NEW YORK

Revival of the Parish and the Croatian community

/photograph of the Croatian Parish Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius & St. Raphael, 502 W 41 st St.
New York/

I found the presentation that follows among Fr. Mladens papers after his passing. It seems that it
was given in Toronto sometime in early 1976. Were presenting it here in its entirety because it
depicts the circumstances, the work and the successes of the New York Croatian community at that
time, as well as his views, his work, and his goals. This text will serve as a reminder to many of their
own personal activities in the rebirth of the Croatian community in that city, and historians will find
it to be a source of information in studying the past of Croats in New York and beyond.

THE ROLE OF THE CROATIAN CATHOLIC PARISH IN THE LIFE OF THE CROATIAN SETTLEMENT IN NEW
YORK AND ITS SURROUNDING AREA

It is difficult to determine exactly when Croats started arriving in New York, or better, passing through
New York. Each immigrant, arriving to the United States at the end of the last and the beginning of
this century had to pass through New York, beneath the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island in the New
York Harbor, where the quarantine was located, i.e. time, until a doctor assessed the immigrants
medical status and only then allowed the healthy ones access to American soil. And thus, large
waves of Croatian immigrants were crossing through New York to settle in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan, Illinois, or some other federal state of the United States of America. And so, for example,
3206 Croats, who declared themselves as such, crossed Ellis Island just in February 1910.
Unfortunately, a much larger number of Croats crossed into the States, however they were registered
as being Austrian or Italian. Following the quarantine, only a smaller number of people would remain
in New York, and those who stayed had mostly come from Istria, the Croatian Primorje, the islands of
Krk, Loinj, Olib, etc. At least one person from each island. There were, naturally, immigrants from
other parts of Croatia, although fewer in numbers. From when they first started arriving in the United
States up to the crisis there, the Croats in New York were settling the west bank of this metropolis, at
the harbor itself. Thus, the Croatian settlement was located mostly between 9 th Avenue and 12th
Avenue (i.e. the harbor itself), and between 44th Street and 51st Street. Today, Croats are dispersed
across N. Y. and its surrounding area.
A brief history of the Croatian Catholic parish in New York
As soon as a larger group of Croats arrived to N. Y. a need arose to establish a Croatian parish. Rev.
IRCA arrived already at the beginning of this century. He spent nearly one year in N. Y., he went from
door to door, from one Croat to the next, trying to find a way to establish a Croatian parish.
Unfortunately, his efforts to find a sufficient number of interested people were unsuccessful at the
time. In relation to the same, one should have in mind that at that time Croats were infected with
various negative and destructive ideas. Prior to the October upheaval, or also called the October
Revolution, a deadly influence of Communism was present, and soon after of Yugoslavism as well.
Yes, Communism and Yugoslavism among the Croats on this continent. Rev. irca failed. He stuck to

