R.C. SLOVENIAN
CHURCH
1913-1969
by: Edward Kump
February 1969
This volume has been prepared to perpetuate in a
fitting manner the history of the founding, growth, problems and prosperity of the little church of the Holy Cross. Which is the only Roman Catholic church in New England dedicated to the interests of
Slovenian-speaking Catholics. I have endeavored
to portray in a way which would be both informative and interesting, the story
of not only a parish, but of a people – the Slovenians.
I have divided the
main portion of “THE HISTORY of HOLY CROSS R. C. SLOVENIAN CHURCH” into
three parts. The first period (1915-1950)
deals the administration of the church's founder, the Rev. Michael J. Golob. The second deals with the administrations of Rev. Stephen VitKa and Rev. Andrew Farkas, (1950-1967). The third period, "At the Crossroads" deals
with the parish today under the
administration of Rev. Aloysius Hribsek.
It is my great
pleasure to present to you –
THE HISTORY of HOLY CROSS R.
C. SLOVENIAN CHURCH.
E. R.K.
IN THE BEGINNING (1913-1915)
CHAPTER ONE
Before I start on the actual history of Holy Cross I
feel that some background information is necessary on the people who built it.
The Slovenians are one of the four nationalities
which make up Yugoslavia, a country which owes its existence to the ideas and
efforts of former President Woodrow Wilson. It was created at the end of World
War I as a common home of several minor Southern Slavic nationalities. The
other three nationalities are the Croatians, Serbians and Macedonians.
Slovenians and Croatians are mostly
Catholics.
Slovenia; a state which for its size, population,
progressiveness, and industrialization could well be compared to Connecticut;
is in the northernmost part of Yugoslavia. Before the creation of Yugoslavia,
Slovenia was a part of Austria-Hungary. Most of the territory was under
Austrian administration and German influence only a small part belonged to
Hungary.
It was from this small part of Slovenia, actually
from a half dozen villages and towns, that the immigrants began moving to
Bridgeport by the hundreds. They all spoke Hungarian and many attended St.
Stephen's Catholic Church, a Hungarian church, before the arrival of a
Slovenian priest on January 26, 1913,
by the name of the Rev. Michael J. Golob.
These Slovenians were known for their faithfulness
to two tenets of their individuality: faith and language. Although their
territory was under Hungarian domination for more than a thousand years and
some Slovenians had become Magyarized most still retained their Slovenian
language and name. Further, their outstanding leaders are always Catholic
priests.
In Bridgeport there was felt to be a need for a
church where Slovenians might worship in their own tongue and in 1913 Father
Golob was sent to Bridgeport to aid in the organization of such a church. Father Golob,
a native of Yugoslavia, came to this country in 1911, and served as a curate at
St. Nichloas German Catholic Church in New York City before being sent to
Bridgeport as assistant to the Rev. Andrew Komara, late pastor of St. John
Nep. Church.
On June 13, 1913, the parish was organized under the
authority organized of the
Most Rev. John J. Nilan, Bishop of the Hartford Diocese. For the next two years
Father Golob celebrated Mass in the basement of St. Anthony’s Church.
A building fund was raised among the
several hundred Slovenians of the West End, a plot of ground was acquired on
Pine Street, and permission was soon received from Bishop Nilan for the
erection of a wooden church building. Ground was broken for the church on June
14, 1915, and on August 1 the cornerstone was laid.
The church was completed and
dedicated November 28, 1915. Msgr. Thomas S. Dugan, vicar-general of the
Hartford Diocese, presided at the dedication, and the West End was crowded for
several blocks as Roman Catholics from all over the city of Bridgeport came to
see the new church, and to congratulate the Slovenian pastor after he had said
his first Mass therein.
The committee of parishioners who
worked with Father Golob to organize the parish and erect the church included:
John Bakach, Frank Stefanec, Stephen Raducha, Andrew Mereicsnyak, Gabriel Srsa,
Matthias Kocet, Joseph Sobochan, Albert Gerletz, Stephen Virag, and Joseph
Lutar.
