History & Significance
Basilica · Est. Parish established 1892; current basilica completed 1928
The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn was founded as a parish in 1892 by the Redemptorist Congregation, who continue to staff it. A first wooden church was dedicated in 1894; the present granite Romanesque church, designed by architect Franz Joseph Untersee of Boston, was completed in 1928. Pope Paul VI raised it to the status of minor basilica on September 15, 1969. It serves the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and hosts major diocesan services, including funerals for fallen NYPD and FDNY members.
Romanesque granite church with limestone exterior
- •Minor basilica since 1969 (decreed by Pope Paul VI on September 15, 1969)
- •Located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
- •Founded and staffed by the Redemptorist Congregation (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer)
- •Present church designed by architect Franz Joseph Untersee of Boston, completed 1928
- •Actor Chuck Connors served as an altar boy here in his youth
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