The History of Holy Cross

as Appears in the 2004 Parish Directory

 

Holy Cross was established in 1913 by immigrants from Slovenia as their own ethnic parish. Father Kazimir Zakrajsek, a Slovenian Franciscan priest in New York, greatly assisted Slovenian settlers in Bridgeport in their quest for their own parish. He succeeded  in finding a priest, Father Michael Golob, who accepted the difficult task of organizing the new community. Moreover, Father Zakrajsek, helped by Father Komara, pastor of St. John Slovak parish in Bridgeport, won diocesan approval for an independent Slovenian parish. Father Michael Golob was appointed the first pastor. Under his leadership the parishioners built their first church in 1915 at 450 Pine Street in Bridgeport.

Heavy immigration which preceded World War I was drastically reduced after the end of the war. So it happened that the parish soon experienced a decline in its membership. The very few newcomers could not offset the losses. The natural process of aging and dying took its share in the decline. Moreover, many of the younger generation soon moved to suburbs and joined parishes in their neighborhood. Father Golob, who for a short time served in a Slovak parish, was able to attract Slovak people living in the West End, thus increasing the number of his parishioners. At his request the Bishop appointed Father Stephen Vitka, a young priest of Slovak descent, to help him in the extended pastoral duties. After the death of Father Golob, Father Vitka served for several months as administrator of the parish, until the appointment of Father Andrew Farkas as the second pastor of Holy Cross in 1951.

In the fifties Father Farkas succeeded in reversing the numerical decline in the parish membership by bringing to Bridgeport many new Slovenian and Croatian immigrants. These were for the most part refugees from the Communist dominated government in their native land. It was however a short-lived success, for already in the early sixties the situation became worse as the drop in parish membership averaged ten percent each year.

At that point the difficulties of the parish seemed to accumulate. A new four-lane highway cut through the area immediately adjacent to the church. In 1964 the Bridgeport Urban Renewal Agency accepted a plan by which the entire West End would be rezoned from residential into light industrial. The result was that the parishioners resettled over a wide area of the city and neighboring towns. The church was scheduled to be taken over by the redevelopment and demolished. Added to all these unresolved difficulties was the sudden death of Father Farkas. He died in January 1967 in an automobile accident.

After the death of Father Farkas, Father Aloysius Hribsek was appointed administrator of the parishand in 1969, was appointed the third pastor. Seeing the decline in parish membership, Father Hribsek put several policies into place to aid in increasing membership such as reviving the parish societies and organizing the Parish Council as

well as initiating several youth activities and at the same time strengthening the chances that the parish would be allowed to relocate. To further solidify the increase in parish membership, Father Hribsek changed the late mass to include both Slovenian and English in the service. Finally in 1970, the negotiations between the Diocese and the City ended, with the Condemnation Court deciding the value of the three Catholic churches. Now the members of Holy Cross had to wait and see if they would be allowed to relocate their parish or if it would cease to exist. With Bishop Curtis relying upon the wishes of the parishioners to guide him, the members of Holy Cross voted overwhelmingly to continue as a parish, no matter where it would be relocated.

At the time, the Diocese held title to land at the corner of Tahmore Drive and Morehouse Highway in Fairfield, which was offered for sale to the parish. It was here that the new church was dedicated on November 26, 1972, after several years of perseverance as the parishioners worked diligently to achieve their goal and still their hard work would have been for naught if not for the untiring devotion and leadership of their new pastor. In its new location, membership gradually increased with new members coming from the surrounding neighborhood, though non-Slovenian, they easily assimilated into the parish life. As membership increased, especially that of young families, the need for additional space became quite apparent. The number of children attending CCD classes began to increase, as did the attendance at social functions. Therefore, plans for an addition were put into place and in May 1981, the new Parish Center was dedicated. With the larger facilities and the increased attendance it was determined that a Pastoral Assistant would be needed and in 1982, Sister Anna Marie Curran was hired as Director of Religious Education. The addition also made it possible for the Holy Cross Nursery School to take root and flourish. With the parish becoming more and more a part of its new community Deacon Kevin Moore was assigned to it in 1985 to assist with the religious duties. In 1989, forty years after his ordination, Father Hribsek, decided the time has come to put in for retirement. In February, 1992, Father Hribsek was granted retirement and the third pastor of Holy Cross departed.

After the retirement of Father Hribsek, Father George Karcsinski was appointed as administrator of the parish. Father George was familiar with the parish as he had been a visiting priest and a guest of the parish on a number of occasions. In August of that year, Father Milan Dimic came to Holy Cross after the Diocese made a request to the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a young priest to minister to the Slovenian members of the parish in their language as well as serving the American community. Father Karcsinski remained as administrator through 1994 when he requested a leave due to health problems. In 1995, Father Louis Dytkowski was appointed as administrator and remained so until April 1999. Upon his departure, Father Milan Dimic was appointed as administrator and remained in that position until June 29, 2003.

On June 29, 2003, Father Kevin Fitzpatrick was appointedpastor of the parish. In November of 2003, the Diocese made the decision to relocate Saint Catherine’s Academy to Holy Cross in an attempt to provide more space for the Academy and to help Holy Cross in its financial burdens. In June of 2004, Holy Cross Nursery School closed its doors for the last time, and planning was started for the construction that would be necessary to move Saint Catherine’s to Holy Cross. St. Catherine’s Academy will provide not only needed income for the parish, but Holy Cross will be able to help promote the Academy’s pro-life work of aiding special-needs children, who are among God’s most helpless.

In September, 2004, Mr. David Thomas, formally organist and choirmaster at St. Aloysius parish in New Canaan, started working at Holy Cross.  Within a few months, Holy Cross had a 19-voice choir, singing everything from Gregorian chant to Mozart to American and Slovene hymns.

The choir, the Polka dinner dances, liturgical traditions like the Corpus Christi and Holy Saturday processions, the picnic with its traditional Slovene food, and other events will help to maintain the unique Slovene heritage of Holy Cross while welcoming all Catholics.