the gospel philosophy: If you are not welcome in one town, shake the dust from your sandals and go
to another town. And so, two years later, he left. After him came a young Franciscan Fr. Irinej
Petriek (who is still alive and well at the monastery on Drexel Ave. in Chicago). This one was more
persistent. He gathered as many healthy and honest New York Croats as he could and for 21,000
dollars he bought an old Lutheran church on 50th Street. And that is how the Croatian parish came to
be: it opened its doors on 16 November 1913. Sometime later a parish hall was opened beneath the
small church. In 1931 an apartment building next to the church was bought and sisters could start
arriving to the parish. This is the history of the beginnings of the Croatian parish in New York which
had for an entire 55 years remained at the beginning, or we could safely say in its infancy and
for two reasons: 1) because of outside obstacles and 2) because of some kind of self-limitations and
fear by the priests and the parishioners.
1) Outside obstacles. As already mentioned, the Croats had at the beginning of the century
been deeply infected with Communism and Pan-Slavism, and afterwards Yugoslavism, and
this was what stood in the way of the development of the parish the most. Croats had their
own branch of the Communist Party in New York which persisted in one of its main goals: the
destruction of the Croatian parish. They had their regular meetings, they had their daily
newspaper (The Worker), they distributed it for free, and their headquarters was at East
14th Street, etc. They were, in one word, very well organized. Not only did they go from door
to door, from ship to ship, from one construction site to another, distributing communist
newspapers and spreading propaganda, they even went so far that on Sundays they
would organize three groups of people with baseball bats, one would be standing in front of
the church, the other on streets leading to 50th Street, and physically prevent people from
entering the church. Some members of the Communist Party from that generation are still
alive today. And so, right before Christmas, Fr. R. and I visited Mrs. Ana Matoi from Opuzen
who worked as a secretary in the Communist Party for many years and in an interview for
the Voice of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Croatian Catholic Parish in New York radio she
revealed to the public! the full scale of the insidiousness of the communists and how they
operated at the time. This was, most certainly, the biggest obstacle to the development of the
Croatian parish in New York.
2) Inside barriers (the fear of the priests and parishioners from risk). Living in conditions which
we have partly already described, under pressure of the fear from the vehemence of the
communists, the New York Catholic Croats barely dared to walk out into the street. The
Church was simply afraid to go out to the public. From fear they so to speak withdrew into
the sacristy and tried to preserve what little they had. To go on the offense something like
that never even occurred to them. The local bishops never showed any understanding for the
New York Croats either, and understanding was in short or too short supply in other places as
well. The American Church held a strong belief that every immigrant (and thus Croats as well)
should become Americanized as soon as possible, or rather forget his nationality. The parish
was assessed according to yearly income per the number of worshipers regularly attending
Mass on Sunday. Governed by those criteria, there was little chance that our parish would
progress and play the role in the Croatian settlement which Christ gave to the Church to play
for all people. Truth be told, the priests also lacked the motivation to find a way out from
that dead end. The national parish was perceived as any other (local) parish in which the
priests job was to give an educated sermon, to hear good confessions, to baptize children
and bury the dead. It seems as if the duty of searching for those who were lost was not even
part of their consciousness. This kind of peaceful way of work was safe, and it would have
been hard to do something wrong simply because so little was done. There were plenty

good worshipers in New York who wanted to and could support one priest and that little
church. But, we wonder today, is that the only reason why were here? Certain fearful
initiatives, that were very good, had failed. Why? Dont be surprised when I say that in our
extraordinary circumstances the democratic method doesnt always work. Thus, for
example, 30 years ago the parish priest and several of the parishioners wanted to buy a piece
of land for picnics. Its price was 13,500 dollars at the time and there was enough money, but
when the matter was discussed at a meeting they were outvoted by those who were
satisfied with the present condition. THOSE WHO WERE AFRAID TO TAKE RISK. The
justification for it is something youre already familiar with: Who would care for it, its not
safe, and so on. Now that piece of land is worth half a million dollars. Had they bought it
then and sold it now, what profit would they have made! Besides, they could have organized
picnics there every Saturday or Sunday, they could have had parties, earn money and invest it
into something new and useful. And, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, they would have kept
people together, because then they would have built some kind of a hall. This way we lost
entire generations of Croats in New York for the Church and for the community at large.
Therefore, when I planned on buying the CROATIAN LAND, one older and experienced
parishioner (Mr. Ilija Soldo), who was in favor of purchasing the mentioned land 30 years ago,
said to me: Boy, keep your mouth shut and buy it. Dont say anything to the parishioners and
dont call any meetings, because theyll destroy you. Instead, after youve bought it, summon
the parishioners and tell them I bought it. This fear from something new reflected in just
one example of purchasing land, is the other main reason why the parish was unable to
progress and develop, like some other parishes in the United States. Youll be surprised when
I tell you that some 10 or 15 years ago even the priests themselves discussed the possibility
of completely closing down and abandoning the parish since it cannot survive, because the
opinion was that it would be a pity to send even one priest there. Aside from the above
mentioned, there were, of course, other reasons for the failure in New York, but I wouldnt
want to go into much detail here, instead we can discuss that later on during our discussion. I
believe that the REASONS FOR FAILURE WERE SIMILAR IN OTHER PARISHES AS WELL.
What have we achieved in the Croatian parish in New York in the past 8 years?
I prefer not to go into that, because I am also personally involved in this achievement. But, not to
waste time on apologizing, I would like to convey a part of this experience to you, and for that
matter, that is the reason why I am here today upon your invitation. But, allow me to say a few
words about myself before we start. When I decided to become a friar, my decision was guided
principally by the fact that I was convinced that I would be of most use to my Croatian people
precisely as a Franciscan priest. I believe that still. I was well aware of what I was in for and I
accepted with peace of mind everything that being a friar means: living surrounded by my
brothers and working together with my people. I accept that today and this evening. I knew that I
would be faced with a lack of understanding, even machinations, even hate, and also with
failures. I know this today, and this evening. And still, I am not afraid of anything and I am not
disappointed because I became a friar with a clear picture of my own future and that picture is
still clear to me today and this evening. When I face a lack of understanding and contrivances, I
am not disappointed, because thats what I expected. Even Christ, our teacher, had no better
luck. As soon as they got to know him well seeing he was dangerous they killed him. After I
was ordained, the Provincial Board in Mostar sent me to America. I didnt request it, but I didnt
refuse it either. When sent to serve as chaplain in New York in 68, I knew that this was the worst
of all our parishes and I didnt have any objections to that either. My late uncle, Fr. Ljubo, told me
in that caf of his on Drexel Ave.: When your mother hears that youre in New York, itll be a big

