By David Briggs
Plain Dealer
June 9, 2008
http://blog.cleveland.com/lifestyles/2008/06/in_cleveland_st_peter_hopes_to.html
A prominent downtown church is fighting to stay alive in a planned massive diocesan reorganization, saying an anonymous angel has pledged $2 million to save St. Peter Catholic Church.
St. Peter appears to be the first parish to declare its opposition to plans by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese to close or merge nearly 50 churches in response to population shifts to the suburbs.
 |
| St. Peter, shown in 2001, is the oldest church building in continuous use in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. Photo by Chuck Crow |
Final decisions on closings are not expected before late February 2009, but regional groups of parishes throughout the eight-county diocese are starting to make recommendations that will be brought before their parishes. Some groups have agreed to the mergers and closings requested by Bishop Richard Lennon.
On Sunday, June 8, however, officials at St. Peter, at East 17th St. and Superior Ave., announced they would oppose a recommendation that it merge with St. John Cathedral. The church said an anonymous donor has agreed to give $2 million to wipe out a $355,000 debt to the diocese and demolish and turn into a green space a closed school next to the church. The rest of the gift would be used to expand St. Peter's ministries, which include support of a women's shelter and a Cleveland elementary school.
The congregation grew 10 percent last year to 356 households, said Robert Zack, a parish council member at St. Peter and a church representative to its regional group. The church, which took in about $2,600 in collections on June 1, has a high rate of giving and attendance, he said.
"Fundamentally, we feel we have a vibrant community that is financially solvent," he said.
Zack said on Monday, June 9, that the church was told the diocese could not accept the gift, which is contingent on St. Peter remaining open. Diocesan spokesman Robert Tayek said to propose the gift would be "inappropriate," and outside the established procedures of the regionalization process.
Joanne Uniatowski, a member of St. John Cathedral and a spokeswoman for the regional group, said on Monday, "We have yet to agree on a proposal."
St. Peter is the first parish to publicly come out against the reorganization plan, according to the leader of a group that is offering help to parishes who want to fight church closings. "Most people are waiting to see what the final report is going in, and they're processing stuff over the summer," said Sister Christine Schenk, executive director of FutureChurch, an independent Lakewood-based organization that advocates a larger voice for people in the pews.
In May 2007, Lennon told regional groups of parishes to come up with plans to close or merge more than 45 of the diocese's 231 parishes. The regional groups were assigned staggered dates from Sept. 15 to Dec. 15 of this year to submit their final reports. Lennon is expected to decide by late February or early March 2009, said diocesan spokesman Robert Tayek.
The bishop Lennon told the cluster with St. Peter, St. John Cathedral and the Conversion of St. Paul Shrine parish to consolidate into one parish. The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, which has a monastery on the grounds, probably would keep the shrine open for Masses as a convent church, but not as a diocesan parish regularly offering baptisms and funerals.
The cathedral, considered the "mother church" of the diocese, has 740 households, about twice the size of St. Peter. No one has suggested closing the cathedral.
What leaders at St. Peter argue is that it also should remain open. They say the church is a growing community with ministries to the city that include adult education and arts programs that reach 2,400 people a year. Zack says the church, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2003, draws people from five counties.
Schenk praised St. Peter for not meekly accepting the diocesan plan.
"It's being loyal to the church to reflect the good that this vital, vibrant and solvent parish is bringing to the urban community," Schenk said. "They would be disloyal to the church if they were not doing what they're doing."
Update on cluster process
Some tough decisions have already been made as the Cleveland Catholic Diocese moves forward with a reorganization plan.
Closings
St. Wenceslas Church in Maple Heights.
Holy Trinity in Barberton.
St. Andrew in Cleveland.
St. Philip Neri in Cleveland.
Merger
St. Catherine and St. Henry churches in Cleveland with St. Timothy in Garfield Heights, creating a new parish called Holy Spirit.
Mergers proposed by regional groups
Lorain: St. Stanislaus, St. Ladislaus, Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph to merge with Holy Trinity to create a new parish.
Euclid: St. Christine with Holy Cross, St. Robert Bellarmine with St. William and St. Paul with St. Felicitas.
Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland: St. Louis in Cleveland Heights and Christ the King and St. Philomena in East Cleveland to merge with St. Ann in Cleveland Heights. St. Philomena would remain open for worship and as an outreach center.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.