Holy Cross Catholic Church was established by Bishop John Ireland at the request of the Polish immigrant community in NE Minneapolis in 1886. This immigrant-built church has remained the spiritual center of the Twin Cities Polish ethnic community in an unbroken fashion since that time. Holy Cross has long enjoyed the residence of Polish priests of the Society of Christ Fathers (Towarzystwo Chrystusowe), who minister specially to Catholics of the Polish diaspora. Our Polish community is drawn both from the neighborhoods of an urban corridor rich with those of eastern European heritage, and from faithful and loyal Polish families of NE legacy who have since populated the suburbs of the Twin Cities. The community continues to be nourished by recent Polish immigration.

Polish families within a two-hour radius of travel time come to the Holy Cross grounds to have their children educated in Polish language and culture at our Polish Saturday School, to meet in committees for the organization of cultural events, to hear historical lectures, and to attend Polish-language Masses.

The Polish Community at Holy Cross