thing for her, and for you, thats another matter. What I encountered upon my arrival on 2
September 1968 to serve as chaplain to Fr. Vitomir Naletili was a dilapidated church, a small and
messy parish hall beneath, lacking the necessary funds to work, with no furniture, without any
opportunity for rest, - and with 150-200 people in the parish. Fr. Vitomir dared not go into new
actions, probably due to his old age, but he was sufficiently understanding towards me and didnt
object to my efforts. Whatever I did, he accepted it. And, for starters, this was just enough for me.
The first thing we organized was the CROATIAN RADIO HOUR. The pro-Yugoslavs already had
a Yugoslav radio hour, and the Serbs had their Serb radio hour, and we Croats didnt have ours.
People tried several times, but couldnt reach an agreement. In February 69 I convened a
meeting inviting all associations and more reputable individuals with the aim of establishing a
general Croatian radio hour which would not belong to any particular organization, association or
individual but to Croats in New York. Only 16 people came to the meeting. And so we decided to
begin, we did and continued. The radio hour now has several hundred members, more air time
and its own premises. This is now a solid institution of incalculable value: no Croat in New York
can even imagine New York without the Croatian radio hour anymore. The establishment of the
radio hour was an occasion which brought all four political organizations at the same table, and
which convinced them that Croats are thinking the same thing and want the same thing: A FREE
CROATIA and that some trivial matters need not be mentioned at all, let alone be the reason for
making enemies of Croat brothers. This was also the path that led to our joint decision to
celebrate the date of 10th of April together all of the organizations together already in 69. And
everyone saw that it was a good decision, and soon after the Joint Committee of Croatian
associations was established. And so, all Croatian appearances in general and joint appearances
were now organized by the Committee, in other words all of the associations together.
People accepted me, as a priest, most warmly in New York. I gained their trust, because they
came to see very quickly that everything I do is for the common good, or rather our common
interests and not for some kind of personal gain. Soon people started gathering mostly due to
their personal feelings of friendship toward me. I did my best to attend any event where Croats
come together and I still do my best to find the time, be it a soccer game or a party, christenings
or weddings, funerals, and bars. I presented myself in the manner that I belong to everyone, but
to NO ONE exclusively. Therefore, I am not a member of any particular organization but as a
priest I attend meetings of each of them. Whoever extends me an invitation, Croat or Yugoslav,
I will attend. I never said to anyone: I wont come, or I wont come because you dont go to
church, nor do I ask them (at least right away) whether they go or do not go to church. People
were impressed by it and soon the ice started to melt. Young people started to go to church and
soon after they started bringing their friends with them, and so our Masses in New York became
true peoples manifestations. There are some wonderful examples of people RETURNING to
church, people who never used to come or who were enemies. And now they go to church every
Sunday and will without exception volunteer for any work.
After people started coming in larger numbers, we needed a bigger church, and definitely a
bigger parish hall. We put in requests with the diocese countless times, but would always get the
same answer: there arent that many of you, you will not be able to maintain a larger church, etc.
We had 20 meetings, exchanged 97 letters with the diocese as well as many delegations until we
finally succeeded and got our church. I used the gospel approach: knock on doors and they shall
open. And as time passed I got to know all of the people in the diocese, from doorman, up to
Cardinal Cook. We organized several glorious religious manifestations, and then they SUDDENLY
noticed that we are many and how many of us there are, and that these are young families, and

