100 years at Woodward and 12 Mile: how the Shrine of the Little Flower grew from 28 families to a basilica

ROYAL OAK, Mich. — When the Shrine of the Little Flower parish was founded, the corner of Woodward Avenue and 12 Mile Road was mud and wagon ruts, with a railroad track about 100 feet from where the front door would go. Twenty-eight families signed on, according to the parish.

A century later, the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica is one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit and one of the best-known landmarks on Woodward. It marked its 100th anniversary this year with a yearlong celebration that ended with a June 26 Mass celebrated by Archbishop-emeritus Allen H. Vigneron.

A first. Bishop Michael Gallagher sent the Rev. Charles Coughlin to start the parish in 1925, the year St. Thérèse of Lisieux was canonized. The parish says it was the first in the world named for the French saint, known as the Little Flower.

The building. The church that stands today went up in two phases, in 1931 and 1936, in a soaring Art Deco style with an octagonal sanctuary and the stone Charity Tower facing Woodward. Inside are a rare Kilgen pipe organ and first-class relics of St. Thérèse and her parents, according to the parish. Pope Francis named the church a minor basilica in 2015.

A complicated founder. Coughlin became one of the most famous radio voices in America in the 1930s, broadcasting from the Shrine to millions of listeners, and money from those listeners helped build the church. His broadcasts later turned to attacks on President Franklin Roosevelt and to antisemitic rhetoric. In 1942, after the federal government moved to bar his magazine, Social Justice, from the mail, Archbishop Edward Mooney ordered him to stick to pastoral duties. He remained the parish's pastor until he retired in 1966.

The centennial. Thousands came for anniversary events, including a pancake breakfast, docent-led "tour of the century" in April and a "virtual Lourdes pilgrimage," said Judy Maten, who chairs the centennial committee. "We're a point of pilgrimage for so many people. It's a place of prayer and healing," she told Detroit Catholic.

The parish also changed leaders this year. The Rev. John Bettin finished his time as rector, and Msgr. Charles Kosanke took over. The basilica, at 2100 W. 12 Mile Road, also runs Shrine Catholic Schools.

Sources:
Detroit Catholic, “National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica celebrates 100 years of faith,” July 1, 2026, https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/national-shrine-of-the-little-flower-basilica-celebrates-100-years-of-faith
Detroit Catholic, “In Brief: Shrine Basilica welcomes all to the 'tour of the century',” March 24, 2026, https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/in-brief-shrine-basilica-welcomes-all-to-the-tour-of-the-century
National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, “Centennial,” https://shrinechurch.com/centennial
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia, “The Radio Priest: Charles E. Coughlin and American Antisemitism,” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/charles-e-coughlin
Photo: Lrgjr72, “National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica (Royal Oak MI).jpg,” June 18, 2020, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Shrine_of_the_Little_Flower_Basilica_(Royal_Oak_MI).jpg

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Tags: Royal Oak · History · National Shrine of the Little Flower · Churches · Woodward Avenue