Chapter Twenty
Holy Family Roman
Catholic Church

By James Wudarczyk

The history of Holy Family parish dates back to October 10, 1902, when Bishop Phelan gave permission for the organization of a new Polish parish. Reverend Anthony Smelsz, a young, energetic priest, who was credited with the building of Saint Hedwig Church and School in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, in 1896, and who also served as pastor of Sacred Heart in Braddock, was appointed the first pastor of the newly formed Holy Family parish. A committee consisting of T. Kanoza, M. Okonski, M. Krotoszynski, J. Bandyk, F. Burek, J. Wojdyla, M. Spec, S. Poznanski, F. Lejpras, P. Lozowski, T. Kosiba, J. Kowalski, Lesniak, and A. Gawrowski, among others bought property on 41st and Foster Streets for the purpose of a school and church. For the first two years of its history, the new parish held services at the neighboring Saint Augustine Church. On June 7, 1903, the cornerstone of the new church and school was laid with the Right Reverend Monsignor Tobin officiating. Bishop Regis Canevin blessed the new church and school on March 20, 1904.

The early years were a period of rapid development for the parish with the purchase of a duplex brick building in 1907 that was to serve as the rectory, and the purchase of two buildings seven years later to serve as a convent. Fathers W. Lipinski, J. Rokosz, Bogaczyk, J. Wrobel, J. Kulacz, M. Rosenthal, A. Muszynski, W. Osinski, E. Napieralski, and L. Rokosz assisted Father Smelsz during his tenure in the parish which lasted until 1925. Most of these priests went on to become pastors of other Polish ethnic parishes in the diocese. It should also be noted that from the time of its founding until the 1980’s, the school was staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

With an increasing parish in its early years, Holy Family purchased a 76 feet by 150 feet lot across from the church and school complex in 1914 with the hope of building a new church. The advent of World War I and other economic problems did not permit the dreams to be fulfilled. Father Smelsz did the best that he could but failed to lift the church from its massive debt.

When Reverend Ladislaus Sliwinski became pastor on March 18, 1925, he found the parish to have a debt of $100,000 and thousands of dollars more in unpaid bills. A man of vision and a capable administrator, he cleared the debt in three years, purchased new property for $16,500in cash, and established a cash reserve. It was during the early years of Father Sliwinski’s pastorate that the parish entered into its Golden Age, a period when the parish was financially solvent and an era of renewed spiritual vitality with the introduction of increased religious services, the Children’s Mass, the Holy Hour service, and the perpetual novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Increased Marian devotion included an annual coronation service and the dedication of the parish to the Blessed Mother on May 31, 1925. On June 28th of the same year, the new pastor also began devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus bv dedicating the parish to that goal. He organized new societies and organizations as the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, Sacred Heart Society, Saint Joseph Union Number 55, Saint Edward’s Society, and the Alumni Association of Holy Family School. Father Sliwinski was also credited with increased interest in missionary activities and was instrumental in getting the Franciscan Fathers to come to Pittsburgh, where they established Saint Anthony Friary at Ben Avon. By the time the parish celebrated its silver jubilee in October 1928, Holy Family consisted of 1,050 families with over 1,000 children enrolled in the school.

The Great Depression of 1929 put a halt to all plans for the building of a new church. Ten years later Bishop Boyle granted permission to build a new edifice. This structure was erected on 44th Street between Davison and Butler Streets with its façade featuring the church’s patron, making it one of the most beautiful and most unique in the city. Anthony Pysdrowski of Pittsburgh was awarded the contract as architect engineer and builder of the church. The new structure contained a large number of highly effective stained glass windows. Blessing of the new edifice took place on October 28, 1940, with the Most Reverend Bishop Hugh Boyle officiating. A Mass was celebrated by the pastor, and he was assisted by the Reverend Izydor Cwiklinski, O.F.M., Provincial from Pulaski, Wisconsin, who delivered the English sermon, while Reverend Ferdinand Pawlowski, O.F.M., publisher of a Franciscan monthly, gave the sermon in Polish.

