St. John Cantius Has Passed Into the History of the Polish Roman Catholic Village of Delrey in Detroit, Michigan!

Ironically the 105th Anniversary of St. John Cantius on October 28, 2007 was the saddest day in the lives of Genevieve Rakoczy, 77 and Leon Strameck, 85 both livelong parishioners of St. Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Community of Delray, Michigan because it was the final Mass. Father Edward Zaorski said the final mass at this venerable “old” Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Village located at 844 Harbaugh at Thaddeus and north of W. Jefferson Ave. in this exclusively industrial community along the Detroit River.

Here we have another of the architectural gems among so many precious places of worship built as a gift to the City of Detroit by the Polish settlement to enhance the fabric of the city over the many decades. This is a beautiful stained glass window in St. John Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church depicting the patron saint of the church St. John Cantius.

St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church Profile 1985

Pope Pius XII: "I hear all around me innovators who want to dismantle the Holy Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, throw away her ornaments, give her a remorse of her historical past. Well my dear friend, I have the conviction that the Church of Peter must assume her past or she will dig her own grave."