Ethnic churches closed in downsizing plan

CLEVELAND (AP) — Parishes that have traditionally served northeast Ohio’s eastern European community have been hard hit in a large-scale downsizing plan under way in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.

Reacting to population shifts and financial pressures, the diocese said it will cut 52 parishes in its eight- county area by July of 2010 through closings and mergers. Twenty of the 52 reductions — roughly 40 percent — are churches that have served ethnic communities for generations, diocese spokesman Robert Tayek said Sunday.

Closings are also concentrated in the urban centers of Cleveland, Akron and Lorain, as populations have shifted from the cities to the suburbs in recent years. The Catholic population in Cleveland has declined by 60 percent since 1950, while the Catholic population in the rest of Cuyahoga County has more than tripled, the Diocese said.

“It is only with thorough analysis, prayerful contemplation and the utmost empathy that we take this very difficult but necessary step forward in carrying out the mission of our Church,” Bishop Richard Lennon said in a statement. “I sincerely hope that everyone who is going to Mass now will still be going once this reconfiguration process has been completed.”

The diocese said many parishes that were founded to serve the language and culture of particular ethnic groups — especially eastern Europeans — have seen a dwindling number of churchgoers, leading to a dearth in financial resources to maintain old churches. Many eastern Europeans came to northeast Ohio in the early 20th century to work in the steel mills, but the shrinking congregations and financial resources can no longer support as many individual churches, Tayek said.

Five churches designated as ethnic in the city of Lorain are closing or merging as a result of the downsizing plan.

Parishioners at St. Barbara, a historically Polish parish in Cleveland, reacted with sadness and anger to news of the church’s demise Saturday.

“My grandfather built it, my mother helped to sustain it, and I guess I’m going to bury it,” said Christine Dziedzina of Old Brooklyn.

St. Procop, a 145-year-old Czech parish on West 41st Street in Cleveland, has been suffering decline for years.

Parishioners were prepared for bad news. But still, “it hit me like a bomb,” said Joan Marie Klir, who wept openly in church.

“I’ve been a member of this parish for 62 years,” Klir, 74, said as she dabbed her eyes. “St. Procop, to me, is home.”

Two of the city’s three Hungarian Catholic churches will close and merge with another Hungarian parish.

Not all ethnic parishes are declining, however, Tayek said.

There is increasing demand in the Hispanic, Vietnamese, Korean and African communities, he said.

Sacred Heart Chapel in south Lorain, for example, is a vibrant church that predominantly serves Hispanics, who now live in the same neighborhoods that were traditionally dominated by eastern Europeans, Tayek said.