Mergings and Closings … We’ve been here before

Recently, the St. Malachi-St. Patrick cluster group (which we are calling the “Near West Side Pastoral Plan Team”) met. We have responsibility for reviewing and planning to implement the Pastoral Plan we submitted to Bishop Lennon as part of our Cluster Proposal in November, 2008. We are due to report on our progress to Bishop Lennon by the end of this June.

At the meeting, we were discussing the need to honor the history and ministry of St. Wendelin Parish, which is closing this May, and to honor their legacy. Fr. Mark DiNardo spoke of erecting a plaque in both of our churches as a visible sign and reminder. Another member of the group noted that the need was greater than just remembering and honoring the legacy of St. Wendelin. When I heard that, I thought “Of course! We should also memorialize the “original” St. Malachi Parish and the Community of St. Malachi, which, together have become the new St. Malachi.

But a moment’s reflection made me realize that the legacy that we need to remember is still greater than this recent history. Both St. Malachi and St. Patrick carry on the legacy of other parishes, other faith communities, that once existed here on the near west side of Cleveland.

In 1870, Bishop Amadeus Rappe, the first Bishop of Cleveland, founded Annunciation parish on Hurd (W. 22 St.) and Moore St. (near Lorain) to serve the French-speaking community of Cleveland. After several years, it became obvious that there were too-few French speaking people to sustain a parish, so some territory was taken from St. Patrick church and given to Annunciation parish; Annunciation became about two-thirds Irish. By the time Fr. John McInerney was appointed pastor in 1906, the parish was shrinking. On July 26, 1916, Fr. McInerney was appointed pastor of St. Malachi; the remaining members of Annunciation parish came with him. Fr. McInerney also brought with him the statue of St. Patrick now in the church.

In November, 1854, Bishop Rappe founded St. Mary of the Assumption Parish to serve German Catholics in the Ohio City area. The church was built at Jersey St. (W. 30) and Carroll Ave. In 1880, Bishop Richard Gilmour, the second Bishop of Cleveland, welcomed the Jesuits to Cleveland, who founded St. Ignatius College (today St. Ignatius High School) directly across the street from St. Mary. Shortly after, the Jesuits took over the pastoral care of St. Mary. German immigration peaked by the turn of the Twentieth Century; by the 1920’s, the population of St. Mary was in decline. As grade school enrollment shrank, St. Ignatius High School took over more and more of the empty classrooms. In September 1945, all remaining students from St. Mary came over to St. Patrick School. Shortly after that, Fr. Francis Callan SJ was appointed pastor of both St. Mary and St. Patrick. Gradually, St. Mary church became the chapel for St. Ignatius High School and most parish activities took place at St. Patrick. The Jesuit community served at St. Patrick until 1980, when diocesan clergy (including Fr. Mark DiNardo) began staffing St. Patrick once again.

Often, when people think of history, they treat it as something dead and gone. On the contrary, all history lives on, in some way, in the present. We have in ourselves, whether we realize it or not, the legacy of all those who have gone before us. We are not just their successors; we are their continuation. Their path, their story, has led to us.

At one time, both Annunciation and St. Mary of the Assumption were active, vibrant parish communities. The time came for both to hand their ministry on to others, at St. Malachi and St. Patrick. Today, both parishes embody their legacy. Today, because of them, through us, the work of Christ continues here on the Near West Side.