After building the new church, Father Sliwinski renovated the school, adding an auditorium, cafeteria, and adding four new classrooms, bringing the school to a total of fourteen classes. Charitable works continued during this period with frequent clothing, food, and medicine drives for the relief of war victims. Father Sliwinski, who was appointed a Diocesan Consultant in 1939, was influential in convincing Bishop Boyle to conduct a special diocesan collection to assist the suffering people of Poland.

On February 16, 1947, the Reverend Sliwinski was appointed by Pope Pious XII as one of his Domestic Prelates with the title of Right Reverend Monsignor. Investiture of the Monsignori took place at Saint Paul’s Cathedral on February 16, 1947.

After his tenure of nearly thirty-seven years as pastor, Monsignor Sliwinski passed away on January 6, 1961. On January 20, 1961, the Reverend Monsignor Jacob C. Shinar was appointed pastor. It was under Monsignor Shinar that the church obtained two bells. The larger one, named for Saint Joseph, was brought from the old church on Foster Street where it was left in 1941 when the new edifice was built. The second one, a small bell named Saint Mary, was once used on a riverboat and was donated to the parish by Mr. Charles Zubik. Bishop John J. Wright blessed the bells on July 9, 1961. It was also under the administration of Monsignor Shinar that a new school, rectory, and convent were built at a cost of $750,000. This grand project left the parish with a massive debt that took the parish more than twenty-five years to clear. The school, blessed on September 5, 1964, by Bishop Wright, is believed to have been the first church facility in Pittsburgh to be heated and cooled by electricity. The stained glass windows in honor of the Trinity were brought from the old church and installed in the convent chapel. New faceted glass, installed by Winterich from Cleveland, Ohio, depicts the Holy Family, Saint Augustine, Saint Gabriel, Saint Michael, and Saint Raphael also adorned the convent.

It was during the tenure of Monsignor Shinar that Holy Family School merged with Saint Mary’s Forty-sixth Street and Saint Augustine’s. Holy Family remained the elementary school. Over the years, additional parishes, with declining enrollments, were brought into the merger. It must be noted that of all of the area schools, Holy Family was the most modern facility.

After nine years of faithful service, Monsignor Jacob Shinar accepted the new responsibility as pastor of Saint Mary’s in Glenshaw. On March 6, 1970, Father Edward Maliszewski, a one-time assistant in the parish, returned to Holy Family as its pastor. He found that the massive altars had been removed from the church, and the parish was saddled with an enormous debt of $429,000. Over the years, Father Maliszewski proved to be a very capable administrator, and reduced the debt to $154,000 by 1983, while paying $144,000 in interest during that same period.

Proving to be an ardent supporter of Polish culture, Father Maliszewski inaugurated a program to increase aware of the parish with the old country. First came posters pointing out “Polish culture is Catholic culture,” followed by the obtaining of an icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, a mural honoring Polish historical and cultural events, and the draping of the lecterns in the red and white flag of Poland. Masses were also offered for Casimir Pulaski and the late Stefan Cardinal Wyszynksi, the Primate of Poland.

Holy Family deserves attention because of its faithful adherence to its ethnic culture. In 1948 Scatena Studio painted the edifice at a cost of $38,000. The paintings are not only Polish in subject, but also Polish in style. It was under the administration of Father Maliszewski as pastor that the interior of the church was painted in a style that was true to the original.

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa has an interesting history. A gift to the Orchard Lake Seminary from Poland’s Primate, Stefan Cardinal Wysynski, the rare and beautiful icon of the Black Madonna was carried to America by Reverend Edward Maliszewski and presented to Monsignor Zdzislaw Peszkowski at Orchard Lake, where it remained until 1973. When Mrs. Dora Alski, editor and publisher of the Pittsburgczanin, a Pittsburgh Polish newspaper, was in Orchard Lake to receive the Fidelitas Medal from the seminary, she noticed the painting was for sale and offered a donation of one thousand dollars to purchase the icon for Holy Family. Other Polish-American societies quickly agreed to donate the balance of two thousand dollars. The blessing of the picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa took place in Holy Family Church on December 8, 1973. This painting has historical and artistic value since it was commissioned by one of the greatest men in Poland’s history, Stefan Cardinal Wysyznski.

