The parish was established in 1905 out of the Holy Cross parish for the burgeoning Italian community, who had—since 1897—been administered to by Father Ludeke and Father Malone.[1] The parish was merged with that of St. Francis of Assisi's Church (Brooklyn, New York), which had been established in 1898, to form the parish of St. Francis of Assisi / St. Blaise. The combined parish is located at 319 Maple Street, Brooklyn, New York 11225, the premises of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi.[2] Effective January 31, 2011, the merged parish of St. Francis of Assisi - St. Blaise absorbed the territorial boundaries of the former Parish of Saint Ignatius, wherein "all the assets and obligations [including the parochial registers and the seals] currently belonging to the former Parish of Saint Ignatius are by this canonical decree transferred to the Parish of Saint Francis of Assisi – Saint Blaise." The Church of Saint Ignatius remains open as a chapel of ease within the merged parish.[3]
Buildings
The St. Blaise's Church building was dedicated October 18, 1908, and the Rev. Joseph Bonaventure was given charge until the appointment of a pastor.[1] The first pastor was Rev. Vincent A. Di Giovanni; he was appointed June 20, 1911.[1]
Pastors
Rev. [Francis] Ludeke of Holy Cross Church (1897-1898)[1]
^Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D., Bishop of Brooklyn, DECREE - St. IgnatiusArchived 2011-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, November 12, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2011. Excerpted from "Christ Jesus, Our Hope is the strategic planning initiative for the Diocese of Brooklyn, which I mandated in the beginning of 2010. With the formation of the Diocesan Planning Commission, chaired by the Most Reverend Frank Caggiano, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, and the Reverend Monsignor Edward B. Scharfenberger, Vicar for Strategic Planning, I began the process of assessing each of the Diocese's 197 parishes for the purpose of evaluating both their pastoral vitality as well as their financial viability...."