that there is a lot of youth here and then they realized that we need a more spacious church.
But, the process was slow. First we got a large hall which was uncared for. We renovated it and
spent around 180,000 dollars on renovations. This hall, the CROATIAN CENTER truly became the
meeting point and the center of all New York Croats. From its opening day on 24 October 1971 up
to this day, I dont know if there was anything generally concerning Croats that did not take place
at the Croatian Center. People got accustomed to go to the Center after Mass to talk to each
other, instead of going home right-away. Here they can have a cup of coffee, buy newspapers or a
book. Someone would have a bottle of brandy and start singing Ganga, some would dance, while
others would look for an apartment or a job, they would get a lot of work done there after Mass
the priests would also socialize with people in the Center for a couple of hours and they would
get a lot of work done as well. And so, for the Croats in New York, the church was no longer
simply a place to fulfill their religious duties on Sundays, instead it had become much more than
that. Had it been a place for Sunday duties and nothing more, then a lot of our people would
have fulfilled that duty in a nearby church instead of traveling for tens of miles to go to our
church, getting up early and arriving home later than usual. For New York Croats, the Center is
the Homeland, and everything they had lost the parish must provide by creating an atmosphere
to make them feel like they are in their homeland. You should see how many people cant wait
for Sunday to come to meet their Croat brothers, how many people spend the next three days
reliving their memories and the following three days in expectation of the CROATIAN SUNDAY. For
many, even us priests, it makes the burden of separation from the Homeland, from the roots of
the tree where, under normal conditions, we should be living, psychologically easier to bear. This
is the kind of atmosphere that every parish of ours abroad should create.
What was noticeable in New York, on account of the metropolitan way of life, was the need
for picnics, to be in the open, clear air. As soon as I was appointed pastor of the parish in 72,
Leon and I decided to accomplish that, even though our initial plans were to buy a Center in
Queens because of the large number of Croats living there. However, since that was a different
diocese, for technical reasons we couldnt buy anything until we resolve the problem of the main
church in the center of New York. And so, not to waste time, we purchased a piece of land on 21
May 1973. This land is 29 miles from the center of town. We plan to organize picnics on that land,
build a nursing home, a kindergarten, etc. Aside from the latter two, everything else has been
realized. Fr. Leon Gali has been my right hand in all of this until his recent departure to Chicago.
This land had also quickly become a place where people could gather. Each Saturday volunteers
would be cleaning the terrain, chopping wood. As much as 407 people had gathered one
Saturday. Croats started springing up from somewhere like mushrooms after the rain. Even those
who had never come to church came. The Americans even made a movie based on it and they
show it to school kids for them to see what a harmonious and united community can accomplish.
During our last picnic two American skydivers landed on our land to our cheerful surprise. I am
convinced that when the land is fully brought in order that the number of active Croats in
New York is going to double. And this is our primary goal (A CROATIAN SETTLEMENT). Many of
our outspoken but inactive Croats have already caused us a lot of trouble with their thoughtless
criticism, but we pay no attention to it. This LAND is particularly important to us for psychological
reasons because it has created a sense of pride in Croats for having something of our own to
identify ourselves with- and then people start coming Alongside the Croatian radio hour, for
over two years now (or is it four) we also have the parish VOICE OF THE CROATIAN PARISH for 30
minutes a week: we can hear the news from the parish and the homeland, we can reflect on the
Church and pray, convey our congratulations to those baptized and married, mourn the deceased,

etc. We do not take paid ads so as not to cause damage to the Croatian radio hour which exists
thanks to this service.
Aside from the radio program, I would say that the most important event was the opening of
the CROATIAN TV PROGRAM from mid-December 1975. It runs on Tuesdays from 9:30 to 10 in
the evening. Alongside news from the parish and the homeland, movies, gospel reflections,
cultural programs and such we also have several minutes in English when we briefly present
ourselves under the question DO YOU KNOW WHO CROATS ARE.
All these and other endeavors of ours are supported by our parishioners morally and
financially. Without them, naturally, we wouldnt have been able to do almost anything. Up to
now we were organized, so to say, from the inside, and now we are slowly starting to open up.
Our Croatian Franciscan sisters have been invaluable to us in the internal life of the Croatian
parish. They carry out many tasks in the church, the parish, the school, on the radio and on TV.
There is a Croatian school in the parish called CARDINAL STEPINAC (Croatian language,
geography, singing, dancing, catechism) and then TAMBURICA, a folklore group for adults all
under the name and protection of the CARDINAL STEPINAC CROATIAN CULTURE AND ARTS
ASSOCIATION. It performs at all pubic celebrations and it has performed for Americans several
times. It has also performed on TV and was given an award for best group by the Mayor of New
York, etc.
In one word: from folk Masses, the radio and TV, public appearances, meetings at the
Croatian center to all other smaller meetings and all of the personal contacts we strive to create
a contemporary national awareness and invoke a sense of pride in Croats, to make them proud of
who they are. We dont want Croats to feel like Croats in their hearts alone, because we know too
well that, even though a sense of nationality in itself is a good thing, if it does not develop, if it
does not outgrow itself and becomes a national awareness, it most often becomes a grave
danger. This kind of standstill in development is the reason why people are so easily disappointed,
it is the cause of many intrigues and other negative occurrences which are surely not unknown to
you. We are convinced that it is precisely this difference between the sense of nationality and
deeper national awareness is what needs to be emphasized and that national awareness needs to
be strengthened. It seems to us that we here in New York have built strong foundations in this
sense and we are achieved something positive. However, it takes time and a lot of work. Many
Croats from Istria and from some of our islands spoke Italian at home and had never had a
developed Croatian national awareness. And so, until we teach them that they dont have to be
afraid to say that they are Croat time passes and energy is spent. You have been in Toronto for a
long time you know that you are Croats and what you need is simply to build further on that
or rather, to use this enormous national capital for your own and Croatias benefit.
Method of work how we work?
We priests have an advantage over civilians of easily reaching people. There are various
possibilities for contact. Weddings, baptisms, funerals, blessing of homesso, various ways be
they joyful or said. Here in New York we have provided thousands of social services.
Translation of various documents into English
Finding jobs
Finding accommodation for those who have just arrived

