St. Stanislaus Catholic Church (Milwaukee) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St. Stanislaus Church
St. Stanislaus Catholic Oratory
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Location	Milwaukee
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	St. Stanislaus Oratory
History
Founded	1866 (1866)
Founder(s)	Polish immigrants
Dedication	St. Stanislaus
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	For Polish immigrants
Architect(s)	Leonard Schmidtner (Kowalski)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Polish Cathedral
Groundbreaking	1866 (1866)
Completed	1873 (1873)
Specifications
Materials	Brick

St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Oratory (which means Kościół Świętego Stanisława in Polish) is a Catholic church in the historic Mitchell Street District of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was designed by Leonard Kowalski, a Polish nobleman who was one of the first Polish residents in Milwaukee. He later used the name Leonard Schmidtner.

This church is one of Milwaukee's 'Polish Cathedrals'. It was started in 1866 by Polish immigrants in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. St. Stanislaus was the third Polish Catholic church in the United States. It was also the first one built in a city.

The first church building was an old wooden structure. It was bought in 1866 from St. Stephen Lutheran Church. The large church building you see today, with its two towers, was finished in 1873. A school for the church community was built later, in 1889.

Today, St. Stanislaus is a special place for the Latin Mass community in Milwaukee. It is an "oratory" of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. This is a group of priests who focus on celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass.

The church has been fully fixed up inside and out recently. This work included restoring the main altar area and the religious art. They also recreated the beautiful stained glass windows and put on new copper roofs. Many other parts of the church were also improved and restored.

Why the Church is Named St. Stanislaus

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church is named after Stanislaus of Szczepanów. He was a Polish martyr and a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. A martyr is someone who dies for their beliefs.

History of the Church and Community

How the Polish Community Grew

In the 1880s, the economy changed from trade to factories. This brought many Catholic immigrants from Eastern Europe to the Milwaukee area. St. Stanislaus and the neighborhood around it quickly became the main center for Polish life in Milwaukee.

Mitchell Street was often called the "Polish Grand Avenue." This showed how important it was, especially compared to the German-dominated Grand Avenue downtown. From 1876 to 1883, Pastor Hyacinth (Jacek) Gulski led the church.

Workers' Rights and Protests

On May 1, 1886, about 2,000 Polish workers gathered at St. Stanislaus. They organized a protest against the 10-hour workday. Factories closed as they marched through the city. Their numbers grew to 16,000 people. Later, the Bay View Tragedy happened when the State Militia faced the protesters. The protesters had set up camp at a factory in Bay View.

Expanding the Catholic Community

St. Stanislaus Church helped start other Polish-speaking churches. These were in areas like the East Side and Jones Island neighborhoods. By 1903, Milwaukee had the most Catholics of any city. St. Stanislaus also helped establish churches in other growing factory towns in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

A Polish Bishop for Milwaukee

January 14, 1914, was a very important day. Father Edward Kozlowski was named Milwaukee's first Polish bishop. He was only the second Polish-speaking Bishop in America. The first was Bishop Paul Peter Rhode in Chicago in 1908.

A big parade was organized from St. John's Cathedral. This is where Father Kozlowski became a bishop. The parade went to Saint Stanislaus. Bishop Kozlowski rode in a carriage pulled by four horses. The streets of Milwaukee were lit with torches. About 50,000 people gathered at the church to see Bishop Kozlowski receive his bishop's mitre (a special hat).

Crowds gathered again at the church about a year later. Bishop Kozlowski became very sick and passed away on August 7, 1915. About 30,000 people attended his funeral. Bishop Paul Rhode said at the memorial service: "How difficult it was for us to obtain a second Polish bishop, and how easy to lose him."

Changes Over the Years

In 1926, the school was made bigger and given a new front. In 1966, the original copper domes of the church were replaced. They were covered with 23 carat gold leaf, which is very shiny. All of the stained glass windows were also removed at that time. A large painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa was added to the side of the church facing Mitchell Street.

As Polish-Americans moved out of the city starting in the 1950s, other groups moved into the neighborhood. St. Stanislaus still serves the local community today. This community is now mostly Hispanic. The church offers confession in two languages and Sunday services in Spanish.

In May 2007, St. Stanislaus became the home for the Latin Mass community of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. They offer the Traditional Latin Mass every Sunday at 10:00 AM. While Mass in Spanish moved to a nearby church, St. Stanislaus still offers a regular Mass in English every Saturday evening at 4:00 PM.

In 2008, the church became an Oratory of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. This group of priests is dedicated to celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass. Canon Olivier Meney from the Institute was chosen to lead the oratory.

See also

• Polish Cathedral style churches
• Edward Kozłowski
• Hyacinth (Jacek) Gulski