Below The Beltway

Late last week, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland announced the closing of several dozen churches throughout the diocese, but there’s one parish that isn’t taking the order to close sitting down:

The altar, crucifix and lectern at St. Colman Church on West 65th Street were draped in purple for Lent. Funereal black would have been more appropriate.

News of the impending death of the beloved church came as a shock and without warning for everyone interviewed Saturday.

The first clue came at 8 a.m. when the Rev. Robert Begin’s barking dog alerted him to the arrival of the letter bearing the news from Bishop Richard Lennon. It was an hour early.

After Begin read the words announcing that his church had been targeted to close, he dashed off a three-page letter to his parishioners. He attached it to a petition appealing to the bishop for a reprieve.

Worshippers received the letter and petition as they arrived for the 5 p.m. Mass.

“It’s not a campaign,” Begin told the congregation. “It’s a real earnest effort to convince the bishop to do the right thing.”

And the effort continued on Tuesday, when St. Colman, founded in 1880 by Irish immigrants who built the church themselves and whose altar is made from marble imported from Ireland, served it’s traditional role as home of Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day Mass:

CLEVELAND — The St. Patrick’s Day faithful streamed toward the familiar twin green domes of St. Colman Catholic Church Tuesday morning, anticipating the moment

(…)

At the start of the service Tuesday, the Rev. Bob Begin tested the fervor for St. Colman. He asked a packed sanctuary if people wished to appeal the bishop’s decree.

“Yes!” the congregation shouted as one.

Begin put a hand to his ear, as if he could not quite hear.

“Yes!” the congregation declared, collectively jumping to its feet in an ovation.

Now, you may wonder why I’m even talking about this subject, but its really quite simple..

St. Colman is the Church where my wife Kellie and I were married on February 5, 2005 — by Rev. Begin, or Father Bob as he insisted we refer to him. It’s also a place that holds a special place in the heart of my wife’s family, and I’ve learned much about the good works it performs in the tragically poor community that it now occupies.

In addition to that, it is a landmark in the City of Cleveland, a city I’ve come to respect and even love to some degree. The thought that it might not be there in two or three years is more than just a little sad.

Leaving aside the spiritual issues, though, St. Colman is simply a beautiful place inside and out. Although much more grand, it reminds me of the church that my mother was raised in in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, and I the thought that it might not be there for others to see and enjoy is just depressing.

The parishioners of St. Colman are fighting the Bishops decision to close the parish, which went against the recommendation of the commission he appointed, and I hope they succeed.