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Centenial History of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. 1889-1989 A Century of Service Sweetest Heart of Mary Parish, Detroit, Michigan, p. 19-25. CAP at Orchard Lake. FATHER DOMINIK H. KOLASINSKI FOUNDER AND HERO To celebrate a century of existence and service to God is a truly remarkable event in the Catholic Church of Detroit – worthy of a joyous celebration. The parishioners of Sweetest Heart of Mary are especially deserving of this celebration. They have triumphed over misunderstandings and persecution in the beginning. They built a magnificent church of cathedral proportions with two tall steeples piercing the sky like two hands folded in prayer imploring that this majestic house of God be never erased from the face of the earth. They enjoyed prosperity, growth and peace in its halcyon days. The parish weathered decay and destruction of its neighborhood in its darkest days, and now enjoys a renaissance of growth both in spiritual and physical dimensions. People are returning to nurture a viable, vibrant community in honor of Mary our Mother and our Polish heritage. To understand what historical events and forces molded the formation of this beloved parish, one must know the historical backgrounds of Poland and the United States. In the late eigh- teenth century, Poland ceased to exist geographically in 1795 as Russia, Germany and Austria carved Poland amongst them. Throughout the nineteenth century, the Poles tried two unsuc- cessful insurrections, the first in 1831, the second in 1863. As the result of the 1863 insurrection Russia, Germany and Austria were merciless with their powers. In 1870 German Chancellor Bismarck initiated his kulturkampf (the struggle between the Catholic Church and the German government) which denied Poles their property and forbade the propagation of Polish culture and language. The Russians followed suit and although the Austrians were not as harsh as the Russians and Germans, they purposely kept the Polish province of Galicia as an economic and cultural backwater in order to control their bread basket. Meanwhile the United States enjoyed an industrial revolution in its post civil war years. The country was unified and opened itself to expansion and settlement. Scientific inventions and creativity were in full swing. This in turn, opened new opportunities for disenfranchised Poles seeking a better life and future for themselves and their families. Thus the great Polish migration began in earnest in the 1870’s, 80's and 90's. In Detroit many factories and new construction calling for unskilled labor lured the Poles to settle in this city. The Poles brought with them their language, customs and their Catholic faith. They were met with an unsympathetic and 1 sometimes hostile Anglo-Irish-German American majority that forgot they too were immigrants. The Irish-German Catholic hierarchy did not make great efforts to understand Polish religious customs and traditions and often clashed with Polish immigrants. Since the Poles were arri- ving in great numbers, the demand for Polish priests grew accordingly. Poles, already settled in America, returned to Poland seeking priests to serve the new Polonia (Polish settlements outside of Poland). One priest heeded the call and as a result made a lasting and indelible mark in the early Detroit Polonia — his name was Father Dominik Hipolyt Kolasinski. Father Kolasinski was born on August 3, 1838 in Mielec, Poland in the province of Galicia. His father was Andrzej (Andrew) Kolasinski who was employed as a weaver and his mother was Ag- nieszka (Agnes) Wydro. He was ordained in Krakow on August 14, 1864 by Bishop Anton Galecki when Father Kolasinski was 26 years old. His first assignment was as an assistant at the church in Czernichowo, southwest of Krakow. From there he was transferred to the church in nearby Rybna. Father Kolasinski requested a tem¬porary leave of absence to study philosophy in Vien- na but went to the University of Lwow instead. He became a chaplain and tutor for a wealthy landowner. In 1880 he heard of the call for Polish priests to serve in the American missions. Father Kolasinski received a letter of invitation to come to Detroit by Jozef (Joseph) Przybylowski, a trustee of St. Albertus Parish entrusted to find a replacement for Father Jan (John) Wollowski. He then received on October 21, 1881 a formal letter of invitation from Bishop Casper Henry Borgess, then Bishop of Detroit. Father Kolasinski was granted an exeat from the Krakow dio- cese on January 22, 1882. On March 30, 1882 Father Kolasinski officially became pastor of St. Albertus Church. The parishioners took an immediate liking to their new charismatic pastor. Father Kolasinski was well versed in Polish history and culture and quickly became the Polish spokesman for the community. He possessed great oratorical skills and held his parishioners spellbound. He was also known to vigorously preach against the excesses of