Bishop Richard Lennon blesses new facade at Our Lady of Lourdes Church
with restored Doors from razed St. Catherine's
The Holy Doors which once served as the entrance to St. Catherine?s church on East 93rd in Cleveland now grace the front of Our Lady of Lourdes Church on East 55th and Broadway in Cleveland?s Slavic Village neighborhood. The doors were blessed by Bishop Richard Lennon on Saturday, December 3rd before the Vigil Mass.
The African-Mahogany doors were restored after being acquired before St. Catherine?s Church was razed by a new property owner in September.
The reuse of these beautiful doors is a perfect example of the stewardship program employed by the Diocese of Cleveland for preserving sacred, religious, and valuable goods found in the closed church buildings. The doors were in disrepair but were then stained and varnished to their original luster and installed in the new location.
Recent misinformation reported in the media needs to be corrected. The restoration and reuse of the doors represents what has been achieved by careful assessment, removal, and storage of such items as undertaken by the Diocese at each of the closed properties. For instance, the original brass handles also were preserved and restored.
The Reverend Joseph Callahan, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, said the doors mark the completion of two years of work restoring the church building fa