Collinwood Gets a New Catholic Parish

For more than two years, all parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland have been working on plans to better serve the faithful. For many parishes in the central cities of the diocese, this meant planning for the possibility of closing or merging. When the study was completed, about 50 parishes were told to either close or merge. Most of these are in the city of Cleveland.

In Collinwood, where there are four Catholic parishes, there will still be four Catholic parishes. But one will be a merged parish. The parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help will merge with St. George Parish in the St. Clair/Superior neighborhood to form a totally new parish named St. Casimir.

A parish merger means that both Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. George parishes will close and a totally new parish will be established. Since this merger was announced in March of this year, the two pastors along with members from each parish have been meeting regularly to establish the new parish.

The mission of St. Casimir, to be located at the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help, will be to preserve and unite the Lithuanian people of the Diocese, reach out to new arrivals from Lithuania, and be involved in the Collinwood community.

On Wednesday, September 9, 2009, this writer was informed that he will become the pastor of St. Casimir Parish when it is formally established on October 25, 2009. It will be the job of the new pastor to establish Mass schedules, hire staff, and work with the people to bring a totally new Catholic presence to the Lithuanians of the Cleveland Diocese and the Collinwood community.

Here are some dates that will mark the transition: St. George Parish will close on October 18, 2009, with a final Mass with Bishop Lennon at 9:00 am. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish will close on the same day, with Mass with Bishop Lennon at 12:00 noon. On Sunday, October 25, 2009, St. Casimir Parish will formally open with Mass with Bishop Lennon at 10:00 am. I invite those interested to participate in these events, especially the opening Mass of the new St. Casimir Church, 18022 Neff Rd.
You can expect to hear from me in future editions of The Collinwood Observer. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you will welcome me into the Collinwood community.