St. Vitus Church

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St. Vitus Roman Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio, located on Lausche Avenue, was completed after a two-year construction in the year 1932. Ever since, it has served the needs of the St. Vitus parish, which has been in existence since 1893.

St. Vitus Pastors 1. Monsignor Hribar 1893-1907 2. Monsignor Ponikvar 1907-1952 3. Monsignor Baznik 1952-1969 4. Fr. Praznik 1969-1975 5. Fr. Pevec 1975-1979 6. Fr. Božnar 1979-present

[edit] The History of the Parish

The first documented Slovenian settler in the Cleveland area, Frank Turk, who, after organizing Catholic Slovenes in Cleveland, requested that Bishop Richard Gilmour of Cleveland appoint a permanent Slovenian priest in Cleveland. Soon after, Frank Turk began gathering money from prospective parishioners to form a parish.

Finally, in 1893, Monsignor Vitus Hribar became the first pastor at temporary headquarters of St. Peter's Church on East 17th in Cleveland. Eventually, in June of 1894, land was purchased for the parish at the Northwest Corner of Norwood and Glass Avenues (Glass Avenue now known as Laushche Ave). After a $6,000 dollar construction, the first Church of St. Vitus stood on the present location of St. Martin DePorres High School. After disagreements between parishioners and Right Reverend Monsignor Hribar, a new pastor was assigned in 1907 by the name of Right Reverend Monsignor Bartholomew Ponikvar.

Monsignor Ponikvar gradually quelled differences in opinion about how funding should be appropriated in the parish. From there, Monsignor Ponikvar set out to build a new three-story school, and was completed shortly after 1912. However, the largest goal of Monsignor Ponikvar was to yet to come. He set-out to build a new Church to serve the quickly-growing parish. After a two-year construction, in 1932, the second St. Vitus Church was constructed on East 61st and Glass Avenue. Its costs were about $350,000, which, by today's standards, would amount to well-over $8,000,000. It still stands as the largest Slovenian Church in the United States of America, and stands as a fitting monument for all those who donated funds for its creation.

After the death of Monsignor Ponikvar in 1952, the third pastor of St. Vitus was assigned. Monsignor Louis B. Baznik was a former parishioner and son of a founder of the parish. His first project was the dedication of four new bronze bells to the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, Saint Vitus, and Saint Aloysius in the West Bell tower of Saint Vitus Church. Soon after, in 1955, he set out to have an auditorium-gymnasium constructed at the site of the former Church, as well as a convent. In addition to these additions, revisions to the school made it more competitive to other schools in the Cleveland area. Parishioners, expecting Monsignor Baznik to remain with the parish for the rest of his life, were shocked to learn that he was re-assigned to St. Patricks in Geauga County, and thus, a new pastor was named in 1969.

Fr. Praznik was named pastor of St. Vitus and worked hard to maintain the school, but after a short six years, he suffered many severe heart attacks and a new pastor was named. Fr. Pevec (later to be Bishop Pevec) was installed in May of 1975 and was, like Monsignor Baznik, expected to stay his entire life as pastor. However, he left in 1979 to become rector of Borromeo College of Ohio. Even though Fr. Pevec stayed a short time at St. Vitus, he worked to bring St. Vitus School enrollment to the highest numbers ever. Succeeding him in 1979 was Fr. Jožef Božnar. He prepared well for the fiftieth anniversary of the Church building in 1982, as well as the 75th anniversary of the Church building in 2007. In February of 1993, the interior of the Church went through a six-month renovation, from which world-acclaimed Slovenian painters traveled to St. Vitus to work on the interior. It was finished for the Centennial Celebration of the parish later that year. Presently, Fr. Božnar works with Bishop Lennon's programs to cluster parishes in order to increase strength for inner-city parishes. However, St. Vitus remains a strong parish with a vibrant zeal for the Catholic faith.

[edit] The Church

The Church building of St. Vitus itself is constructed in the Lombard-Roman style with pale yellow Falston brick. It is 141 feet long and 100 feet wide with an attached parish house to its West side. Its two Romanesque bell towers reach 110 feet into the sky. The Holtkamp organ, which still is in service, remains in the rear and largest choir loft of the three (choir lofts).