The cameras of local NBC affiliate WKYC/TV3 were on hand at the closing masses of St. George and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Here's a link to the video in case you blinked and missed it on Sunday.
Given that Catholic Lithuanians in Cleveland fared surprisingly well in the Great Diocesan Downsizing (far better than several higher-profile communities), complaining about not getting your first choice of the parish name seems rather petty to me.
I'm going to be charitable and choose to believe that all the nice things said about the merger ended up on Channel 3's cutting room floor.
Update: Thank you to the anonymous commentor for sharing a link to Channel 19's more rational coverage of Sunday's closing masses.
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Of course, a more sensitive, caring and savy bishop would have gone along with the name of Our Lady of Siluva, a shrine to Mary in Lithuania. A beautiful chapel of Our Lady of Siluva is at the Immaculate Conception Basilica Church, the Nation's Church, in Washington, D.C. While Lithuanians love St. Casimir, vast majority of churches in the U.S. bearing that name were or are ethnic Polish parishes. So, an opportunity to have a unique and distinctive parish name went by the boards because the bishop just did not know very much and did not care.
ReplyDeleteArvydai, the OLPH crowd never had a democratic vote on the name of the new parish! There was just an ill thought out fiat by a handfull of people with agendas and powerbases to preserve. They handed out photocopies of supposed ballots with the name already copied in. Then the name Siluva was never democratically voted on anyways by the majority of parishioners (FWIW the name Jesus Chrsit Superstar got more democratic votes than Siluva)!
ReplyDeleteJust like you tell your kids when they are little, if you don't play by the rules, there are consequences. In this case there were deep self inflicted consequences that were of no surprise! Besides the name Siluva does not resonate well with a new parish that is supposed to reach out to the local community. Even the WKYC announcer butchered the pronunciation of "Our Lady of Saliva"!
Both of the people interviewed by WKYC have well known agendas. For a much more realistic and less "parochial" perpective on the merger, I suggest everyone look at:
http://www.woio.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=4223795&at1=News&h1=Local Churches, Parishioners Set to Merge&flvUri=&thirdpartymrssurl=
Iki!
Arvydas Barzdukas said... vast majority of churches in the U.S. bearing that name were or are ethnic Polish parishes.
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Hardly a vast majority! There are about 4100 Google hits on Saint Casimir Parish USA and Polish with over 3500 hits with Lithuanian. Considering that there are 10x more Poles than Lithuanians, the argument is per capita "vastly" in favor of Saint Casimir being more strongly associated with Lithuanians.
Frankly Arvydai I think that if the name was intended to send a Lithuanian message to the bishop to get his attention, Saint Bruno would have sufficed ;-) but most Lithuanians took the opportunity seriously and somberly.
Everyone look forward to the new opportunity the Cleveland Lithuanian community has received from being decimated and stop looking backward!
The bishop cared a lot. His decisions every step of the way in merging the two Lithuanian parishes were generous and thoughtful. We fared much better than many other ethnic groups. As for the name of St.Casimir--the patron saint of Lithuania--it was the #1 choice of parishioners of St.George and the #2 choice of parishioners of OLPH submitted to the bishop for his consideration. Again, the bishop made a good and generous choice. Time for everyone to stop complaining and begin thanking the bishop for his decisions thus far.
ReplyDeleteThe bishop knew much and cared a lot. Why the angst over being granted the name of the patron saint of Lithuania? St. Casimir was the #1 choice of parishioners at St.George and the #2 choice at OLPH submitted to the bishop for his consideration. The bishop was more than generous in giving Cleveland Lithuanians a place to continue to worship and meet. Many other ethnic groups fared much worse. Time to stop complaining and start being thankful for what we have.
ReplyDeleteImagine if the Bishop had closed Our Lady and merged the two parishes into the building at St. Georges, Called it Our Lady of Siluva, and installed Fr. Kijauskas as the pastor. Would the very vocal "Moral Majority" (which is neither) be more accepting? Would the community have benefitted more than with the current scenario? Despite the folks who threaten to "vote with their feet" (not a new concept - just look at generational and attrition in general of our community...) I am optimistic about our future! And thanks to all who worked hard toward an orderly transition!
ReplyDelete-Vilija
The name of the parish is not that important of an issue. I agree the bishop made a reasonable and rational choice. After all Sv. Kazimieras is our patron saint. What I'm having trouble with is the selection of pastors. I'm absolutely sure that Fr. Bacevicius is a great pastor, but he's Lithuanian only by ancestry and struggles with the language and in his understanding of the culture from what I know. From the little I've seen of him, he almost seems to have contempt for anything too Lithuanian. Maybe the contempt is aimed at the various factions and persoalities that claw for power and inflence in the community. If it's that, then maybe he can become a healer and reconciler, but it will be a tough job.
ReplyDeleteWhere are all the "new" Lithuanians on Sunday. Where are all the local Lithuanians in their 30s and 40s who grew up in the church. If he can attract them back, then the future will be good. Otherwise, in 10 years, Sv. Kazimiero will look like St. George's. I pray to God that this doesn't happen.
Anon 10:24:
ReplyDeleteFr. Bacevicius doesn't need me to defend him, but it's generally advisable to wait until one knows more than "…the little I've seen of him…", to start making public pronouncements about anyone. Give the guy a chance to make a first-hand impression (good or bad) before you make up your mind.
As for the future of St. Casimir, it's no different than any other parish in Cuyahoga County post-merging/closing. They are all in a position of having to prove their viability over the next 5 years or so.
