CLEVELAND -- With a dull thump, a saint's marble-encased relic was placed in a slot in a church altar, signaling the revival of a parish closed by the bishop but spared by the Vatican.
St. Barbara Church, founded in 1905, and 11 other parishes closed by the Catholic bishop of Cleveland begin reopening this summer after Rome's unusual intervention.
They face an uncertain future: Will parishioners locked out two years ago return? If they do, can the parishes survive amid often-shrinking congregations in aging urban neighborhoods? And will they warrant a priest as clergy numbers dwindle as well?
"Definitely," said a hopeful Tom Klypchak, 57, a member of St. Barbara for most of his life, who's been worshipping at St. Augustine Church miles away since St. Barbara closed.
"I'll be back. It's my family church, I've been there for 44 years, and I love it," said Mr. Klypchak, whose children were baptized at St. Barbara.
It's one of 50 of the more than 225 parishes in the eight-county diocese that Bishop Richard Lennon closed or merged because of shrinking congregations, finances, and priest numbers. Most were urban parishes that had served generations of immigrants: Poles, Hungarians, Irish, and others who kept the mills and assembly lines going.
The cuts were prompted in part by the city's falling population -- down 17 percent since 2000 to less than 400,000.
Most saw the moves as inevitable amid a years-long study, but 12 parishes successfully overturned the closings with rallies, prayer vigils, and appeals to Rome.
Eventually, the Vatican ordered the bishop to reopen the parishes or restart the procedures governed by church law and get it right. It was a rare instance in which Rome reversed a U.S. bishop on closing churches.
The bishop agreed in April to reopen them.
Whether to return raised questions for those who'd begun a new faith life at a different parish. The diocese encouraged Catholics to pray about the "remain or rebuild" decision, and a retreat center offered weekend sessions given by a psychologist and a clinical counselor to help them decide.
The Rev. Joseph Hilinski, 63, a priest for 38 years and appointed pastor to revive St. Barbara, said it's an open question whether parishioners will return. "The only way to answer that question is to offer the possibility of worship there and invite them to come back," he said.
First Published July 8, 2012, 4:00 a.m.