One of the most important works in the church is a panoramic religious-historical mural by the internationally renowned master artist John Henry de Rosen. This massive mural over the sanctuary is probably de Rosen’s last great masterpiece. John Henry de Rosen, who passed away in 1982, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1891, and was the son of John de Rosen, a court painter to Czars Alexander III and Nicholas II. John Henry de Rosen is noted for the painting of the Armenian Cathedral in Warsaw, the Sobieski chapel in Vienna, Pope Pious XI’s private chapel at Castelgandolfo, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Saint Matthew’s Cathedral, Saint Agnes’ Episcopal Cathedral, and the Episcopal Cathedral. This great mural adorning Holy Family R. C. Church includes a painting of Pope John Paul II, who was a personal friend of Father Edward Maliszewski, and of the recently canonized Maximilian Kolbe, who died in a Nazi concentration camp so that a man with a large family might live.

During the imposition of martial law in Poland in December, 1981, Father Maliszewski appeared before Solidarity support groups, raised money and desperately needed medicine and shoes for the Polish people, and kept a vigil burning inside the church for Polish freedom.

Father Maliszewski was transferred from Holy Family to Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Braddock Hills in 1985, and Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua named Rev. Francis Lapczynski as the fifth pastor of the Lawrenceville church. Many parishioners remembered the new pastor fondly from his previous assignment at Holy Family as an assistant to Monsignor Shinar.

It was during Father Lapczynski’s tenure that social activities were once again a part of parish life. Holy Family son joined the list of parishes sponsoring nights at the races, a super bingo, dinners, and an annual festival.

Shortly after his arrival, the furnace in the rectory need replaced. Securing a loan from the diocese, Father Lapczynski replaced the electric unit with a gas furnace. In the long term, the savings on the utility bills helped to pay for the new furnace.

However, the new pastor’s assignment was very short. In 1987 Father Lapczynski suffered a major heart attack, which resulted in an extended period of recuperation. During this period, Father Richard Whalen served the church. Shortly after the pastor returned to active duty, he made a retreat and came to the realization that he could not do justice to Holy Family because of his health problems. Therefore, he petitioned the bishop for an assignment to a smaller parish.

The rite of installation of the Reverend Henry A. Szarnicki, S.T.L, Ph.D., as pastor of Holy Family Church took place at the 6 P.M. Mass on July 18, 1987. Father Leo Vanyo, pastor of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, served as the bishop’s delegate for the affair. Father Szarnicki was the best educated of all the pastors, holding a doctorate degree from the Catholic University of America.

The new pastor came to a parish still swamped with debt and a plant that needed to upgrade its facilities. Immediately he proved to be a great organizer, held parish council elections, recruited additional ushers and lectors, appointed lay ministers of the Eucharist, purchased hymnals, refurbished the social hall and church, repaired the church gutters, and made improvements to the grounds. By June of 1992, Father Szarnicki had completely cleared the debt on the construction of the parish facilities, including the remaining $25,000 debt on the rectory furnace.

In the first few years of his pastorate, Holy Family was host parish for a Mass honoring the victims of the battle of Monte Cassino, and in 1989 the merged schools system was again reorganized. Also, in June 1989, he sponsored a sad farewell diner for the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, who were withdrawn from the parish.

The fiftieth anniversary of the building of the new church took place on October 28, 1990, with a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the Most Reverend Bernard W. Schmitt, Bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese.

Following the reorganization of the Catholic Diocese in 1993, Holy Family was suppressed, and its pastor, Reverend Henry Szarnicki, was transferred to Immaculate Heart of Mary on Polish Hill.

On May 25, 2008, the Reverend John Daya, pastor of Our Lady of the Angels, announced the decision of the pastoral council to close the Holy Family worship site. Closing of the edifice was slated for the autumn of 2008.