The church was of wooden frame
construction and of Romanesque design. Neil and O’Connell, of Boston, were the
architects, and the Thomas J. Pardy company, of Bridgeport, was the builder. Funds
were not then available for the decoration of the church according to the
tastes of the pastor and parishioners, so the decoration of the interior was
postponed until 1918, when the late John Gosar; of Buffalo, New York; painted
the very beautiful murals which now embellish the interior.
Gosar painted a reproduction of
Raphael’s “Disputa” above the altar, with a scene of Palm Sunday on the Gospel
side of the altar and a scene of the Ascension on the epistle side. Medallions
of the Twelve Apostles are painted above the church windows, and the side walls
are painted to depict the Fifteen Mysteries
of the Holy Rosary.
Many of the parishioners cherishing
memories of their home parishes in the “Old Country”, requested that some
inclusion be made of the patron saints of their former Slovenian churches. Thus
pictures of St. Ladislaus, of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and of the
Holy Family are also to be seen on the church walls and ceilings, each a
reminder of the childhood parish church of some faithful Slovenian.
THE FIRST PERIOD (1915-1950)
CHAPTER TWO
For the first few years after its establishment the
parish increased in numbers and in prosperity, reaching its peak during World
War I. After the war, however, many of the parishioners returned to Yugoslavia,
the new nation which had been created by the treaty of Versailles. It was the
lure of their homeland that made Father Golob lose many of his parishioners.
The early Slovenian immigrants didn’t come to America as settlers; their thoughts
and hearts remained set on a small patch of their European region called
Prekmurje. They just wanted to make enough money in Bridgeport in order to
start an independent economic life in their homeland.
Another factor which contributed to
the great decrease in the number of Holy Cross parishioners was the heightening
of the bars of the United States immigration laws in the twenties. This was a
hard blow to the parish. American factors of migration and integration also
added their shares, and a once numerous parish, the Holy Cross congregation
dwindled away. In order to save it, Father Golob in the mid-thirties was
allowed to add several Slovak families in the West End….not to much avail,
however.
But the parish was fortunate in the
number of large, healthy families in its undersized congregation. The proof of
this is in the fact that Father Golob officiated at 245 weddings and 810
baptisms during the first 25 years after the organization of the parish in
1913, and there were only 301 funerals in that same 25 year period (1913-1938).
Active church societies; the Holy Name Society, Children of Mary, and the
Christian Mothers Confraternity; also added to the life of the parish and
helped maintain the unity of the congregation.
One of the major factors which
helped to maintain the unity of the congregation, which is still in existence
today, is the Saint Joseph’s Fraternal Society. It was organized in this parish
in 1913 by Father Golob. The Saint Joseph’s Fraternal Society is part of the
American Slovenian Catholic Union (K.S.K.J.) which has its headquarters in
Joliet, Illinois.
Except for three years (1923-1926),
when the Rev. Martin Kozar served as curate, Father Golob administered the
duties of pastor alone. The Rev. Austin Maciejevski, pastor of St. Anthony’s
Church, Fairfield, was of great assistance to Father Golob by saying Mass in
the Holy Cross Church twice a month.
Father Golob died on February 6,
1950. The Rev. Stephen Vitka was appointed as a temporary administrator of the
parish. Father Vitka was Father Golob’s former assistant. On October 20, 1951
Father Andrew L. Farkas was appointed administrator of Holy Cross.
THE
SECOND PERIOD (1950-1967)
CHAPTER
THREE
During
Father Vitka’s short administration (February 1950-October 1951) there was little
change in the general condition of the parish. The parish was dying. Slowly the
congregation was dwindling away. Many of those Slovenians who came to this
country during World War I were dead and their descendents, who had become
strongly Americanized, saw no need for the continuation of a parish for
Slovenian-speaking Catholics since few of them could speak Slovenian and all
could speak English.
Father
Farkas immediately embarked on a new program to rescue the dying parish. It was
just the opposite from the usual process in the development of parishes. As a
rule, there is first the congregation and then the parish buildings are
constructed. In this case there were the buildings, but a congregation had to
be found to fill them. This was the great problem which faced Father Farkas in
1951.
