Archbishop of Detroit dedicates new additions to Solanus Casey Center

Detroit — The Solanus Casey Center celebrated its 20th anniversary Saturday morning with about 100 members of its congregation and the Archbishop of Detroit, who dedicated a new gift shop, cafe, confessionals, office space and reception atrium at the center.

The Solanus Casey Center is a pilgrimage place on Detroit's east side near the Islandview neighborhood and contains the tomb of Blessed Solanus Casey. Casey was the porter, or doorkeeper, at St. Bonaventure Monastery, located just next door to the Solanus Casey Center.

"The center is a way to continue the life and ministry of father Solanus which, during his lifetime was so powerful," Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, said. "(After) all these decades he's still a living presence in Detroit."

Born in 1870, Casey joined the Capuchin Franciscan friars, a religious order within the Roman Catholic Church. Casey worked in Detroit from 1924 to 1945 and would counsel and pray with people going through hard times. He helped found the Capuchin Soup Kitchen when the Great Depression began in November 1929.

"(Detroit) was not the only place he exercised his ministry, but it was the principal place where he served as a priest and I think anybody in Detroit would tell you, he's really a Detroit citizen," Vigneron said.

The Solanus Casey Center served over 100,000 pilgrims each year prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and they are hoping to reach those numbers again this year. They also offer daily mass, confessions, confirmation preparation, a blessing of the sick twice a week and counseling three times a week. The blessing of the sick is a tradition that Casey started himself.

"Most people I would say come here... to visit the tomb of Blessed Solanas, to pray this tomb," said Br. Steve Kropp, Director of the Solanus Center. "We've had people that I've talked to from Michigan, from all over the United States, we've had people from around the world."

Detroit native Dona DeSantis-Reynolds attended the Wednesday healing services and has been going to the Solanus Casey Center for around 15 years.

"I started coming many years ago, I was dealing with cancer," DeSantis-Reynolds said. "It's so much peace to be here. I mean I'll spend hours here sometimes when I come."

DeSantis-Reynolds likes the new additions but said it doesn't matter what additions or renovations they do because "it's a wonderful space to be in with wonderful people."

The new cafe, gift shop and reception area make the center more bright and welcoming, Vigneron said.

"It says 'we've got room for you, come on in.' And it just increases the capacity for the sharing of gifts," Vigneron said.

The cafe in particular continues the legacy of Casey's soup kitchen, which used to sit on the site of the Solonus Casey Center, Kropp said.

"I think it increases the hospitality we're able to offer people when they come here, many of whom are elderly, who are not physically well," Kropp said.

The additions are part of a $20 million expansion and renovation project funded by the A.A. Van Elslander Foundation and other donors. An outdoor garden is also part of the expansion plans and the center is looking to finish construction on it in the spring of 2023.

Ken Van Elslander attended the dedication and service Saturday morning and said his late father, Archie Van Elslander, had a vision for what the Solanus Casey Center could become. Archie Van Elslander founded Art Van Furniture in Michigan, donated millions of dollars to charitable causes and died in 2018.

Archie wanted people to be able to go to the center to pray, worship and go to confession like he did as a younger man, Ken said. Three generations of Van Elslanders have been going to St. Bonaventure's.

"He introduced myself and my brothers and sisters to the, you know, center years ago. So... it's tradition," Ken said. "My father brought me here when I was like a nine-year-old child."

hmackay@detroitnews.com