About St. Michael Church (Bl. Michael McGivney Parish) · New Haven, Connecticut
St. Michael Church, established in 1889, is the oldest Italian-American Catholic parish in Connecticut, founded in New Haven's Wooster Square neighborhood to serve a wave of Italian immigrants arriving to work in the city's industrial and railroad economy. The Scalabrinian Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo staffed the parish for nearly 120 years, and since July 1, 2023 St. Michael is one of eight churches of Blessed Michael McGivney Parish — the first parish in the world named for the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The current Italian Renaissance Revival church (rebuilt 1904 after a fire) is celebrated for statuary, paintings and devotional art brought from Italy by its first parishioners more than a century ago, and it remains a vital anchor of New Haven's Italian-American community.
- Established
- 1889
- Patron
- St. Michael the Archangel (parish); the merged parish (est. 2023) is named for Blessed Michael McGivney
- Rector
- Rev. Ryan Lerner (Moderator/Pastor of Blessed Michael McGivney Parish since the 2023 merger; pastor of St. Mary since December 2021)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Hartford
Why belong here
St. Michael is the spiritual home of New Haven's Italian-American Wooster Square community and one of the most intact places in Connecticut to experience that heritage — original Italian statuary and devotional art brought over by first-generation immigrants still grace the sanctuary, and the parish still hosts the Southern Italian Religious Societies (St. Ann, St. Andrew the Apostle, Santa Maria Maddalena, St. Trofimena, Santa Maria delle Vergine, and St. Catello) that organize traditional saint feast-day processions. As part of the newly formed Blessed Michael McGivney Parish (2023) it now shares abundant sacramental, formation, and devotional resources — daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration across multiple sites, OCIA, faith formation, and active youth and family ministry — while still operating as a distinct worship site.
Mass times at St. Michael Church (Bl. Michael McGivney Parish)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- See parish Mass Times page (linked from newhavencatholic.org/reconciliation/).
Adoration times
- Every Wednesday 6:00–7:00 PM at St. Francis Church (parish-wide)
- Every Wednesday 8:00–9:00 PM at St. Joseph Church
- Every Thursday following 12:00 PM Mass to 4:00 PM at St. Mary Church
- First Friday of the month 5:30–6:30 PM at St. Joseph Church
- First Friday of the month 6:00 PM–12:30 AM at St. Francis Church
- Every Monday 7:30–8:30 PM at St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale (academic year only)
About St. Michael Church
St. Michael Church (29 Wooster Place) is the oldest Italian-American Catholic parish in Connecticut, established September 1, 1889 by Bishop Lawrence S. McMahon in the heart of Wooster Square. From 1889 until 2006 it was staffed by the Missionaries of St. Charles (Scalabrinians). It is celebrated for the devotional art its immigrant founders brought from Italy, for the saint feast-day processions still kept by its Italian societies, and as the anchor of New Haven's Italian-American community. Since July 1, 2023 it is one of eight worship sites of Blessed Michael McGivney Parish.
- Founded September 1, 1889 — first Italian Catholic parish in Connecticut
- Location: 29 Wooster Place, New Haven, CT 06511 (Wooster Square)
- Scalabrinian-staffed from 1889 to 2006; now part of Blessed Michael McGivney Parish
History
Bishop McMahon assigned priests to New Haven's Italian faithful in temporary halls (St. Patrick Hall, the Union Armory, the Boardman building) until he formally created St. Michael the Archangel Parish on September 1, 1889. The first resident pastor, Fr. Vincenzo Astorri, C.S., converted a former German Lutheran church on Wooster Street. By 1899 the congregation had outgrown that space and Fr. Louis Lango, C.S. purchased a former Baptist/Congregational meeting house on Wooster Place, which Archbishop Sebastiano Martinelli, the Apostolic Delegate, dedicated on April 23, 1899. A fire in 1904 destroyed much of the building; the New Haven firm Brown and Von Beren then rebuilt it in the Italian Renaissance Revival style — the stucco-walled church with central tower that stands today. Fr. Leonardo Quaglia, C.S. (pastor 1916–1949) opened St. Michael School (1936) and the Apostles of the Sacred Heart sisters arrived to staff both the school and a new day care for working immigrant families. The 2023 archdiocesan merger placed St. Michael in the new Bl. Michael McGivney Parish alongside its sister Italian-American parish St. Anthony and St. Mary (where McGivney himself founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882).
