The twin copper spires of Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church are like beacons above the neighborhood of Delray, barely visible above the trees from Interstate 75. Up close, they bleed in green streaks down the building’s facade, pooling on the sidewalk below like stray watercolor. Despite Delray’s drastic change over the passing decades since being founded as a Hungarian and Eastern European settlement, Holy Cross Hungarian’s green copper spires have managed to remain a fixture of the neighborhood since 1925, even while most other churches in the area have been left vacant, abandoned, or demolished, and as the area faces continual uncertainty.
Despite Delray famously being a popular settlement for Hungarian immigrants, Hungarian-Americans received little publicity prior to the early 1900s. Around the turn of the century, the 100-150 Hungarian Catholics in the area began to take notice of Hubert Klenner, a Hungarian priest who had been assigned to Saint Elizabeth’s German Parish. He was the only Hungarian priest in Detroit at the time, and Delray’s small Hungarian Catholic group begged him to come to Delray and preach to them in Hungarian. Eventually, they were allowed to start their own Hungarian Catholic parish in Delray, with Klenner as their first pastor. The parish originally held mass in the Solvay Guild Hall, but with Klenner’s leadership, a church was built to house the parish in 1906, along with a Hungarian Catholic school that enrolled its first students in 1907.
Delray’s Hungarian population offered a vibrant yet somewhat private community to newcomers. They took pride in community service and being helping neighbors, especially during the Spanish Flu and tuberculosis epidemics. Meanwhile, it was becoming clear that the parish had outgrown its modest church building. Despite difficult times, epidemics, war and inflation, the faithful worshipers of Holy Cross rallied under the leadership of Father Lajos von Kovács to pay off the church’s remaining debts and raise $250,000 (about $4.8 million as of 2026) for a new church building in just two years.
Construction on the new church - designed by German-Hungarian architect Henrik Kohner and located on Yale and South streets - began in June 1924. At the laying of the cornerstone on Nov. 26, 1924, thousands of Hungarian-American parishioners took part in a celebratory parade. At its dedication on Sept. 20, 1925, more than 1,500 attended, including Detroit Mayor John W. Smith and Detroit Bishop Michael Gallagher. Initially, the church’s interior was simple and reserved, built without stained glass windows or interior murals.
Although Kovács had left a massive impact on the church, the strenuous financial activities of the last couple of years had taken a toll on him. In May 1927, he requested a transfer before passing away suddenly on July 22, 1927, at the age of 48. He was mourned and celebrated for his leadership not only in building their congregation a new home, but for giving the Hungarian Catholic population a stake in Detroit.
In 1927, Holy Cross was assigned Msgr. Desiderius Nagy, a well-known theological author and priest from St. Joseph Parish in Flint, Mich. Nagy quickly began to build upon the improvements of Kovács, adding five new classrooms to the school and overseeing the installations of the first church bell (donated by worshippers from Zala County, Hungary), and the second church bell (donated by worshippers from Heves County, Hungary).
In 1930, the church’s organ, made by the Hitteler Holtcamp Aperling Co. of Cleveland was installed. Additionally, the Hungarian Sisters, the Daughters of Divine Charity, arrived from New York to work at the Holy Cross School. As the Great Depression set in, many parishioners lost their jobs and homes. Yet, Holy Cross’s generosity and dedication to its community were shown once again, opening the West Side Free Kitchen in 1931 and the St. Elizabeth Hungarian Orphanage in a building across from the parish in 1932. That same year, Holy Cross established the St. Elizabeth’s Farm for the Aged in Carleton, Mich.
On June 28, 1935, a freak accident occurred at St. Elizabeth’s Farm for the Aged, killing two volunteers. The two men, wanting to show their gratitude to Nagy and Holy Cross Church for their assistance during the Depression, had volunteered to assist in the installation of an iron flagpole outside of the home. As the pair were hoisting the pole into place, it came into contact with a high-voltage wire, and both men were electrocuted and killed.
In 1936, the worst of the Depression had passed, and Nagy oversaw the installation of stained-glass windows in the church. The five sanctuary windows were produced by the Schroeder Glass Co. of Detroit, depicting the five great Hungarian saints: Stephen, Emery, Ladislaus, Elizabeth and Margaret. The windows of the nave and transepts were produced by the Von Gerichten Studios of Columbus, Ohio, depicting 32 saints. In total, the windows were valued at $12,000, or about $291,400 in 2026.
By the onset of World War II, Nagy, like Kovács before him, was beginning to suffer from ill health. He died April 14, 1941, after attempting to recuperate at St. Mary’s Hospital and Sanatorium in Tucson, Ariz. Nagy was recognized for being heavily involved in social justice issues, and advocating for generosity and service toward all members of his community, regardless of race or gender. His influence within Holy Cross is still celebrated today.
Soon after Nagy’s death, Holy Cross was assigned Associate Pastor Andrew Jacobs, a lifelong resident of Delray and parishioner of Holy Cross. Jacobs led with enthusiasm, lending Holy Cross as a meeting place for the Red Cross and Defense Committee of Delray, which had been established by the Hungarian community of Delray in 1943 during wartime. He also would become well-known in Delray for riding around town on his motorcycle and stopping to chat with people on the street.
In May 1947, Cardinal József Mindszenty, the head of the Catholic Church of Hungary, visited Holy Cross as one of the stops on his journey across the United States and Canada. Mindszenty had been an outspoken force against the fascist and communist regimes that ruled Hungary in the 1940s, making him a target for governmental persecution. In 1948, just one year after his visit to Holy Cross, he was arrested by the Hungarian government and accused of treason and conspiracy.
