St. Joseph Parish is a church designated for Polish immigrants in

Ansonia, Connecticut Ansonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Located on the Naugatuck River, it is immediately north of Derby, and about northwest of New Haven. The population was 18,918 at the time of the 2020 census. The ZIP code for ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Founded in 1925, it is one of the Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in New England in the

Archdiocese of Hartford The Archdiocese of Hartford is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties in the U.S. State of Connecticut. The archdiocese includes about 470,000 Catholics, more ...

History

In June 1925, Bishop John J. Nilan appointed Vincentian Fr. Aloysius Zielenznik, C.M., as pastor of the new St. Joseph Parish. The priest's first Mass for the Polish congregation was celebrated on July 12, 1925, at a Central St. hall rented from an Italian society. The church was dedicated on September 6, 1926. Ten days later, St. Joseph School opened, staffed by the

Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth are a Roman Catholic religious institute that was founded in Rome in 1875 by Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd (Franciszka Siedliska). The Sisters of the Holy Family are an apostolic, international ...

. The parish had long felt the need of a church bell that would summon the faithful to church services. Their desires to have a church bell were realized in 1950 when Fr. Casimir Kwiatkowski passed through

Winchester, New Hampshire Winchester is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,150 at the 2020 census. The primary community in the town, where 1,606 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Win ...

, and noticed a bell for sale in front of a Protestant church. He made inquiry and purchased the bell, valued at $3,000, for $495. On the occasion of administering the sacrament of Confirmation in the parish, October 14, 1950, Bishop Henry J. O'Brien,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

blessed the century-old bell and named it ''Casimir''. The bell was rung for the first time on November 1, 1950, the day the dogma of the

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

was solemnly proclaimed in Rome by Pope

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...

Pastors

* Fr. Aloysius Zielenznik C.M. (1925-1929) * Fr. Joseph Janowski C.M. (1929-1936) * Fr. Casimir Kwiatkowski C.M. (1936-) * ... * Fr. Marek Sobczak C.M. * Fr. Roman Kmieć C.M. * Fr. Tadeusz Maciejewski C.M.

School

* St. Joseph School

Bibliography

* * The Official Catholic Directory in USA

External links

St. Joseph - Diocesan information

St. Joseph - Catholicmasstime.org

Parish bulletin

Parish history

Archdiocese of Hartford
Roman Catholic parishes of Archdiocese of Hartford Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Ansonia, Connecticut Churches in New Haven County, Connecticut {{US-RC-church-stub