- 1889 — parish established; Fr. Vincenzo Astorri, C.S. as first pastor
- 1899 — second church dedicated by Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Sebastiano Martinelli
- 1901 — visit of founder Blessed (St.) Giovanni Battista Scalabrini
- 1904 — fire; rebuilt in Italian Renaissance Revival by Brown and Von Beren
- 1906 — Apostles of the Sacred Heart begin school and day care ministry
- 1936 — parish school opened at 125 Green Street under Fr. Leonardo Quaglia
- 1940 — new school built at 234 Green Street
- 1966 — St. Patrick Church merged into St. Michael
- 1982 — remains of Fr. McGivney transferred to St. Mary Church (sister parish)
- 1993 — St. Michael School merged with St. Stanislaus School
- 1995 — both schools close
- 2023 (July 1) — merged into Blessed Michael McGivney Parish by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair
Architecture & Art
The 1904 rebuild, by Brown and Von Beren, is Italian Renaissance Revival — stucco walls, central bell tower, and Italianate windows retained from the 1899 building. Inside, parishioners care for an exceptional collection of devotional art brought over from Italy by the founding immigrant families and dedicated to the parish more than a century ago. These include marble statues traditionally used in neighborhood processions and oil paintings of saints.
- Architect: Brown and Von Beren, New Haven
- Style: Italian Renaissance Revival (1904)
- Exterior: stucco walls, central tower, Italianate windows retained
- Interior art: marble statues and oil paintings imported from Italy c.1900 by first parishioners
Mass & Sacramental Schedule
As of the April 6/7, 2024 city-wide schedule revision, Sunday Mass at St. Michael is celebrated at 9:30 AM. Daily Mass, Reconciliation and the parish-wide Eucharistic Adoration schedule are coordinated across all eight parish sites. Confession is encouraged at least twice a year (per St. Padre Pio); see the parish Reconciliation page for the latest times.
- Sunday Mass at St. Michael: 9:30 AM
- Confession: see newhavencatholic.org/reconciliation/
- Eucharistic Adoration: rotating schedule at St. Francis, St. Joseph, St. Mary, St. Thomas More @ Yale, and First Friday vigils
Italian Heritage & Feast-Day Societies (S.I.R.S.)
From the start, immigrants from specific towns in southern Italy organized lay societies under St. Michael to mutual-aid each other and to honor their home-town patrons. Those societies still sponsor the parish's signature feast-day Masses and processions through Wooster Square each summer — a tradition kept alive today through the umbrella Southern Italian Religious Societies (SIRS).
- St. Ann Society
- St. Andrew the Apostle Society (Ladies and Men)
- Santa Maria Maddalena Society
- St. Trofimena Society
- Santa Maria delle Vergine Society
- St. Catello Society
Visiting St. Michael Church
The church is open for Masses and parish events only. A virtual tour is offered on the parish website. Visitors traveling to honor Blessed Michael McGivney can also stop at the Knights of Columbus Headquarters' McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven, which hosted the 2024 'Do This in Memory of Me' National Eucharistic art exhibit. Parking is available in the lot adjacent to the church, free street parking is available on Wooster Place, and additional free off-street parking is offered at Iovanne Funeral Home on weekends. An accessibility ramp is located behind the church (drop-off only).
- Open hours: for Masses and events only
- Parking: parish lot, Wooster Place street parking, Iovanne Funeral Home lot (weekends)
- Accessibility: rear drop-off ramp
- Virtual tour available on newhavencatholic.org
- Nearby pilgrimage: McGivney Pilgrimage Center (Knights of Columbus HQ), 1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Vincenzo Astorri, C.S.1889 (first resident pastor)
Scalabrinian (Missionaries of St. Charles); acquired the former German Lutheran church on Wooster Street and dedicated the first St. Michael's in autumn 1889.
- Rev. Louis Lango, C.S.late 1890s
Scalabrinian; purchased the larger former Baptist/Congregational meeting house on Wooster Place which Archbishop Sebastiano Martinelli, O.S.A., the Apostolic Delegate, dedicated as the new St. Michael Church on April 23, 1899.
- Rev. Leonardo Quaglia, C.S.1916–1949 (and earlier leadership of the U.S. Province 1924–1931)
Scalabrinian; led the parish for more than three decades; opened the parish school at 125 Green Street in 1936 and built the replacement school at 234 Green Street in 1940. Records from his pastorate (1916–1949) are preserved at the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS 045).
- Scalabrinian pastors — succession 1950s through 2000s1950s–2006 (approx.)
St. Michael continued under Missionaries of St. Charles/Scalabrinians for almost 120 years per the parish's own history; individual successors 1950–2006 not enumerated in publicly available online sources.
- Diocesan/archdiocesan priests following the Scalabrinians2006–present
After the Scalabrinians' withdrawal, the parish was entrusted to diocesan clergy of the Archdiocese of Hartford; specific names prior to the 2023 merger not published online. Since July 1, 2023 all parishes are united as Blessed Michael McGivney Parish under Fr. Ryan Lerner.