Sacred Heart, Highbridge

The address of Sacred Heart parish is 1253 Shakespeare Ave., Bronx NY 10452, telephone 718-293-2766. As the above photo shows, the church faces the intersection of Woodycrest Avenue and Shakespeare Avenue.  Bus route Bx11 comes past the door.  Clicking on a photo will enlarge it.
----
The address of the parish school is 95 East 168th St., Bronx, NY 10452.
----
Please note that the church of St. Francis of Assisi, on Shakespeare Avenue less than a mile north, has been merged with Sacred Heart parish.

  

Regarding the above photo, Sacred Heart provides primary education in the newer building in the center, and middle school education in the older building to the left.  As of January, 2015, the school's website is here and its Facebook page is here.

This door at the back of this photo is to a chapel accommodating about 28 faithful. The large church is to the right. The rectory is to the left.


The Highbridge Community Life Center operated from seven buildings in Highbridge, but in 2014 it suffered from woefully inadequate funding and ceased all or most work. For years, the Brothers teaching at the school lived here at 1252 Nelson Avenue.
-----
See page 292 of Msgr. Shelley's book for the establishment of Sacred Heart parish in 1875. In 1877, the pastor purchased a wooden church from St. Rose of Lima parish, Cannon Street, Manhattan, and had it disassembled and transported to Highbridge. See page 392 for the visitation by coadjutor archbishop Corrigan on August 15, 1883. The present church dates from 1912. See page 294 for photos. See page 475 for a photo of St. Eugene's chapel on Odgen Avenue. See page 585 for Sacred Heart parishioners affected by fires and destruction in the 1970's. The neighborhood has been rebuilt, and it is alive with residents.
-----
For decades the Sisters of Mercy and, from 1926, the Brothers of the Christian Schools staffed the school.

---

A lengthy and excellent history of Highbridge and Sacred Heart parish is linked HERE.

St Francis of Assisi, Highbridge

The church is in the short block of Shakespeare Avenue between Featherbed Lane (to the left of the photo) and the canyon of the Cross Bronx Expressway (to the right of this photo).
----
See page 475 for the 1928 establishment of the parish of Saint Francis of Assisi in a predominantly Jewish part of High Bridge. With rather small territory carved from the thriving Sacred Heart parish, St. Francis could afford neither a school nor a large church. It has recently become part of Sacred Heart parish again. The postal address is Post Office Box 520013. Bronx NY 10452, telephone 718-731-6840. The Sunday received offering at Sacred Heart in January, 2009, was about $2,700 a week, and at St Francis about $1,700.
---
Thanks for the comments below.  Please note that there is a time lag of several hours between writing a comment and seeing it appear, because comments are moderated.  On 9.9.2016, a person, apparently frustrated, kept submitting the same long comment repeatedly because he did not see it immediately appear. The time delay helps weed out spam.

---

Father John Flynn was pastor of this parish in the mid-1970's. Please see this article in America magazine. The article focuses on his later work at St. Martin of Tours, but does mention his being pastor at St. Francis of Assissi, where we knew him.

Christ the King, Grand Concourse

See pages 472 and for the 1929 creation of the parish of Christ the King, at the Grand Concourse and Marcy Place. This is on the west side of the Grand Concourse two blocks south of East 170 Street,. The rectory address is 141 Marcy Place, Bronx NY 10452, telephone 718-538-5546. The school entrance is at the southwest corner of the intersection, 1345 Grand Concourse. The church entrance is downhill west on Marcy Place, underneath the school.

Christ the King School is at 1345 Grand Concourse, corner of Marcy Place, as in the above photo. The school's website is linked HERE. The school's Facebook page, nicely kept up-to-date, is linked HERE.

A helpful person forwarded this explanation as a comment:
"A building fundraising drive was initiated in 1962, and ended on November 16th with $275,000 pledged by parishioners. This was added to another $200,000 that the parish had already set aside for building.

"The new school building was dedicated on September 12, 1965. The school was constructed over the old church. Only the lower portion of the church had originally been constructed before the Depression put a halt to building plans. (Information obtained from the Dedication Album for Christ the King, printed in 1965.)"

St Angela Merici, East 163 St, Melrose

East 163rd Street is at the right. The church entrance can be seen in the center of the school. Please continue reading below the next two photos.

See page 295 for the creation of St Angela Merici parish, at Morris Avenue and East 163 St., Melrose, in 1899. The present church dates from 1923. For many years, Ursuline Sisters taught in the school of this parish named after their foundress. See page 606 for parishioners from Nigeria. The parish website is linked here. The rectory's address is 917 Morris Ave., Bronx NY 10451, and the telephone is 718-293-0984. In January, 2024, the school's function is unclear. It may have discontinued grades 1-8 a few years ago.
-----
The third photo is taken from East 162nd Street, looking at the altar end of the church. Anytime you are reading such a blog as this one, a click on the photo will bring an enlargement. For example, if you wish to read what is written above the door of the church entrance in the second photo above, just click on that photo.

---

In January, 2023, the two priests are members of the Apostles of Jesus Missionary Congregation founded in Uganda fifty years ago.

St Rita of Cascia & St Pius V, Mott Haven

As of August 1, 2015, the parish of St. Rita of Cascia parish has absorbed the parish of St. Pius V. The parish website is linked here. The two photos below are from 2009.





See page 231 for the foundation of the parish of St Rita of Cascia in 1900. The present church was built in 1904 at College Avenue and East 145 Street. The rectory address is 448 College Ave., Bronx NY 10451, telephone 718-585-5900.
----
On May 24, 1900, Leo XIII canonized two saints: Rita of Cascia and Jean Baptiste de la Salle. Archbishop Michael Corrigan immediately named a new parish for each: Rita here in The Bronx, and John Baptiste de la Salle on Staten Island.
----

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.

The parish website shows parishioners painting the church exterior. They did  a masterful job.

The Missionaries of Charity live, work, and pray in this parish. 

----
The pastor or administrator is now the pastor or administrator of the merged parish of St. Rita and St. Pius V.  However, in neither location could I find a sign acknowledging the merger.  The 2016 Official Catholic Directory lists Fr. Pablo Gonzales Maestre as administrator (or pastor?).  In turn, he is listed as a priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid as a missionary in The Bronx.  His service appears to be with the O.M.P., Obras Misionales Pontificias.
---
Please see my post for the parish of St. Pius V, which has no regular religious services.
---
There are seven comments, which may be read when you click on "Comments" below.
----
Immaculate Conception elementary school is a half-mile away at East 151st Street and Melrose Ave.

Villa Maria Academy private elementary school

The Villa Maria Academy, a private elementary school, is located at 3335 Country Club Road (near Campbell Drive), Bronx NY 10465, telephone 718-824-3260. From privateschoolsreport.com it would appear that Villa Maria Academy has two sections per grade and almost 500 students. The academy seems to be run by the Sisters of the Congregation de Notre-Dame, C.N.D., of Wilton, Connecticut.