OHIO
Cleveland Scene
Posted by Erich Burnett on Thu, Mar 8, 2012
The Feast of St. Patrick has come early for a 159-year-old parish on Rocky River Drive and 12 others across the Cleveland area that had been deemed needless by Bishop Richard Lennon, head of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
News trickled out from Rome Wednesday afternoon that Pope Benedict XVI has overturned the closing of 13 churches, part of a diocese-wide downsizing led by Lennon in 2009 and 2010. In almost each case, the displaced congregation — including St. Patrick in West Park — was instrumental in making sure the Vatican heard its pleas; some, including St. Casimir on the East Side, have held weekly vigils since their church was enshrouded in chain-link fence.
Among the churches across Cleveland and Akron given a new lease:
St. James in Lakewood
St. Patrick in West Park
St. Adalbert
St. Barbara
St. Emeric
St. Peter
St. Margaret Mary of Euclid
St. Casimir
St. Wendelin
St. Mary of Bedford
St. John the Baptist of Akron
St. Martha of Akron
St. Mary of Akron
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