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-1930's, Fr. Coughlin's weekly radio program began to move from religious topics and focus on controversial issues of national and international politics and economics. His political involvement and passionate rhetoric gradually became overtly anti-Semitic. After being silenced in 1942 by the Archbishop, Fr. Coughlin continued to serve as Pastor until his retirement in 1966.
Shrine 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 has 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.
On January 31, 2014, Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron announced that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, granted the title of Minor Basilica to the National Shrine of the Little Flower Church in Royal Oak.
The title is given to churches around the world to denote a particular importance in liturgical and pastoral life, historical significance, architectural beauty, and liturgical renown.
The National Shrine of the Little Flower is the 82nd minor basilica in the United States. The title of Major Basilica is reserved to churches in Rome.
“By honoring the National Shrine of the Little Flower with the designation as a Minor Basilica, Pope Francis has blessed all of us in the Archdiocese of Detroit.” - Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.