Parish History

The National Shrine of the Little Flower has been operating as a parish in Royal Oak since 1926, named in honor of St. Thérèse de Lisieux.
In 1926, Detroit Bishop Michael Gallagher assigned Father Charles Coughlin the task of establishing a parish in Royal Oak, Michigan. The bishop chose the recently canonized St. Therese, the Little Flower, as the patron of the new faith community. Beginning with an empty plot of land, Fr. Coughlin proceeded over the next four decades to build a flourishing parish and nationally renowned Shrine, visited by thousands each year from all over the world.

Radio, rapidly growing in popularity, was in its infancy when Fr. Coughlin recognized its media potential to reach a wide audience. He began his radio career teaching the catechism on a weekly Sunday afternoon program. Pope Pius XI’s 1931 encyclical, “Quadragesimo Anno,” turned Fr. Coughlin’s attention to issues of social justice. Using Scripture and papal encyclicals, Fr. Coughlin leveraged his nationally syndicated radio voice and weekly newspaper Social Justice to further his personal views on the right of collective bargaining, a minimum wage, social security, and health and unemployment insurance. As a result of his national renown, donations for the building of the Shrine came in from every state in the country; each state finds its name engraved in a tile imbedded in the roughhewed granite which forms its walls.

In the turbulent social atmosphere of the mid-1930s, Fr. Coughlin’s weekly radio program began to focus on national and international politics and economics. Alarmingly, his political involvements and passionate rhetoric increasingly became anti-Semitic. In one 1938 radio broadcast, he defended Nazi persecution against Jews in Germany as “necessary” to contain the spread of Communism. From July 1938 through October 1938, the magazine Social Justice printed installments of the phony “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a notorious anti-Semitic document purporting to show a Jewish plan to seize control of the world. Fr. Coughlin continued his anti-Semitic rhetoric until he was forced by Archbishop Edward Mooney to cease the radio broadcasts in 1940 and publication of Social Justice in 1942. Fr. Coughlin was ordered to desist “his public career” going forward.

In the decades since Fr. Coughlin’s tenure, Shrine has grappled with the legacy of its founding pastor, hosting interfaith events for the Jewish and Christian communities. It has also grown into one of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s most prominent parishes, currently serving more than 4,000 families. The parish schools, from preschool through high school, are available to the larger community, as are many of the Shrine’s numerous parish programs.

In 1998, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declared the site a National Shrine, one of only five in the country at the time. The designation recognizes a spiritual reality that’s existed at the parish for some time. The church has become a place of worship of extraordinary distinction and a spiritual home for many souls who come from all over to worship in its edifice.

Later in 2014, Pope Francis granted the National Shrine of the Little Flower the honorary title of ‘Minor Basilica’. Read more about the history of the Basilica.

In November 2019, Pope Francis announced the appointment of Msgr. McClory, pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower, as the next bishop of Gary, Indiana.

Msgr. McClory was superseded by Fr. Joseph Horn.  Fr. John Bettin is the current Rector/Priest In Solidum.

Pastors in Service National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica:

• Fr. John Bettin, 2023 - Present
• Fr. Joseph Horn, 2020 - 2023
• Msgr. Robert McClory, 2017- 2019
• Fr. Robert J. Fisher, 2014 - 2016
• Msgr. William Easton, 1996 -2013
• Msgr. John Nienstedt, 1993-1995
• Msgr. Alexander Brunett, 1991-1993
• Msgr. John Gordon, 1990
• Fr. Edward Haggerty, 1987-1989
• Fr. Edward J. Prus, 1980-1986
• Fr. Edward A. Belczak, Co-Pastor 1975-1980
• Fr. Edward J. Prus, Co-Pastor 1975-1980
• Fr. James L. Hayes, 1966-1974
• Fr. Charles E. Coughlin, 1926-1965

Visit University of Detroit Mercy Historical Archives

U of D Mercy Archives

ST. THERESE OF LISEUX

The sides and rear feature windows inside the tower can be lit from within. At the upper corners of the tower are symbols of the Four Evangelists. 

Carved below the feet of the figure of Christ are the Seven Last Words of Jesus. Just below them is a doorway with “Charity” and “Christ Crucified” carved above it. On the sides of the doorframe are depictions of items associated with the Passion. The doorway leads to a small balcony which can serve as a pulpit. 

On the front are carved depictions of the Archangels Jophiel, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel and Uriel. The pulpit is flanked by depictions of John the Apostle and the Virgin Mary to the left and a Roman Centurion holding a spear and Mary Magdalene on the right. Across the terrace facing the crucifix, a depiction of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is carved into the surrounding wall. This sculpture is also by Chambellan.

Behind the tower are doors leading to a large chapel that connects the tower with the main sanctuary. The altar of the chapel is within the base of the tower. The octagonal nave seats three thousand on two different levels, with the altar in the center. 

The main building is granite and limestone, with exterior and elaborate interior sculptural work by Corrado Parducci, including a lectern, Stations of the Cross, and hand-painted murals by Beatrice Wilczynski. The stunning octagon-shaped granite baptismal font was designed by renowned liturgical artists Robert Rambusch and Mario Agustin Locsin y Montenegro.