Volume 25, Number 1    April 2003

 

Working Parish Snapshot (With Liturgy and Justice for All)

Name: Community of St. Malachi

Location: Cleveland, Ohio, in a low-income, largely industrial area

History: Founded in the late 1960s as a lay-directed branch of old St. Malachi parish. The founders, most of whom attended the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass, sought to follow the reforms of the Second Vatican Council more directly in terms of liturgy, education and outreach. They set up the community as a non-profit corporation with its own charter and board of trustees. In the mid-1970s the community achieved official recognition as a parish in the diocese with its own decision-making council and committees, although it shares church facilities and pastor with the ongoing St. Malachi parish.

Membership: About 450 members. Membership, which must be renewed yearly and is available for those who are 14 or older, is extremely diverse. It includes families and singles, racial and ethnic minorities, divorced, gays, former priests and religious, and AIDS patients. There are no geographic boundaries.

Mass: The 11 a.m. Mass is the community liturgy; it stresses high participation, good music, and involvement of lay leaders and speakers. Special liturgies are common, including weddings and funerals for members.

Ministry and outreach: From the beginning and with the encouragement of then pastor, Fr. Paul Hritz, the community started many projects which still exist (though some are now legally independent of the community): a Monday night meal program which still feeds 400 mostly homeless people; Malachi House, a hospice for the dying, especially street people; St. Malachi Center, a former truck terminal which was purchased by the community and now provides child care, tutoring for students, medical care and shower facilities for the poor; Malachi Mart, a neighborhood store for low-income women and children. The community was a pioneer in the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s , still works regularly with refugees, and is a strong voice in anti-war activity. Recently, the community released a statement criticizing the Cleveland diocese for not doing enough to prevent priest abuse of children and declaring that bishops, clergy and others who failed to curb abuse "should be removed from responsibility for carrying out" new reform policies.

Quote: "The community has survived because it's not organized around one person or one cause and because it's recognized as a parish in its own right. It's lay directed, and we really mean that. I don't think people see us as a bunch of radicals; we've been identified with activities that try to make a difference in people's lives."

Source: Eugene Kramer, veteran member of St. Malachi community. www.stmalachi.org 216 861-5343