POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC

SACRED HEART OF JESUS - POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH

2310 West 14th

Today, this church is St. Andrew Kim

The first meeting to organize this church was held November 25, 1914, in a hall at the corner of Fairfield and West 11th. Three buildings were acquired on the east side of W. 14th and on January 24, 1915, the first mass was celebrated. The Rev. Father Ludwig Wrzesinski was the first pastor. On May 30, 1915, the Prime Bishop was present to bless the original church here in Cleveland. The financial obligations were too great for the parish and it was necessary to relinquish the title and seek a new site. In November 1916 two lots and a building used for the rectory were purchased on the west side of 14th Street and the present church building was erected. In 1957 the old rectory was razed and a rectory, formerly owned by the Lutheran Church, was purchased from the City. It was moved to the present site and blessed in 1958.

From The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:

The Polish National Catholic Church supported 5 parishes in Cleveland, founded between 1910-60. The denomination began in Scranton, PA, in Mar. 1897, when Fr. Francis Hodur (1866-1953) led his new church out of the Roman Catholic Church in a dispute over control of local church property. The Polish National Catholic church was established formally in Sept. 1904 at its first synod; by then it had 20,000 members in 5 states. In the Polish National Catholic church, local congregations owned church property and the mass was said in Polish rather than Latin. In 1921 it abolished the rules of celibacy for priests.

The first Polish National Catholic parish in Cleveland was the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2310 W. 14th St., established in 1913. The second, Our Lady of Czestochowa, established in 1915, later became St. Mary's. It had 660 members in 1955, when it moved from 3510 Broadview Rd. to a new $300,000 church at Wexford and Broadview Rd. in Parma. The Church of the Good Shepherd, 7301 St. Clair Ave., was established in 1931, and Holy Trinity, 7460 Broadway, in 1940. All Saints Polish National Catholic Church, 3736 E. 59th St., was established ca. 1954. In 1962 Bp. John Misiaszek announced that the main masses in Polish National Catholic parishes in northeastern Ohio would be said in English rather than Polish. By 1970 these parishes had a total membership of 4,000. In 1995 only St. Mary's and Trinity remained active. (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History)

1921 - 1924 – Sacred Heart of Jesus – 2255 W. 11th, Rev. Louis Wrzesinski

1928 – Sacred Heart of Jesus – 2314 W. 14th, Rev. John Czyzak

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA

Our Lady of Czestochowa, was established in 1915 by dissenting members of St. Barbara’s. It was originally located at 3510 Broadview Road (on “short” Broadview, west of Pearl Road, where Vine Bible Fellowship Church is now); later it became simply St. Mary’s.

1921 - 1924 – St. Mary’s – 3500 Broadview – Rev. Louis Wrzesinski

1928 – St. Mary’s – 3500 Broadview, Rev. John Czyzak

In 1955 St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church moved to a new church at 5375 Broadview Road (at the corner of Wexford), just a few streets south of Brookpark Road.