Bishop Lennon has done the church equivalent of a Chapter 11 reorganization. Now it's up to the remaining parish communities to sink or swim in this new environment.
Like all parishes, St. Casimir will be, for better or worse, a product of its neighborhood, parishioners and pastor.
Where are all the "new" Lithuanians on Sunday....
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Although there are a few stellar new Lithuanian immigrants who have been exemplary in their dedication to the community and the church, in general, don't count on their involvement in anything. Their motivation is primarily financial (and in some cases at the subsistence level of Maslow's hierarchy where they have no time or energy) and not cultural or religious. This is a common problem among all ethnic groups and religions. Take a look at all of the Russian Jews who were relocated to Cleveland >2 decades ago due to religious persecution by the Communists and then immediately ignored their sponsoring religious organizations!
The Lithuanians unfortunately have a reputation for being a great nation of assimilators. If there is a union with another ethnic background the kids are usually raised in that non Lithuanian nationality. That is one of the sociological explanations for why there are 10x more Poles than Lithuanians even though at the start of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth both countries were equal in population. The Lithuanian immigrants to the US at the turn of the last centruy assimilated into US society abondoning their ancestry in far greater proportions and much more quickly than the WW II immigrants because the latter were driven by more than financial stability and sought to keep their culture alive (which also included a strong church).
The social dynamics unfolding here with the recent economic refugees from Lithuania are nothing unique or unexpected and are well documented in many sociology masters and PhD dissertaions for decades for any ethnic community one cares to select.
Back to the main point, the target market in the new parish is also not just the Lithuanian community. Although being given the new name Saint Casimir and a local pastor with as strong a commitment to Lithuanian culture as exists within the local diocesan hierarchy is a great gift from the bishop, I beleive the new parish is the merger of two ethnic pasishes but it is not an ethnic parish anymore since those were discontinued several decades ago. The new mandate for the parish will be to carry its weight in the local community and not be insular anymore. For many it is a worthy objective and one Father Bacevice has shown very good skills at.
As someone else astutely pointed out here, we have a few years to demonstrate that we can grow as Catholics and community members and be given a center for our culture close to the LT Village. Note well: squabble about how Lithuanian it is or isn't and a few years from now when Father Bacevice retires, it will end in another closure in a dioceses that will continue to implode in size with or without local Lithuanian involvement.
Absolutely. The future of the new parish depends on each and every one of us. It depends on our good will, our commitment, our willingness to look forward and quit sighing over what used to be. As the previous writer wrote--where are all of the Liths who should have been filling up both of the now closed churhes? Let's take a good look in the mirror ourselves. Do our children and grandchildren speak Lithuanian? Do they (and we) care about and attend Lith events? Let's not play that "race/ethnic card." The future of the new parish depends on all of us working together to make it an INCLUSIVE parish--one that welcomes all--the fluent Lith speakers, the not so fluent, and the people in the neighborhood. Let's work on that and make St.Casimir the parish that everyone wants to belong to.
ReplyDeleteIn my humble opinion, it's time to STOP all the belly-aching. We have been handed a gift by the bishop--instead of being joined with an American parish (which was the reality), we have a home of our own.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful opportunity for renewal! Instead of nit-picking the past, let's get excited about the new potential for parish life: choir, liturgy, youth programs, community outreach, charitable projects.
Father Bacevicius is ready to get to work and needs everyone of his parishioners on board. Let's show him what legendary Lithuanian hospitality, openness, creativity and "kulturingumas" is all about.
Ona Klioryte D.
P.S. Just a note to all who miguidedly equate language fluency with being a "real Lithuanian": Greg Priddy is one of the truest and best Lithuanians I know...
Ona, Thanks for the upgrade from "honorary" to "real". ;-)
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of folks with zero or limited Lithuanian language skills who bleed Red, Yellow and Green. It's a shame they are largely marginalized in the community.
I understand that language and national identity are inextricably intertwined, so this is a sticky issue.
But in a practical sense, it's not realistic to expect an adult to first gain fluency in the language before they can participate in organizations. On balance, it's the community's loss, since the ideas and energies of the language-challenged aren't invigorating the community as they could be.
Well said Ona!!I for one will do my best to help Fr.Bacevicius and the parish succeed. I generally agree with the comments that speaking Lithuanian fluently should not be a prerequisite to being an accepted and active participant in the community. To do so is to be elitist and not in keeping with the teachings of Christ (we are talking about a Catholic church here). I am concerned that people will also just use that line as an excuse to ditch Lithuanian culture and heritage altogether out of convenience. We need to insist that everyone try to maintain a Lithuanian culture within the parish and community as much as practical. That means making the effort to keep the language, traditions and culture alive. It's also that much easier these days with all the great internet resources available to help from Lithuania itself! If we don't do this, we become just another American parish with a Lithuanian past that will have no reason to attract the vast numbers of Liths who have moved out of the Collinwood area. Without a distinct Lithuanian culture in the church, why make the drive into the city when we could essentially get the same spritual nourishment from a church closer by. That will be the challenge for Fr. Bacevicius and I am committed to helping him succeed in meeting that challenge.
ReplyDeleteLots of interesting comments and ideas. It looks like Fr. Bacevicius will have a lot on his plate. He should be up to the challenges and I'm sure he appreciates the support.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog!!! Thanx Greg for keeping those of us not in Cleveland informed of whats going on back home!!!
ReplyDeleteLinas Johansonas
Union Pier, Michigan
www.milda.us