At that
very time, Congress passed several subsidiary bills to relieve the congestion
of refugees in Europe. Father Farkas exploited the legislation to an extent no
other American priest probably did. He sponsored and brought to Bridgeport more
than 100 families and scores of individuals…the total number in excess of 500.
Father Farkas did not limit his sponsorship to Slovenians and Croatians. He
also accepted German refugees from Yugoslavia and also Italians. He sponsored
Protestants, Orthodox and Mohammedans as well.
The work
accomplished by the Rev. Andrew Farkas of resettling the refugees in Bridgeport
since 1952 is spotlighted in a five-page article in the August 1963 issue of
the Catholic Digest. The article is one result of a sociological study of
refugee resettlement by Brother Robert Gaudet, S.J., and Father Joseph
Fitzpatrick. The article states:
“When Father (Farkas) first came
to the parish in 1951 religious fervor was at a low ebb. There were so few
people at the 10:30 Mass on Sunday that the people used to joke that there was
room to lie down in the pews.
“Today (1963) two out of three
Sunday Masses have a regular attendance…with the increased numbers, parish
income has more than tripled in less than 12 years.”
The best way to describe the
refugees is that they worked like Americans but lived like Europeans. They
spent little money on entertainments; went to the movies rarely; never ate in
restaurants. They are a classical instance of speedy integration into American
life. In less than ten years the former refugees owned about 75 homes in the
Bridgeport area.
A social club was set up in the
Holy Cross parish hall to get the refugees acquainted with Americans ways. This
was a very successful project. Every month there was a picnic, dance, or
dinner. In no time, the refugees made friends with the other parishioners, with
the result that refugee boys in most cases married American girls and refugee
girls in most cases married American boys.
With the growth of the parish
Father Farkas set about improving the church and property, ultimately building
a parish hall and across the street, a convent. The church buildings had been
completely remodeled, and paid for when, in late 1963, the buildings were
slated for demolition in the Bridgeport Redevelopment program.
In 1966, Holy Cross donated
$10,000 toward the establishment of a residential seminary in Rome for
Slovenian students. The donation was presented to the Most Rev. Joseph
Pogacnik, Archbishop of Ljubljana, during his first trip to the United States
by Father Farkas. Archbishop Pogacnik visited Bridgeport during a tour of the
United States, he was the guest of Father Farkas during his stay in Bridgeport.
On the night of January 20,
1967, Father Farkas was operating his auto southerly on Chopsy Hill Road when
he was killed in a head-on crash in which two others were also killed.
A solemn pontifical high Mass
for Father Farkas was offered on January 24 by the Most Rev. Walter Curtis,
Bishop of Bridgeport in the Holy Cross Church. Bishop Curtis, in his eulogy,
told the congregation:
“There are still missionaries
coming from Europe to this country to build up a native priesthood. Such a
missionary was Father Farkas. His language was Slovenian and he built up a
priesthood among the descendents of his people…His loss is deep to the Diocese
of Bridgeport and to the missionary movement at large…but so long as there are
people who need special priests, priests of a special language and people, the
work of Father Farkas will be continued.”
Perhaps
the moment of recognition came for Father Farkas when he was at an audience
given by Pope John XXIII. Two girls had dressed in Slovenian native costumes
for the audience. The Pope called the two out of the crowd of 5,000 for a
special blessing.
For the
Bridgeport girls, it was a moment of nervous joy of which they will be forever
proud. For the Slovenian priest standing unnoticed in the throng it was a
symbol of recognition of his outstanding work in giving a new lease on life to
500 of his homeless countrymen.
AT THE
CROSSROADS (1967–1969)
CHAPTER
4
On January 29, 1967, nine days after
the tragic death of Father Farkas, the Rev. Aloysius Hribsek was appointed
administrator of Holy Cross Church. Thus the third period of the history of the
parish begins, Father Hribsek’s administration.
