Exploring Old Catholic Churches

I learned a lot when we were exploring Detroit the other day and I began yearning for the good old days. It was easy to imagine the thriving neighborhoods, before the freeway cut it in half, before urban blight and before the flight to the suburbs. Here are three churches, lined up on Canfield St. all within easy walking distance of each other, all built around the same time period and all Polish parishes. Talking with a caretaker at Sweetest Heart, we learned that there were no parking lots (yes, that was before cars) so everyone walked to Mass. How did these neighborhood support 3 churches in such close proximity? I bet the houses were packed in tight with local grocery stores, bars and so on. Now there is wide open fields, abandoned houses and scary alleys.

 St. Josephat (Canfield and Chrysler Freeway service Dr.)
Went to Mass here on Palm Sunday

 Sweetest Heart of Mary (Canfield and Russell St.)
Will post more photos of this beautiful church soon

St. Albertus ( Canfield and St. Aubin)

St. Albertus has been closed for 26 years. They do occasionally open the church for events and I hope to see the inside one day. The area around the front of the church has been kept up but behind the church and around the schools it is in a sad states of decay. The church has been vandalized with these low lifes stripping cooper from the church roof. The area itself is appalling and scary. Very few houses left to support anything. Brings tears to my eyes when I think of how it once was. Detroit may be on the rise downtown but some of the neighborhoods are a big mess!