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St. Barbara's is in need of prayers, mass attendance, and new parishioners!

Dear visitor to the Brooklyn WIKI,

As of this date the cluster team has finished its duty as directed by Bishop Lennon. They have diligently fulfilled their task and we are grateful for their efforts. THis has been a long and difficult process. We regret to announce that the recommendation has been made that the parishes of St. Barbara and Blessed Sacrament be closed. Keeping that in mind, let us remember these points:

1. The final decision will be made in March of 2009, and that decision is in the hands of the Bishop. We only know what was recommended. Over 400 forms opposing the recommendation were also submitted by parishioners and friends of St. Barbara.
2. The Parish of St. Barbara is financially solvent, is in a prime location that is safe, and has great potential to remain a stable Catholic presence if given the chance. We know that nobody wants their church to close, but at least the Polish people would still have a convenient, safe neighborhood to come to worship if the Parish was allowed to continue. .
3. The only two Polish parishes that will be left in the City of Cleveland will be St. John Cantius and St. Stanislaus. All the others have been voted to close.
4. Our Lady of Good Counsel and Corpus Christi are potentially being merged into St. Leo. That means there is no Catholic church from Brookpark-Pearl to W.25 and Scranton, none from Denison until Tremont and going east into Newburgh there is no Catholic Church until you get to Fleet Ave, which is St. John Nepomucene. Immaculate Heart of Mary has been voted to close. St. Rocco would be the next closest church going west.
5. Since St. Barbara is not a huge building to maintain, our overhead is minimal. We have sufficient funds to maintain our property. The other parishes that are staying open in our cluster have siginifcant debts.

What can YOU DO?

First and foremost, please offer your prayers for our Bishop and our parish. Pray to our late Holy Father John Paul II and ask his intercession. If you are not active or unhappy in your parish, there is no reason not to consider rejoining St. Barbara. Attend our weekend Masses if possible. Remember, its all about the numbers! If we were able to mobilize a significant number of people, we would have a very strong case to make to the Diocese. This is NOT OVER UNTIL ITS OVER! Can you imagine our dear parents and grandparents knowing that every penny they sacrificed to build and maintain this house of God may be lost forever with the stroke of the pen? Is this what we want? Or do we really even care? Think about it. Our City is definitely losing its most precious treasures, and even though St. Barbara is small, it is like a little gem in the heart of a neighborhood that is in the midst of rebirth.

Currently there are about three hundred + families registered. We need to get the word out to former parishioners and all interested to come back to church and register or the parish may possibly close. The mandate from the Diocese is to close two parishes out of the five clustered: St. Barbara's, St. Boniface, Blessed Sacrament, St. Rocco and St. Michael the Archangel. We don't want to lose our church!

New Parishioner Information Form

ST. BARBARA PARISH IS OPEN
Now is the Time to Show Your Support!

The mass schedule is:

We have a new administrator, Fr. Lucjan Stokowski who is the pastor of St. John Cantius. Let's make St. Barbara's the come back church and show the Diocese we care and want to keep it open.

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The following files are typically graphics with the occasional new page development.

1. Foose's Meat Market
2. Rev. Chester C. Cudnik
3. Image:St Barbara-JohnPaulCanonization.jpg
4. Image:St. Barbara churchdeeds.JPG
5. Brooklyn Centre Flora and Fauna
6. Opera House
7. William Kardas Grocery
8. Image:Dedication of Foster Avenue (April 17, 1896 PD).JPG
9. Image:East Denison School - 1971-1972 6th Grade.jpg
10. Kay Rheumatic Sanitarium
11. Image:East Denison School - 1954 6A class.jpg
12. Image:Merkle-Burgert 1908 ad.JPG
13. Image:Merkle-Miller 1909 ad.JPG
14. Image:Merkle-Miller 1923 ad.JPG
15. Image:Merkle-Miller 1937 ad.jpg
16. Merkle-Miller
17. Image:Fish, John Stanton and Clark, Chloe - marriage license.JPG
18. Image:Sawtell, Benjamin property.JPG
19. West Town Lounge
20. Wyatt Hardware
21. Image:Mayer-Marks.JPG
22. Mayer-Marks
23. Image:East Denison School - 1967 6A class.JPG
24. Image:Botany in 1913 or 1914.jpg
25. Benjamin Sawtell