By the end of the decade, Holy Cross had once again paid off all its debts. In 1948, the interior murals of the church were added, painted by Hungarian artist Paul Dunbar. At this time, the statues and figurines of the holy figures that now adorn the church’s interior were added, as well. The church rectory was demolished and rebuilt to connect with the church building in 1951.
In addition to their commitment to Holy Cross and Delray, Hungarian Catholics in Delray had been eager to serve in the Second World War, and subsequently became another feature of honor for the church. In 1954, a statue was commissioned by Rev. Father Jacobs to honor the veterans of Holy Cross who had served. It was placed in the center of the church courtyard, and depicted Jesus comforting a weary soldier.
The onset of the Hungarian Revolution in the fall of 1956 brought fear and uncertainty to Hungarians worldwide, but especially in Delray, as community members anxiously awaited news from their friends and relatives in Hungary. When the Hungarian Freedom Fighters were defeated by the Communist regime, thousands of Hungarians fled for America. During this time, Delray experienced yet another significant increase in population, as the existing Hungarian enclave lured new immigrant families. Holy Cross once again rose to the occasion, running six masses on Sundays and three on weekdays in order to accommodate the parish’s growth. The Holy Cross and greater Delray community provided the refuge that the immigrants sought, through faith, community and a common culture and language.
However, Delray’s growth would be short-lived. As Detroit began its decline in the 1960s, rumors that Delray would soon be taken over by heavy industry caused many residents to flee. In 1970, the Holy Cross school, which had prided itself on excellence and high standards, was closed due to low enrollment.
Four years later, on Feb. 1, 1974, Jacobs passed away at age 64, leaving a saddened parish and ailing neighborhood behind.
Father Keleman Király stepped up to take Jacobs’ place. Király was an escapee from a Communist prison in Hungary, where he had been incarcerated for defending Catholic and Hungarian ideals. He was also an accomplished author, publishing many works in Hungarian that were later translated into other languages. Yet, Király was already of advanced age when he stepped up, and intended to be only a temporary replacement for Jacobs while the archdiocese searched for a more permanent priest to fill the post. He passed away in 1978 after only four years of service. In the meantime, Holy Cross Parish had been placed in the custodial care of the Hungarian Franciscan Friars of St. John Capistran in 1974. On May 15, 1974, Father Domonkos Csorba, OFM, became the first Franciscan of Holy Cross.
The Holy Cross congregation considers its greatest day to be Ascension Thursday of May 23, 1974. That’s when Cardinal Mindszenty made his second visit to the parish, after being exiled from Hungary a second time. He had been forced to resign from the Vatican, once again for his staunch commitment to Hungarian Catholic and anti-communist ideals, which conflicted with the Vatican’s preferred path of appeasement. During his visit, he urged the parish to never abandon their language, customs, faith, or love of their homeland. His speech was so moving, it inspired Holy Cross to reopen part of its school in order to continue teaching Hungarian language classes. To this day, Holy Cross continues to celebrate weekly mass in Hungarian and holds on strongly to its heritage and culture.
Holy Cross marked its Golden Jubilee in 1975, and Father Domonkos and the rest of the parish spared no expense not only in celebration, but in attempts to keep the church growing despite the declining conditions in Delray. The Hungarian School for children and adults was opened in 1974, and all the interiors of the church buildings were treated to a repainting and repair. Meanwhile, the Altar Society, Holy Name Society and Parish Council were all kept active and held monthly meetings, preserving the close-knit nature of the parish community in the face of dwindling numbers. Still, Holy Cross was not immune to the challenges facing Delray.
Heavy industrial pollution and crime became increasingly pressing issues, and in 1977, Holy Cross became the community meeting place for discussing potential development plans for waste disposal facilities in the area. This usually ended in large corporations simply informing the community of Delray that their neighborhood would now serve as the location for a new waste disposal facility. Additionally, a man was arrested in 1987 after breaking into the church parish through a window, beating two priests inside and robbing them. The priests suffered a terrifying attack, with one having a belt wrapped around his neck and a pillowcase put over his head. Luckily, neither needed to be hospitalized.
Although Holy Cross and Delray continued to see decline over the decades, Holy Cross has succeeded where most of the city’s other Catholic churches have failed: It has stayed open. Today, Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church celebrates 9 a.m. masses on weekdays, 4 p.m. masses on Saturdays, and two masses on Sundays: English mass at 9 a.m. and Hungarian mass at 11 a.m. The current priests serving at the parish, Father Angelus Ligeti and Father Barnabás Kiss, are believed to be the only two Hungarian Franciscans in the United States as of 2025, and Holy Cross is the only Hungarian Catholic church left in Michigan. Many parishioners commute from the suburbs of Detroit (and some from further) to return to the church that they or their families were raised in. “Married and buried” is a common phrase among Holy Cross parishioners, meaning that they have celebrated all their life’s milestones here, and now intend to honor the parish their celebrations of life and faith there to the end.
Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church celebrated the 120th anniversary of the parish and the 100th anniversary of the completion of the church building during mass on Sept. 14, 2025. The festivities included traditional Hungarian food, dress, music and dance. Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church continues to serve as a hub for faith, history, and Hungarian culture and endeavors to do so for decades to come.