Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The church, as it appears from the front
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was opened in 1894 after many Polish Catholics in the Church of St. Stanislaus did not like the influence of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland on their decision-making. The church's founder, Father Anton Francis Kolaszewski, was a pastor at St. Stanislaus who had advocated for the Polish church to have more autonomy. He was in conflict with the Bishop of Cleveland partially because of this issue and partially because Kalaszewski was accused of sexual abuse.
Kolaszewski was excommunicated, and the members of this new church were also considered to be excommunicated until 1908. Afterwards, however, the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was allowed to join the Diocese of Cleveland.
Today, the church is active and serves over a thousand congregation members. The current building was opened in 1914 because the original structure was destroyed in a fire. The building's windows are perhaps its most significant architectural feat, and their depictions celebrate Polish culture as well as the Catholic faith.
Sources
About Us, immaculateheartchurch.org. 2020. Accessed June 10th 2020. http://www.immaculateheartchurch.org/about.html.
History, immaculateheartchurch.org. 2020. Accessed June 10th 2020.http://www.immaculateheartchurch.org/History.html
Immaculate Heart of Mary Church , Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. 2020. Accessed June 10th 2020. https://case.edu/ech/articles/i/immaculate-heart-mary-parish.
Paul, Mackenzie. Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Cleveland Historical. January 30th 2016. Accessed June 10th 2020. https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/756.
Home, immaculateheartchurch.org. 2020. Accessed June 10th 2020.http://www.immaculateheartchurch.org/index.html