Helping people to take drivers test so far around 2500 people!

Visiting prisons
Visiting hospitals
Visiting psychiatric institutions
etc.
Phone calls are extremely important. Sometimes we get around 200-250 phone calls a day. We
friars in New York always take risks. We know the people pretty well and thats why were not
afraid of new actions. We dont regret the time we spend, the effect it has on our health or our
nerves, and we know that whatever action we take we will have at least a thousand people
behind us, and that is enough for it not to fail. And as soon as one action is successful, people get
a sense of moral security to do other work and start new enterprises.
We have sufficient nerves and patience for all of this, and so we never respond to objections,
whether they are coming from pessimists or arising from some kind of envy or a lack of
understanding, open hate and public attacks on the radio and in the newspapers from the
Yugoslav side. Our parishioners always come to our defense, and we never do.
We can point out that we have developed a sense of responsibility and community in a large
number of our parishioners. They have come to understand that they are the parish and that the
parish can grow and evolve only as much as they wish it to and only as much as they are willing to
do. Thats why you can notice whenever you speak to them that they always say WE, we did that,
we should do that, etc.
What is certainly a big advantage for us here in New York is that we have an excellent team in
the parish. We have four priests and three sisters. The Franciscan sisters from Bijelo Polje have
taken on a large burden in the parish. They work with children, with various associations, they
organize rehearsals, take care of household chores, the church, participate in work on the radio
and television, etc. These services are invaluable to the parish. Out of the seven of us, there is
always someone here in the house. And so, our parishioners know that when they call, there will
always be someone here to answer the phone, when they call that there will always be someone
to come and bless their home, etc. So, this sense of security of the worshipers in the parish staff
is important.
Also, we all have a clear idea of what we want. We are not living in the clouds not knowing
what we want. We do not deviate from our idea, our goal, not even an inch. We look for ways to
achieve our goal in the easiest possible way, but we do not alter our goal. Our goal is to find every
Croat in New York. To reach every Croat, to try and gather all Croats together. To give everyone
Christian and Croatian values and whoever is open to it can get it either in church, on television,
on the radio, by phone, visitsNo one can use the excuse anymore that they didnt have the
opportunity.
We would also like to build a strong center in Queens. In this manner we would have one
parish and three centers Manhattan in the center of town, the Croatian land in New Jersey and
the Home and center in Queens. This way the Yugoslavs and the Consulate wont be able to say
a word. Itll simply be too late for them to try to organize anything. Theyd be completely
paralyzed. Thats our goal. Thats why everyone is important to us. We accept everyone all
individuals all associations. Everyone and yet no one is that important to us that would make

us sacrifice our common interest in favor of any one individual or association. A community
established on such foundations nurtures individuals and associations to harmonize their own
interests with the interests of the entire community.
Why is the Church doing all of this?
These are objections by our enemies, i.e. the official Yugoslav government, and certain Christians
who feel that the role of priests is only to pray the Rosary and bury the dead. Since we do not
have our Croatian state to care for the Croatian immigrants, I ask everyone: If not us, who will?