Before
coming to Holy Cross, Father Hribsek served as an assistant at St. Mary’s in
Greenwich; St. Michael’s in Greenwich; and at Sacred Heart Church in Byram;
while at the same time teaching Math. In St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich.
One of
the primary reasons for offering Father Hribsek the pastorate of Holy Cross has
been mentioned previously, that is the Slovenian pride of his nationality and
language. The Slovenians, in short, wanted a Slovenian priest.
In late
1963, the parish buildings were slated for demolition in the Bridgeport
Redevelopment program. At first, they were expected to be demolished by 1965,
but for some unknown reason they have been spared up to 1969. But they have
been rescheduled for destruction in mid-1969, and this time looks definite.
As yet
(May 1969) no definite decision has been made as to where the active
congregation now will go. In an effort to learn the general feeling of the
people on the subject of erecting a new church, Father Hribsek on March 23,
1969 polled those who attended Mass by means of a ballot. The results of the
poll were: over 95% in favor of, and under 5% against.
Although
much about the future of the parish is still undecided, some important things
concerning the erection of a new church are definite: 1) If there is a new
church, it will be a territorial parish. 2)Because of this the number of Masses
and rites in English will have to be increased to meet with the needs of those
non-Slovenian speaking Catholics who would be found in the territory. 3) Bishop
Curtis has no objections to the erection of a new parish (territorial parish)
in the Diocese of Bridgeport.
Today the small church on Pine St.
faces the greatest problem in its 56 year history. Today it stands at the
crossroad.
A)
Rev. Michael J. Golob (1879-1950)
The Reverend Michael Golob
was born in Sostanj, Yugoslavia on September 22, 1879. He studied at the
seminary of Maribor in the Diocese of Levant (with the See in Maribor), and was
ordained on July 25, 1905. He came to the United States in 1911 and served as a
curate at St. Nicholas German Catholic Church in New York City.
Father Golob was
sent to Bridgeport on January 26, 1913 to organize a church for the Slovenian
families living there. This was completed on June 13, 1913 and Holy Cross was
born. He also organized the St. Joseph’s Fraternal Society (KSKJ) in 1913.
Father Golob died at 11:25 on the night of February 6, 1950
of a cerebral hemorrhage in the church rectory. His former assistant, the Rev.
Stephen G. Vitka, was appointed as a temporary administrator of the parish.
B) Rev.
Andrew L. Farkas, S.T.D. (1909-1967)
The Reverend Andrew Farkas was born in the Province
of Maribor, Yugoslavia in 1909. During the early 1930’s he earned his Doctorate
of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) from the State University of Ljubljana. He received
a PhD in political science from the University of Padua, Italy, in 1947. At
that time he was a professor at the Pontifical Salesian University of Turin.
He came to this country in
1947 and taught in schools run by the Salesian Order – a religious order
engaged specifically in teaching.
Father Farkas became pastor
of Holy Cross on October 20, 1950. He was appointed to the post of being one of
the six synodal judges in the matrimonial tribunal of the Diocese of Bridgeport
in 1961.
Father Farkas died in a head-on collision on Chopsy Hill Road on January 20, 1967. He died at the scene from a fracture of the spine, crushed chest, fractured left leg and other injuries.
C) Rev. Aloysius Hribsek
(1921- )
The Reverend Aloysius
Hribsek was born in the province of Ljubljana in Yugoslavia in 1921. He studied
for the priesthood at the Pontifical Salesian Seminary in Turin, Italy, and
Salesian College in Aptos, California. He came to the United States in 1947.
Father Hribsek was ordained
on June 29, 1949 in California. He served as an assistant at St. Mary’s and St.
Michael’s in Greenwich, CT, and at Sacred Heart Church in Byram, CT while at
the same time teaching in St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich. He earned a
Masters of Science in mathematics from Fordham University in 1952.
Father Hribsek was appointed
administrator of Holy Cross on January 29, 1967 by the Most Rev. Walter W.
Curtis, Bishop of Bridgeport. Father Hribsek at the time of this writing is
acting pastor of Holy Cross.