Church of Sts. Cyril & Methodius and St. Raphael

The Roman Catholic Church of Sts. Cyril & Methodius and St. Raphael in Manhattan, New York City, has since 1974 been administered as the seat of a Croatian national parish, offering services in the Croatian language as well as services in English. Located at 502 West 41st Street, near the southwest corner of Tenth Avenue and an entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, it was built from 1901 to 1903 as the Church of St. Raphael, for a different population: the poor Irish immigrants of the rough neighborhood known as Hell's Kitchen.Church of St. Raphael before 1974In 1886 the territory extending from 34th to 44th Streets, west of 10th Avenue, was separated by the Archdiocese of New York from St. Michael's and Holy Cross parishes and formed into the new parish of St. Raphael, which was incorporated May 4 of that year. A building at 509 West 40th Street, in back of the present church, was rented and fitted up to serve as a temporary church by Rev. John A. Gleeson, the first pastor. Two years later, an adjacent soda-water factory at 503 West 40th Street was converted into a 600-seat chapel to relieve overcrowding and provide a Sunday school for children. In September 1890, Fr. Gleeson was named pastor of St. Michael's Church, and Rev. Malick A. Cunnion succeeded to the pastorate of St. Raphael's.