The Global Heart of Brooklyn’s Church
How Immigrants Helped Shape the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Growth
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — In honor of America’s 250th birthday, The Tablet is looking at the proud history of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Namely, the different ethnic groups that make up the “Diocese of Immigrants.” From the Irish, who arrived in Brooklyn in the early 19th century and established St. James Church in what is now Downtown Brooklyn, to Nigerians, who started arriving in large numbers in the 1980s and celebrated their first Mass at St. Rita’s Church in New Lots in 1991, the diocese is home to many nationalities.
1822
Peter Turner, an Irish immigrant, petitions Bishop John Connolly of New York to establish a parish for Brooklyn. As a result, St. James Church, now the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, is born in what is now Downtown Brooklyn.
1841
German immigrants establish Most Holy Trinity Church in Williamsburg.
1882
Italians help establish Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Carroll Gardens. In 1941, the church building is torn down to make way for the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Sacred Hearts (left) is merged with St. Stephen (right) to form one parish — Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Stephen.
1908
The Lithuanian community opens Transfiguration Church in Maspeth. In 1914, the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was founded by German immigrants in 1863, adopts a new mission to serve Lithuanians.
1916
Bishop Charles McDonnell establishes Our Lady of Pilar Church in Fort Greene as the first mission church serving the diocese’s growing Spanish-speaking population. (Below)
1922
Father Bernard Quinn (top left with Sunday School children) founds St.
Peter Claver Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the first church in the diocese to serve the African American community.
1960s
Our Lady of Mercy Church in East New York becomes a place for Garifuna Catholics (people from Central America and the Caribbean) to gather for Mass.
1970s
St. Teresa of Avila Church in Prospect Heights becomes the first church in the U.S. to celebrate regular Mass in Haitian Creole to accommodate Haitian Catholics moving into Brooklyn.
1970s
The Czech/Slovak Apostolate is formed and is centered at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria.
1973
The diocese establishes the Korean Apostolate. It is centered at St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Church in Flushing.
1980
As Chinese immigrants move into Brooklyn and Queens in large numbers, they settle in Flushing and Sunset Park. The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sunset Park is one of the first churches in the diocese to regularly celebrate Mass in Mandarin.
1991
The diocese’s Nigerian Apostolate celebrates its first Mass at St. Rita Church in New Lots.
1998
The first Akan-language Mass takes place at St. Catherine of Genoa in East Flatbush for immigrants from Ghana.
2000
The diocese forms the Indian Latin Rite Apostolate. Our Lady of the Snows becomes a center for Indian Catholics to gather for Mass.
2019
Bangladeshi Catholics, who have been moving into Queens in large numbers since 2010, help to establish the Bangladesh Apostolate. The gathering spot is Queen of Angels Church in Sunnyside.