As the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland prepares to celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2022, Father John Manning provided a look back at the early years of the diocese for Theology on the Rocks West. His presentation was sprinkled with humor, anecdotes and facts that captivated the audience of about 100 people who gathered Jan. 13 at Vosh in Lakewood.
The Catholic-based discussion group for mature adults 40 and older meets the second Monday of each month to hear speakers discuss topics of faith in today’s world.
A native of Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood, Father Manning is the delegate for senior priests and an associate professor of Church history at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe. In this role, he shares his knowledge of diocesan and Church history with seminarians and other students. Previously, he spent 15 years on the Borromeo faculty.
Father Manning was ordained a priest in 1972 and worked in parish ministry, including 21 years as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in West Park. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Borromeo College, a master’s degree from John Carroll University and a doctoral degree from Saint Mary’s.
Father Manning told the group that he keeps in contact with the senior priests in the diocese – those 70 and older. “My ministry is growing,” he said, explaining that nearly 47% of the diocesan priests are senior priests.
Returning to his topic, he said “The angels didn’t just plop a Catholic here.”
During the Revolutionary War period, Father Manning said the Church was persecuted. It was common for evangelizing priests to be driven out of a community and if they returned, they could be killed. That was the case in many of the older settlements in the original colonies, including Maryland and Pennsylvania. He said the Church struggled during those times with small, clandestine congregations. As the new United States began to create its own identity, residents realized they no longer could rely on Europe for many things including education.
On April 8, 1808, Rome carved four new dioceses from the Archdiocese of Baltimore (1789): Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Bardstown, Kentucky (now the Archdiocese of Louisville). The Bardstown Diocese included all of Ohio and part of Michigan. Most of the early bishops were French in part because they were driven out of their country during the French Revolution and settled in America. Father Manning said many were suspicious of the democracy here, preferring a monarchy.
As the country grew after the Revolutionary War, he said land grants were issued and settlers headed inland. Often those grants were split among family members which helped grow the population.
In 1796, Moses Cleaveland arrived here to lay out a city. Marietta and Cincinnati also were settled by former soldiers who received land grants in lieu of pay for their military service.
As Ohio’s population grew, so did the number of Catholics. What is now the Archdiocese of Cincinnati was carved from the Bardstown Diocese in 1821. By 1848, there were enough Catholics that Rome established the Diocese of Cleveland with Bishop Amadeus Rappe, a French immigrant who had been ministering to Ohio Catholics on horseback. He had about 19 priests to minister to the entire diocese, which included the area from about 50 miles north of Columbus to the state lines on the east (Pennsylvania), west (Indiana) and north (Michigan).
SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Doylestown (Wayne County), the oldest parish community in the Diocese of Cleveland, was founded in 1827.
“It was common for bishops to go to Europe to get priests,” Father Manning said. Often the early priests who ministered here were French, Irish and German. “Many of them were fascinated by missionary work and especially with the Native Americans,” he added.
And bishops also appealed to their friends in Europe when they needed money.
Father Manning said missionary life on the frontier may sound romantic, but it was a difficult existence and it took a physical toll on the clergy who traveled by horseback to minister to their flock. Many Irish worked to dig the canals and build railroads, which opened Ohio and areas to the west for settlement.
There were differences among the nationalities, with the Irish tending to be “clannish” because their culture was repressed by the British. Germans had good linguistic skills, were educated and cultured. They brought music, art and Christmas trees to America.
“The Germans wanted to remake America into what their vision was,” Father Manning said. They tended to German-speaking Catholics and formed their own parishes. Holy Trinity Parish in Avon was founded in 1833, the first parish in Lorain County.
The Irish also wanted their own parishes where they could worship according to their traditions, so they established St. Vincent de Paul in Akron in 1837. St. Mary’s on the Flats, the first Catholic parish in Cleveland, was founded in 1838. Several more parishes followed in quick succession.
A site for the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, on what is now East Ninth Street and Superior Avenue, was selected and construction began soon after the diocese was created. Also in 1848, Bishop Rappe established a diocesan seminary.
“The life of a priest was rough,” Father Manning said, pointing out the constant travel, huge territory to cover and lack of accommodations. “If he was ordained at age 29, he often died about 11 years later due to exhaustion or illness, or he asked to return to Baltimore or another city.”
Father said communities that developed along rivers and other bodies of water that provided transportation, often included Native Americans and French settlers, making them very Catholic. He noted that several priests who ministered in Ohio during those early years later became bishops in other dioceses.
By the time he resigned in 1870, Bishop Rappe had formed 16 new parishes in Cleveland, founded Saint Mary Seminary, oversaw the establishment of the city’s first hospital (now St. Vincent Charity Medical Center), and brought religious sisters from Europe to staff hospitals and to teach in the growing number of Catholic schools.
“He did a remarkable job to get the diocese going. In many cases we stand on the shoulders of giants like him,” Father Manning added.
During the question and answer session, Father Manning explained that the French language died out as settlers began to speak English. He also shared the story of how parishioners were locked out of Holy Redeemer Parish in Cleveland during the 1940s because they refused to accept the pastor appointed by the bishop. When they relented, he reopened the parish.
Father Manning said most bishops of Cleveland – including Bishop Rappe -- are buried in Resurrection Chapel at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. He said the cathedral, which remains in its original location, underwent a major expansion in the 1940s. Since then, other projects have updated the lighting, sound system and spruced up the historic building.
Bill and Leslie Boomer will speak on “Marriage, Remarriage and Life in Between” at the next Theology on the Rocks West gathering at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at Vosh, 1414 Riverside Drive, Lakewood. Bill Boomer is director of the diocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life. They will discuss the challenges of relationships, complications of marriage, remarriage and everything in between and how people can find support in the Church.
Doors open at 7 p.m. for socializing and check in. Cost is $12, which includes appetizers. There is a cash bar. Email theologyontherockswest@gmail.com or click HERE to reserve a spot.