Szent István R. K. Egyházközség

As early as 1891, the Hungarian Catholic community in New York initiated the establishment of an independent Hungarian-speaking parish. In the early years and decades, however, they did not have their own church, so they held their religious and community gatherings in rented spaces. The Hungarian faithful’s long-standing aspiration was realized in 1905, when the first independent Hungarian Catholic church was built on 14th Street. However, due to the rapidly growing Hungarian immigrant community, the building soon proved to be too small. September 1922 marked a turning point in the parish’s history, when Hungarian Franciscan friars arrived in the United States to lead retreats. Among them, Bonaventura Peéri, O.F.M., stood out in particular; Cardinal Patrick Hayes, Archbishop of New York, entrusted him with the leadership of St. Stephen’s Parish. Under Peéri Bonaventura’s leadership, major construction projects began: between 1927 and 1928, the new church and the parish school were built, which for a long time served as the center of the Hungarian Catholic community’s spiritual and cultural life. However, this progress was halted by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many of the Hungarian parishioners lost their jobs, making it increasingly difficult to repay the loans taken out for the construction projects. The Hungarian Franciscans sought assistance from the Holy Name Province of the American Franciscans, which took over the maintenance of the parish in 1935. The American Franciscans built a friary next to the church and, for many decades, ensured that there were always at least one or two Hungarian-speaking Franciscan friars serving in the community. Hungarian-language pastoral care continued until the early 21st century, but after 2008, there were no longer enough Hungarian Franciscan friars available. Thereafter, Hungarian-language Masses and pastoral care were provided on an ad hoc basis by priests from nearby Hungarian parishes. Following the departure of the Franciscans, the Archdiocese of New York decided in November 2014 to dissolve St. Stephen’s Parish by the end of 2015. The church was annexed to the nearby St. Monica Parish and designated as a temporary place of worship. Under the terms of the decision, regular parish life could no longer take place in the building, and services could only be held on special occasions. This marked the end of more than a century of independent history for one of New York’s oldest and most significant Hungarian Catholic parishes.