart of Mary are visible from many points northwest of downtown Detroit. These twin spires are capped with buttresses and detailed with crosses. There are three related building comprising this local historic district—a large rectory, a convent that could house several dozen nuns and a large school building.
The stained glass windows are as impressive as the church itself. The major transept window shows the Holy Family at work in Joseph's workshop. There are eight nave windows portraying Christ, Mary and several saints. These windows won a major prize at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. There is an Austin electric organ—the oldest surviving electric organ in the state of Michigan. Sweetest Heart of Mary remains the largest Catholic Church in Detroit.
Followers of Father Kolasinski apparently bitterly contested the Poles at St. Albertus about who were the true Roman Catholics in Detroit. Apparently, there were several marches to the Bishop's residence to demand that he act as litigator in the civil courts. The conflicts apparently led to two shooting deaths between 1985 and 1891. Father Kolasinski, in the mid-1890s, sought to reconcile himself and his large and prosperous parish with the Catholic diocese. Apparently he was reinstated in 1897.
Book: Polish Detroit and the Kolasinski Affair,
by Lawrence Orson. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981
Web Site: www.sweetestheartofmary.org (In both Polish and English)
Architects: Frederick Spire and William Roans
Builder: The Detroit firm of Rogers, Smith, McDonald and Price.
Date of Completion: 1893
Stained Glass Windows: Detroit Glass Works
Organ: Austin
Michigan Registry of Historic Sites: P4496, Listed: July 26, 1974
Michigan Historical Marker: Erected: April 1, 1981. This is visible at the front
of the church along Russell.
Michigan Local Historic District: Established: September 23, 1981
National Registry of Historic Sites: Listed: January 31, 1978
Photo: Ran Farley, October 2002
Use in 2002: Catholic Church.