The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

and

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. It is located at 927 Park Avenue in the Westside neighborhood. The building was designated a minor basilica by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on August 27, 1998, and dedicated on October 3, 1999.

History

The church was founded in 1892 as Sacred Heart Parish in the Westside, a neighborhood with a large ethnic

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

population, after the Polish immigrant community petitioned Syracuse's bishop for a national parish of its own. The original church was located across the street from the current structure. The first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in the new parish church was said on August 30, 1892, with the formal dedication taking place nearly a year later on June 11, 1893. The congregation outgrew the first church within a decade, and a decision was made to construct a new church. The foundations were built by parishioners in order to save money, and the cornerstone was laid in 1907. Work was completed in three years, and the church was completed and dedicated on June 5, 1910, by

Paul Peter Rhode Paul Peter Rhode ( csb, Paweł Pioter Rhode; September 18, 1871 – March 3, 1945) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1915 until his death in 1945. Rhode wa ...

, the Polish-born auxiliary bishop of Chicago . Following the construction of the new church building, the old church building was converted into a

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

. That structure burned in a fire in 1916 and was replaced by a larger brick school. The new building was expanded again in 1926, to accommodate the continued growth of the parish. Additional community buildings were constructed up to the 1940s. Sacred Heart High School closed in June 1975. In 2002 a decision was made to close the parish school because of declining enrollment; some Catholic families had moved out of the neighborhood and others no longer chose parochial school. In July 2017, the basilica celebrated 125 years as a parish church. The basilica is in the middle of a project to install a new pipe organ. The new organ is a 1927 Skinner Organ, Opus 669. The Skinner organ was originally built and installed at the First Church of Christ, Scientist on Genesee Street in downtown Syracuse; this congregation closed in 2003. The Skinner organ is replacing a smaller Moller organ, that had been built and installed in the basilica in 1910. The Moller organ had fallen into disrepair, and needed to be replaced.

Architecture and notable features

The

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

building was designed by Syracuse architects Merrick and Randall, and built in stone with a marble veneer in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. With a capacity of 1,200, it is long and across at its widest point. Its two spires are high. The church features a series of fine stained glass windows from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, the

Henry Keck Stained Glass Studio Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

in Syracuse and from

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. One stained glass window depicts Polish saint

Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; pl, Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp ...

, who was murdered at

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. It contains a 1910

Möller Moller, Möller, Møller or von Möller is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Möller, German olympic rower *Ale Möller, Swedish musician and composer *Alex Möller, German politician *Andreas Möller, German footballer *A ...

organ. That organ is being replaced during the spring of 2018. The original asphalt-shingled roof was replaced in 2009 with slate and copper, in order to ensure longevity.

Elevation to basilica status

Pope John Paul II issued a Papal bull to elevate Sacred Heart to a minor basilica in 1998. The formal dedication took place on October 3, 1999, with Syracuse Bishop James Moynihan reading the Papal bull and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Costello acting as Celebrant.

References

External sources

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus websiteBasilica Facebook pageArticle about the basilica
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, state=collapsed Roman Catholic churches in Syracuse, New York Roman Catholic churches completed in 1910 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Sacred Heart of Jesus, Syracuse Polish-American culture in New York (state)