alcohol much to the disappointment of some trustees who owned saloons in the Polish neighborhood. Father Kolasinski received permission from Bishop Borgess to build a new St. Albertus church for the rapidly expanding parish which was dedicated on July 4, 1885. During the construction of the church, Father Kolasinski had great difficulties with some of the trustees as to the location and cost. By November, 1885 these difficulties became so rampant in the parish that it came to the attention of Bishop Borgess. The trustees accused Father Kolasinski of financial misman- agement and immoral conduct. Father Kolasinski denied all of these allegations and wanted his accusers to face him and hear his side of the story. Unfortunately, Bishop Borgess sided with the trustees and relieved Father Kolasinski of his duties as pastor of St. Albertus without due process of Canon Law. Father Kolasinski refused to leave the rectory hoping Rome would intercede and settle the matter. The majority of parishioners sided with Father Kolasinski. The others sided with the new pastor, Father Joseph Dabrowski, rector and co-founder of the Polish Seminary on St. Aubin and East Forest Streets. Father Dabrowski served his faction of the parish from the chapel of the Felician Motherhouse located directly across the street from the church. Several riots followed between the two factions. On March 2 20, 1886, Father Kolasinski was forced to vacate the rectory through a court decision obtained by Bishop Borgess and the trustees. On April 5, 1886, Father Kolasinski left Detroit on an exeat forced on him by Bishop Borgess. Consequently, he went to Berea, Ohio near Cleveland where his brother, Father Nicodemus Kolasinski was pastor of St. Adalbert Church. From there he pro- ceeded to the Dakota Territory where he became pastor of St. Stanislaus in Warsaw near Minto, North Dakota on the acceptance of Bishop Martin Marty, the Vicar Apostolate of the Dakota Territory. Father Kolasinski met Bishop Marty previously in Detroit in 1884 at the dedication of the new Capuchin Monastery on Mt. Elliot Street in Detroit. During Father Kolasinski's absence from Detroit, his fol¬lowers formed a parochial group under the leadership of Antoni Dlugi, a friend and confidant of Father Kolasinski. Anton Dlugi also served as a schoolteacher for the children of the Kolasinski faction. Although Dlugi was a lay person, he conducted prayer services from a home on Riopelle Street. In fact, Dlugi was a lay Jesuit brother in Poland two years prior to his arrival in Detroit but disassociated himself from the Jesuits when he was denied admission to study for the priesthood. This group was actually the nucleus of Sweetest Heart of Mary Parish but they were too loosely organized and without a priest to actually be considered a parish. In fact, they considered it a temporary measure until Father Kolasinski would return and be reinstated as pastor of St. Albertus. In the meantime, because of the increased public criticism of the handling of the Kolasinski affair, Bishop Borgess resigned as Bishop of Detroit in April, 1887. He nominated Father Edward Joos as the interim administrator of the diocese until a new bishop was appointed. Father Joos served as an administrator for nineteen months until Bishop John Samuel Foley from Baltimore was appointed as bishop in November, 1888. News of Bishop Foley's appointment quickly reached Father Kolasinski in the Dakotas and on December 8, 1888 he returned to Detroit for the purpose of meeting with the new bishop in hopes of being reinstated as pastor of St. Albertus. Father Kolasinski did meet with Bishop Foley on December 15th and asked Bishop Foley to reopen his case and grant him a hearing. Bishop Foley's answer was that his case was already settled and that Father Kolasinski would never be reinstated as a priest in the diocese. Bishop Foley thought that he would no longer hear the name of Father Kolasinski again. He was wrong. Father Kolasinski returned to his home at 624 Beaubien Street in which he converted the back rooms into a chapel and began to meet with his trustees to purchase land in order to build a church, independent of the diocese, until there would be a reconciliation with Rome. Father Kolasinski appointed trustee Franciszek (Frank) Potrzuski to buy parcels of land on Canfield and Russell Streets. When the land was purchased, plans and construction of an interim church, school and living quarters were made public. The building would face Canfield Street and be constructed of brick. The ground floor would be the chapel with a seating capacity of 1,000, the upper floors would house four classrooms in the rear and Father Kolasinski's living quarters would be in the front. The cost of the building was $15,000. On February 11, 1889 the articles of incorporation were completed for the formal organization of the new parish of Sweetest Heart of Mary, belovedly known in Polish as Najsłodsze Serce Maryi Panny.

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