Holy Trinity Polish Parish Celebrates 100 Years

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Parish is celebrating 100 years in Windsor.

The parish was established in October of 1916 after Polish immigrants "enthusiastically" convinced the Bishop they wanted a church of their own.

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Parish Church was constructed at Ellis St. E. and Langois Ave. in April of 1918, where it remains to this day.

Maciej Jaglarz arrived in Windsor with his wife 20 years ago. He now sits on the church council.

He says Holy Trinity is a little piece of home, where his Canadian-born-children can immerse themselves in Polish culture.

"This is like our home away from the country that we remember," he says. "Also it's kind of seed for our children, who don't know our country."

Services are held in Polish, and Jaglarz tells AM800 News it's something everyone in the parish enjoys. He says some may not remember, but there were times of conflict when his native tongue wasn't spoken in Poland's churches.

"We were encouraged to pray in German for example, even though we were allowed to be Catholic," says Jaglarz. "Praying in our own language is very important to us."

Holy Trinity Polish Roman Catholic Church located on Ellis St. E. at Langois Ave. on Sunday October 22, 2017. (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)

While the building itself is rich in history and faith is important, he says the church stretches beyond that. Jaglarz says members of the Polish community who aren't very religious draw on the parish's cultural roots as well.

"This is not only a building, because a building is one thing, it's a community, a community which lasted right now for 100-years, that's very important," he says. "We also want to look into the future, our children are speaking less and less in Polish, they're more and more Canadian. We're all more and more Canadian."

Holy Trinity Parish is the second oldest active Catholic Church in Windsor.