Holy Cross Catholic Church Batavia IL

Holy Cross Catholic Church is a welcoming and engaging parish family nourished by the Eucharist and called by Jesus Christ to "Go and make disciples!" through the Word of God, the Sacraments, and Stewardship. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Cross community embraces with enthusiasm the challenge of proclaiming the Good News and forming a deeper relationship with Christ.

From the Constitution of the Holy Cross Pastoral Council

 

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Holy Cross Catholic Church Parish Bataiva, Illinois

The earliest year we are able to trace our parish back to is 1854, when Father Sullivan came from Aurora to offer Mass in the farm home of John Lonergan, east of the village of Batavia. From those dozen Catholics that assembled for this first Mass to our current congregation, Holy Cross Parish continues to stand the test of time for more than 160 years.

Some time in the year 1854, a Father Sullivan came from Aurora to offer Mass in the farm home of John Lonergan, east of the village of Batavia. A scant dozen Catholics assembled in the Lonergan home for this first Mass. Undaunted by the small congregation, Father Sullivan persevered in his missionary effort. Within a few months, he had rented a single room in a block on Batavia Avenue immediately north of Wilson Street, and so slight was the increase of Catholics that this small chapel was adequate for six years.

The care of the small mission was assumed by Father Patrick O'Dwyer of St. Charles. In 1860, Father 'Dwyer had inspired his small flock with courage to purchase the former Congregational Church which adjoined the chapel then being used.

Whether Father O'Dwyer had overestimated the resources of his Batavia congregation or whether their own desire for a church had carried them Beyond their financial depth, is a matter of record that the people were threatened with the loss of their church because of their failure to meet the payments. In this crisis, Owen Kavanaugh and John Findley rose as leaders in a determined effort to save the church. They went from home to home receiving the pitifully small donations which the impoverished Catholics were able to give. Kavanaugh himself gave up a sorely needed overcoat to help supply the need. Despite their sacrifices, the Catholics were unable to raise the sum required, and the church was saved only through additional help given by generous non- Catholics.

Marriages, from 1857, were recorded in a special register for Batavia. Baptisms, however, were recorded in the parish register of St. Patrick Church, St. Charles, until February of 1866.

It is with the arrival of Father Michael Pendergast, O.P. (1870-1875) as the first resident pastor of St. Charles that the history of Holy Cross Parish properly begins.

Father Pendergast must have been hopeful of the growth of the Batavia mission for he purchased the Kemp property on the east side at the corner of Wilson and Van Buren, a commanding site in that day, and soon left St. Charles to take up residence in Batavia. St. Charles now became the mission from Batavia and not long after Turner Junction, now West Chicago, was placed in the care of the pastor of Batavia. The territory served by the pastor of Holy Cross then embraced the present areas of the parishes in Batavia, St. Charles, Geneva and West Chicago. St. Patrick Parish in St. Charles soon regained independent status but West Chicago remained a mission of Batavia for many years, in fact, it wasn't until the coming of Father George Ratz (1893-1907) that West Chicago was severed and Elburn became the mission of Batavia.

Father Dominic Spelman (1876-1893) arrived in Batavia to continue as pastor for seventeen years until the coming of Father George Ratz in 1893. Father Ratz was a native of Freeport. In all probability, he was the first American born pastor of Holy Cross, and was born within the limits of what is now the Diocese of Rockford. He was also a former Lutheran who had been converted in his early adult life. The zeal of the convert and the desire of a native son were combined in Father Ratz. The year 1896 was a year of financial panic and frightening to people who depended upon steady employment for the necessities of life. The lack of money, however, did not deter Father Ratz from building a church, nor did it discourage his people.

In place of money, they gave materials and long devoted hours of grueling labor. A parishioner, William Shannon, was the owner of a quarry and many of the men of the parish were stone masons, jobless because of the depression. These men quarried the Shannon stone, cut, dressed and set it.

The cornerstone of Holy Cross Church was laid in the spring of 1896 and the church was completed early in the summer of 1897. Father T. Mooney, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago, dedicated the new church on June 15, 1897.

Acknowledgement must be made of the generosity of non-Catholics while the Catholics were striving to build their church; the large tower bell was donated by a non-Catholic.

In 1909, Father John P. McGuire (1909-1913) devoted himself to building the rectory which adjoined the church. In 1911, Elburn was constituted an independent parish and Father Daniel P. Drennan was appointed the first pastor. The boundaries of Holy Cross had been gradually reduced, first by the withdrawal of St. Charles, then by the severance of West Chicago, and later by the new status granted to Elburn.

It was early in the pastorate of Father Daniel Lehane (1913-1929) that the so-called Batavia plan of released time religious instruction was inaugurated. An agreement was reached between the School Board of Batavia and the churches of the city whereby every elementary school pupil in Batavia would be released on Thursdays for two consecutive periods of religious instruction in the church designated by parents. The Sisters of Mercy conducted the religious instruction classes until 1953, when Bishop John J. Boylan persuaded the Daughters of the Holy Heart of Mary to come to Holy Cross to teach religion to the children.

Father William J. Donovan (1929-1967) succeeded Father Lehane as pastor and served as pastor of Holy Cross for the next 38 years. In November of 1945, Pope Pius XIl named Father Donovan a domestic prelate with the title of Right Reverend Monsignor.

In 1959 work was begun on a one-story building which would consist of four classrooms and a multi-purpose hall, serving as a gymnasium and assembly room for the school.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart assumed the pastoral responsibility of the parish in 1969 with Father Raymond J. Costello, MSC, (1969-1982) being appointed the first MSC pastor. In 1988, the MSC's decided to no longer staff Holy Cross due to a shortage of priests within their order. Bishop Arthur J. O'Neill assigned Father Stephen J. St. Jules (1988-2001), a diocesan priest, as the new pastor.

A new church was built during the pastorate of Father St. Jules. A Mass of Dedication was celebrated by Bishop O'Neill on April 8, 1994. The new church has seating for 1200 people, compared to the old church, which seated 300 people. This increase in seating reflects the growth in Batavia's population, from about 3,800 in 1897, when the first church was built, to about 20,000 when the new church was completed in 1994. Just as the parishioners of 1896 built their church with their own hands, the parishioners of 1994 built the parish's new rectory with all volunteers.

On August 24, 2008, Bishop Thomas Doran dedicated the Holy Cross Education Center under the pastorate of Monsignor Daniel J. Deutsch. The Education Center is the home of Holy Cross Catholic School which provides a Catholic education to about 400 students each year. ~From The History of the Diocese of Rockford, published 2007 by the Diocese of Rockford.