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Sacred Heart Croatian Parish, Milwaukee

Sacred Heart Croatian Parish, Milwaukee

Our Parish Roots

They came to America and to Milwaukee with not much more than a suitcase and a trunk or two. They came to make a better life for themselves. They sacrificed a lot of what they had to have a place to worship together, gather together, grow together and welcome others. They formed a Family! On April 4th 1917 with the blessing of Archbishop Sebastian Messmer and under the guidance of the Father Placid Belavic, a Croatian Franciscan friar, the Croatian community organized to establish Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. An old German Lutheran Church and Rectory located on 7th and Galena St. was purchased on July 9, 1917. With the deterioration of the area in which the Church was located, it became necessary to find a new location. Parish transferred to its new and present location at 917 N. 49th street during November of 1949, and on November 27th, 1949, the first Mass at our present church was celebrated by Fr. Emmanuel Rajic, our associate pastor at the that time. Much work has been put into the renewal of the spiritual life of the parish through parish missions, renewal programs, lay involvement in the life of the parish and improvements of the liturgical worship spaces. And so it continues, with the parishioners contributing their time, talents and treasures under the guidance of the Croatian Franciscan Fathers. For over its 100 years, Sacred Heart Parish has been and still is, a happy faith-filled community of diverse people united through faith in Jesus Christ.

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Our Share

Through much prayer, planning and conversation, we have identified our greatest needs and initiatives to strengthen our mission and vision for years to come. Our share of the funds raised will be used to begin structural repairs on the church, add accessible entrances, and replace coverings on the stained-glass windows.

Parish Goal

$265,199

Parish Share

$159,119

Pledged as of 5/19/23

$57,530

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STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS - $50,000

Our parish has welcomed visitors through its doors for over 2 decades. To make the entrance safer and more accessible for individuals, funds raised will go to repairing the stairs and improving the ramp on the east side of the building. This undertaking will expand on our previous work on the front doors and steps, which yielded a safer and more aesthetically pleasing parish entrance.

VENTILATION SYSTEM - $50,000

The parish furnace, air conditioning and ventilation system in the church and reception hall needs updating to improve the temperature control and air flow throughout the parish buildings. Not only will this allow for greater comfortability in Mass and throughout the parish, but it will increase our energy efficiency and lower our expenses over the long term, allowing us to divert finances away from boiler costs towards ministry and mission outreach.

STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS - $25,000

Our beautiful stained-glass windows are a focal point in our worship space. To help us protect and preserve the windows for the future, we must replace and refurbish the outside plastic coverings on all windows. Additionally, the original window from St. Gabriel's is a prominent feature in our parish, and this funding will allow us to keep it in pristine condition and spotlight it's splendor.

SAFETY LIGHTING - $3,169

We want to ensure that we have resources available for other ongoing facilities repairs and improvements as they arise in the coming years. This will also improve security and safety for those attending evening meetings at the parish, especially given how dark it can get on winter nights in Fox Lake.