St. Rose Church closed on June 23, 2024.
During the end of the 19th century and early 20th century there was an increase in the growth of various ethnic groups in East Hartford. Since the new residents were primarily Catholic, Bishop John J. Nilan established St. Rose of Lima Parish, the second offspring of St. Mary’s, on October 25, 1920 in the Burnside section of East Hartford.
Father Alexander Mitchell was the first pastor and immediately secured an admirable site of 10 acres of land that stretched from the western corner of Burnside Avenue down Church Street. The sizable tract was deeded to St. Rose by the Hamner family, owners of local mills since colonial times. A purchased house served as the rectory, and with the labor of his parishioners, Father Mitchell was soon able to build a frame church in the form of a Quonset hut. A more spacious structure, originally intended to function as a school and parish center, was built on Church Street with parishioners again supplying the labor.
The building, dedicated on June 22, 1924, would permanently remain the church of St. Rose. Father J. Clement Martin succeeded Father Mitchell in 1929 and continued as pastor through the Depression and WWII. Father Martin made St. Rose a well-known East Hartford institution. Local baseball became a powerful community instrument to lift spirits during the Depression. Father Mitchell assisted in the founding of a Twilight League.
In 1938, the town established a new playing field at Burnside playground. After Father Martin’s death in 1944, the field was renamed Martin Park in his honor. Father Austin Munich, the son of converts and a liturgically keen priest, became the third pastor. He once organized a joint Palm Sunday procession with Burnside Methodist Church.
As the number of youngsters grew Father began work on a school. He purchased two pieces of property, including a building across from St. Rose to be refurbished as a convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who would staff the new school. St. Rose Junior High opened on November 28, 1955, with the intention that it would expand into a high school.
After East Catholic High School was founded in 1961, and St. Rose became a K through 8 elementary school. Father Raymond Kernick, who became pastor at Father Munich’s death in 1965, built a new rectory. Fathers James T. Carroll and John P. Conte became the parish’s first team pastors in 1971. The church was rededicated in 1974 after a major restoration effort. In the tradition of this parish, the professional design and actual labor were provided by parishioners. The parish continued to grow in social ministries as well as in numbers.
As the demographics in the town changed, the congregation at St. Rose also changed. As the number of Hispanics grew in East Hartford, the number of Spanish speaking Catholics grew also. Catholics from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and other Latin American countries found a home at St. Rose of Lima. The need for a Spanish speaking priest became obvious. In 1998, a Spanish Mass was added to the weekend schedule. Today the large Hispanic Community is served by a Spanish speaking priest.
Under the guidance of Reverend John P. Rohan, in 2004 St. Rose began the process of joining St. Isaac Jogues and St. Mary’s Churches into a Cluster named the Catholic Communities of East Hartford North.
In 2010 St. Rose School closed due to a decreasing enrollment. The school building is currently leased out and provides income to the parish. St. Rose has continued to be a diverse population with a congregation characterized by openness to neighbor’s needs for the sake of God.
On June 29, 2017 the three parishes of the Cluster were dissolved, and we became one new parish, the North American Martyrs. The continued growth of the Ghanaian Community and their desire to form their own “quasi parish” was realized on January 1, 2019 when St. Isaac Jogues Church separated from the North American Martyrs Parish and became the St. Isaac Jogues Ghanaian Catholic Quasi Parish.