July 31, 2024 at 9:18 a.m.
THE ‘HEART’ OF NORTH ALBANY
There is no hiding Mike Conners’ love for Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and North Albany.
“Many of us believe that Sacred Heart Church is the center of the universe or that North Albany is,” Conners said. “The triangle is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and our triangle is School 20, North Albany American Legion Post and the church.”
And if you don’t want to take Conners’ word for it, how about famed author and Pulitzer Prize winner William Kennedy, another North Albanian, who said in his book “O! Albany” that there would be no North Albany without Sacred Heart Church.
This church that was built by Irish immigrants and has been home to countless war veterans going back to the Civil War and just as many civil servants — including judges, a president of the City Common Council in Conners’ father, Richard, who also served eight terms in the New York State Assembly, a mayor and one memorable Albany comptroller in Conners himself, who was on the job for 24 years — is gearing up to celebrate a very special anniversary. On Saturday, Aug. 17, Sacred Heart will celebrate its 150th anniversary with a Mass of Celebration at 4 p.m. Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger will be the principal celebrant for a day that has the theme “150 Years of Service to God, Family & Country.”
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in North Albany, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary on Aug. 17, has no bigger champion than Mike Conners, who is chair of the anniversary committee, a lector and 75-year member of the church. (Cindy Schultz photos for The Evangelist)
Conners said the Mass will be the “high point of the celebration” but there is also a lecture series that started in July and follows the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass with presentations beginning at 10:15 a.m.
“The theory on the lecture series was there is a lot of history here that people aren’t aware of and we want to tie the history here to the church proper and to the community,” Conners said.
The series started on July 14 with a look at the stained glass windows, sacred images and statuary and then will have four native sons talk about their recollections of Sacred Heart, which began with a talk by John “Jack” McEneny, a longtime member of the New York State Assembly, on July 28. On Aug. 4, Conners, who is also chair of the anniversary committee, a lector and 75-year member of the church, and Gerald “Gerry” Jennings, the second-longest tenured mayor in the history of Albany, will speak, followed by Kennedy, who will share his insights on Aug. 11. The Vietnamese Apostolate, which is a big part of the parish, is also scheduled to give a talk at a later date after the anniversary Mass.
And there is much history to talk about at Sacred Heart, which was founded in 1874 by Bishop Francis J. McNierney, the third bishop of Albany, due to the growing Irish population. The original church was built on 25 Erie St., guided by the hand of Father Francis J. Maguire, pastor, and the first Mass was celebrated on Aug. 16, 1874. Two years later, 16 lots surrounding North Pearl Street, North Second Street and Walter Street were purchased by the trustees for $7,000 and ground was broken for the present church. Almost all the parishioners, including Conners’ great-grandfather and grandfather, worked on the excavation and construction of the new church, which at its highest had 1,800 parishioners.
“It was the cornerstone of the community. This wasn’t really the city until the 1870s. The community was just a farm area, then houses built up around it and then it was part of the lumber district so there were a lot of poor people that lived here,” Conners said. “They worked here and on the railroads. It was a blue-collar neighborhood, no real money here. As it developed, it became the backbone of the community.”
And the church continued to grow and expand. In 1929, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet started the catechetical program to teach the youth. They were followed by the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1950. Father John J. Gaffigan was named pastor in 1947, built the convent for the Sisters of the Presentation and remained at the parish until 1969. In 1953, the parish provided temporary housing for veterans through its Edwin Corning Homes. And in the fall of 1959, Sacred Heart School opened.
It may have been the cornerstone of the community, but it has been knocked down a few times, but like many of the residents of Albany’s North End, it has always gotten back up. The church, in dire need of repair, was closed for a year before Father Ernest P. Neville was appointed pastor in 1928. He led a rebirth that included adding the marble pulpit and altar railing, with all the marble imported from Pietrasanta, Italy. The church, which was nearly closed in the late 1980s, got a shot in the arm when the Vietnamese Apostolate relocated there after St. Joseph’s on Ten Broeck Street closed. Said Conners, “Without the Vietnamese apostolate, this church would have been folded up.”
After Father Kofi Amissah, pastor, left to form St. Joan of Arc in Menands, the parish was beset by financial problems and a declining population. In 1997, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard named Bill Gorman the first deacon of the parish and he set in motion its latest revival. Gorman redid the stairs and belfry and righted Sacred Heart, which at the time was $150,000 in debt. Since then the Sisters of the Presentation convent was closed, but Sister Sara Kirsch, CSJ, started the food pantry and free-lunch program, which on a hot July day had a line of people, young and old, waiting to be served.
The church, which is now linked with St. Pius X, in Loudonville, has been challenged by Father Jim Walsh, Conners said, to again be the cornerstone of North Albany.
“You can’t just pay your bills, you have to spread church, you have to evangelize,” Conners added.
The church will start this process by doing a census in the neighborhood to find out the people’s needs and wants, be it after-school basketball, English as a Second Language (ESL) or an AA program.
“The purpose of that census is to let people know, hey we are here,” Conners said. “A lot of people here are new, they don’t know this church, they don’t know what we do. We want to find out the demand.”
In May, Sacred Heart also started Eucharistic adoration every first Friday, which Conners hopes to go every Friday by Advent.
“The idea of this place growing back, is it ever going to have 1,800 people in the parish? I doubt it. There are probably not 1,800 people that live in the neighborhood,” Conners said. “It is important for the church that has done so much for everybody, stays here. The Holy Spirit is acting through this church. I don’t know why, but it is phenomenal. We have had problems and all of sudden they get solved miraculously. There is a lot of life left in this old church.”
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