Our Story

St. Joseph Catholic Church was founded in 1855 as a German-language parish to provide a new home to the burgeoning number of immigrants crowding the neighboring Old St. Mary’s. The first decade and a half of its history saw the parish’s first baptism in 1856, and the building of the original St. Joseph’s church - a wooden structure consecrated by Venerable Bishop Frederic Baraga, the famous “snowshoe priest,” of the Diocese of Marquette. Along with the church, the community built several other buildings, including a rectory - to later serve as a convent - and a grammar school for the boys and girls of the sizable working-class neighborhood now surrounding the church.

The “Pearl of Detroit”

In 1870, the cornerstone for the current church was laid. Designed by Franz Himpler and dubbed “the pearl of Detroit,” the magnificent neo-Gothic structure, then the tallest building in the city and boasting its largest congregation - and the second largest in the state of Michigan, was consecrated in 1873.

The next seventy years of St. Joseph’s history were undoubtedly influenced by the exorbitant growth of Detroit itself - from frontier outpost to world-class city. This golden-era saw the dedication of the massive Odell pipe organ to complement the world-renowned St. Joseph’s Choir, the founding of the Knights of St. John and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the building of the current Rectory, the addition of St. Joseph Commercial College - a high school for boys preparing for office careers - to the panoply of education already provided at the parish, and even the first parish bulletin, mailed to parishioners in 1927.

Sacred music, generous service of the poor, and cultural enlivenment have all flowered and continue to grow in the beautiful Saint Joseph's Church in Detroit's historic Eastern Market, an active and rapidly re-developing urban hub.

Changes and Challenges

The second world war and the dawning of the mid-20th century brought with it many sweeping societal changes from which Detroit was not exempt. Suburban expansion due to the interstate system, neighborhood blight, and civil unrest must certainly have influenced the closing of the elementary and academy schools at St. Joseph in 1942 and provided a backdrop for the parish centennial celebration in 1956. In 1964, St. Joseph High School closed its doors, perhaps a victim to the Lafayette Park urban renewal project that devastated parish attendance. But hope really does spring eternal at St. Joseph’s - and in 1972, a year before the centennial celebration of the church, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and despite the dwindling parish rolls, in 1985 the St. Joseph Cappella is formed by the exceptionally talented Detroit musician and organist, Thomas M. Kuras.

Serious economic hardships lead St. Joseph to join the St. Josaphat and Sweetest Heart of Mary cluster of local parishes in 2004. These three communities merged in 2013 to form the Mother of Divine Mercy Parish. Though at times the outlook appeared dire, seeds of the Shrine’s current renewal were planted at the dawn of the new millennium. A group of stalwart St. Joseph priests and parishioners built the current Social Hall and established beloved traditions and enduring groups including the Annual St. Joseph Day of Prayer, the St. Joseph Men’s Schola, and the first Choirfest, which has grown into St. Joseph Shrine’s annual Oktoberfest, commemorating the 150th year of the parish’s founding.

A Historic Renewal

In 2016, 161 years after its founding, His Grace, Allen Henry Vigneron, then Archbishop of Detroit, initiated a new chapter at St. Joseph’s. Entrusting the old church and the souls who called it home to the care of the Canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, would prove to be the impetus for a new era of growth and renewal. In 2017, the church launched the transformative Historic Renewal Capital Campaign, a multi-year, multimillion dollar undertaking designed to restore every aspect of the landmark campus, and in 2020, in recognition of the thriving spiritual life offered at St. Joseph’s to parishioners and pilgrims alike, Archbishop Vigneron elevated the church to a Shrine. Revered institutions like the Knights of St. John are thriving.

The musical tradition of St. Joseph’s continues apace with the exquisite works performed by the Choir, Men’s Schola, Cappella, and the summer men’s chorus, Cantatio. Echoing the boom years of St. Joseph’s past, the Shrine is once again a hub of education with a weekly homeschool cooperative and evening children’s catechism classes taught by the Canons, each serving over 100 children, as well as a growing children’s choir-the perfect place to teach and train the choristers of tomorrow. And in 2024, with the aid of generous benefactors, the Institute of Christ the King purchased a nearly 5 acre lot adjacent to the Shrine - promptly christened DeSales Park - to house a future expansion of the Shrine campus.

Saint Joseph Shrine - Detroit's Historic Gothic Landmark

A magnificent Victorian Gothic edifice completed in 1873 and noted as of national architectural significance, Saint Joseph Shrine is a landmark center of Catholic faith, culture, and community in Detroit's historic Eastern Market district.

Since October 2016, the Canons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest have served and led the local faithful by bringing daily Traditional Latin Masses, regular devotions, liturgical instruction, and an active parish life. As a result, the parish community at St. Joseph Shrine continues to grow enriching both young and old, individuals and families from all backgrounds and neighborhoods.

In July 2013, the Archdiocese of Detroit merged St. Joseph with two nearby parishes. Then in October 2016, St. Joseph became its own parish under the spiritual and pastoral care of the Institute of Christ the King. In March 2020 the Parish was granted the designation of Archdiocesan Shrine in recognition of its vibrant spiritual growth and daily life. More details here.

About the Institute of Christ the King

Bringing truth in charity to every sphere of human life

Founded in 1990 within the Roman Catholic Church, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a society of priests, sisters, and oblate brothers currently serving in eleven countries around the world and in thirteen dioceses across the United States.

The Institute is devoted to the sanctification of souls through the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite with Gregorian chant and through the spirituality of its holy patrons: Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Benedict of Nursia, as well as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

At the invitation of Archbishop Allen Vigneron, the Institute arrived in 2016 to re-vivify the newly unmerged parish, and to minister to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Detroit through a full sacramental life formed and nurtured by the Traditional Latin Mass.