Hungarian

St. Stephen King of Hungary Church History:

1934 March With Archdiocesan permission, from the Our Lady of Hungary Church community (1904) the  second Hungarian Catholic congregation was formed with St. Imre Church name.

1938 September 1  St. Imre Church moved into a pre-bought Baptist church that lay empty for 15 years at 2015 W. Augusta Blvd. thereby forming the St. Stephen King of Hungary congregation.

1938 Among other renovations, a basement is dug beneath the building on Augusta Blvd. to be used as a hall for meetings and parish events.

1939 September 24 Archbishop Samuel Stritch comes from Milwaukee to Chicago to bless the church structure. In December he becomes Archbishop of Chicago.

1954 August 22  The south end of the Church structure is enlarged and again when this work is finished, now Cardinal of Chicago, Samuel Stritch comes toSt. Stephen and blesses the building.

1956 December  Refugees flee communist Hungary after an unsuccessful revolt, the first of which are met at the airport by Cardinal Samuel Stritch, two auxilliary bishops and Dr. Joseph Magyar, pastor of St. Stephen King of Hungary Church.

1967 January Cardinal Cody’s “Project Renewal” campaign begins.

1974  June 22 Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty comes to Chicago and celebrates mass at Holy Name Cathedral. Also he visited St. Stephen King of Hungary Church. Dr. Joseph Magyar retires after 36 years as pastor and Dr. Gilbert Mihalyi, O. Praem succeeds him.

1976 Members of St. Stephen represent the Hungarian community in both Chicago's Bicentennial Flag Day Parade on State Street and at the Bicentennial Flag Day Celebration at Soldier Field.

1979 Members of St. Stephen represent Chicago’s Hungarian community upon Pope John Paul II’s arrival and at the mass said in Grant Park on Chicago's lakefront.

1984 St. Stephen King of Hungary Parish celebrates its Golden (50th) Anniversary.

1986-1987 Fr. Mihályi retires and Jesuit Fr. Andrew Eördörgh comes from Toronto to become parish Pastor and almost immediately renovations begin on the church building inside and out

1991: May Fr. Joseph Somos succeeds Fr. Eördörgh as Parish pastor and continues renovation/restoration of St. Stephen King of Hungary Church. Fr. Somos comes to Chicago via the Hungarian church in St. Louis, MO (as did Fr. Mihályi) and as an accomplished musician on piano and church organ schedules yearly organ and piano concerts.

1996 June Chicago Hungarians celebrate Hungary's 1100th Anniversary of Statehood at the James Thompson Illinois Center with participation by congregants of St. Stephen and their children. The day's program concludes with a piano recessional by Fr. Somos.

1999 September Pastor, Rev. Joseph Somos retires to Hungary and Dean Fr. Michael Danek, C.R. succeeds as interim Administrator. Invited and available English speaking and Hungarian speaking priests begin visits to St. Stephen King of Hungary Church to celebrate Mass while the Chicago Diocese begins a search for a new pastor.

2000 June Fr, Laszlo Vas arrives for the summer from the Archdiocese of Nagyvarad, Romania. His arrival comes as requested by a letter from Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago.

2000 October Fr. Laszlo Vas’ Bishop in Nagyvarad gives his permission for Fr. Vas to remain in Chicago to continue his collegiate and theological studies and serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic Hungarian community at St. Stephen King of Hungary Church in Chicago, Illinois.

2001 July The Archdiocese of Chicago names Fr. Laszlo Vas “associate pastor” of St. Stephen King of Hungary Church.

2001 October St. Stephen King of Hungary joins Chicago’s Archdiocese in its 3 year,  “Sharing Christ’s Gifts” millennium campaign and begins taking congregant pledges.

2002 October Roof repair begins and has done. Discussion begins regarding repainting the inside of the church and repairing church windows.

2003 March The Archdiocese of Chicago names Fr. Laszlo Vas “Administrator” of St. Stephen King of Hungary Church.

2004 April Inside repair and paintings of the Church and Parish has done, also the church windows were repaired.

2004 July 5-12 Peter Cardinal Erdo historical visit to Chicagoland. He celebrates mass at St. Stephen King of Hungary Church on July 11th.

2005 October 16 Confirmation in Hungarian language Sacrament given by Joseph Tamas Auxiliary bishop of Transylvania

2015 W.  Augusta Blvd. Chicago, IL 60622 Telephone: (773)486-1896 * Fax: (773) 486-1902

E-mail: st.stephen@freemail.hu ; chicago@stephenchurch.org   Web: http://stephenchurch.org

Fr. László Vas Administrator

 

    St. Stephen King of Hungary Church is celebrating its 70th Anniversary in 2004. Since then much renovation and restoration has been done to keep the 150 year old structure in a workable, manageable state. The church has always sponsored fundraisers. Each year the church sponsors dinner dances, lunches, concerts, guest speakers and raffles for many charitable causes. But it is the time, talent and treasure of St. Stephen’s congregants that have made all of the renovation possible over the years.

    Chicago is an ethnically rich city; parishes have been closing down regularly over the last few years. St Stephen should not be forced to close its doors too! The funds taken in from charitable donations and weekly collections are far exceeded by upkeep costs that the church faces.

    Interested parties and those who'd like this intrinsically valuable ethnic, cultural and religious legacy to continue the work that it does please make all charitable contributions out to: St. Stephen King of Hungary Church and send to 2015 W. Augusta Blvd. Chicago, IL 60622.

Thank you for your contribution!