Magyarok Nagyasszonya R. K. Egyházközség

The Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady of the Hungarians in Perth Amboy was one of the important early centers of Hungarian Catholic immigration in New Jersey. The first Hungarian parishioners were mainly masons, artisans, and factory workers. In 1902, they requested a Hungarian priest and were assigned Károly Radóczy as their pastor. Beginning in 1903, Hungarian Masses were held in a small wooden church dedicated to the Holy Cross. The community built a rectory in 1906. In 1907, Ferenc Gross became the parish priest, and he dedicated the church and its cemetery to the protection of Our Lady of the Hungarians. The original wooden church burned down in 1910, but the strength of the faithful is evident in the fact that the new church was completed as early as 1912. Father Gross invited the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Love from Hungary, and they began teaching at the school in 1915. A convent was also built for the sisters. At its peak, the four-grade elementary school educated some 700 children, but in 1930, due to financial difficulties, it had to be handed over to the state. In the decades following World War II, the parish remained a significant center of the Hungarian Catholic community. According to sources, Lőrinc Horváth served as parish priest, followed by István Horváth beginning in 1957. At that time, the church was renovated, a new rectory was built, and an eight-grade school and a kindergarten were established. Due to the gradual decline in the number of Hungarian parishioners and a shortage of Hungarian priests, American parish priests later succeeded the Hungarian pastors. The parish’s independent status was dissolved in 2012: Bishop Paul Bootkoski of Metuchen merged the Holy Trinity, La Asunción, and Our Lady of Hungary parishes, creating the Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish community. The merger legally dissolved the three independent parishes, but the Church of Our Lady of Hungary building remained open and continues to serve as a place of worship at 697 Cortland Street.