Saint Casimir Way

 twin towers of Saint Casimir's Church upper back

A street with no name has been christened Saint Casimir Way to-day. It is the path from MLK Jr. Blvd. to Ansel Rd., where one leaves the Cultural Gardens and climbs a hill where the twin towers of Saint Casimir's Church beckon a visit.

Cleveland's Bishop Lennon evicted the parish in 2009, and had prepared to liquidate its property. An appeal to Rome delayed this. When the appeal was judged, a decree was issued ordering the parish to be re-opened. Days before the eviction, the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was re-named St. Casimir. This has caused much confusion. Nearly all computer aided searches and navigation systems directs one to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Other people have come to know about this old parish of St. Casimir in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. They knew the people asked for the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God to keep the parish together and open. Some knew that at an earlier Mass on the day of eviction, that, the parish was dedicated to the Polish national Madonna. Some members of the Mexican community in Painesville have made the church a pilgrimage to Mary, and to ask her intercession to keep families together.

It is a destination parish, and now it will be marked and mapped. John Niedzialek was the prime mover to get the roadway named. John's friend, Jim Skrocki had first suggested the idea to him. John dealt with Cleveland's Silly Hall to find out whose ward the street is in, and wait. Recently the wards and boundaries were changed, and this was on about the border. Councilman Kevin Conwell helped him move the legislation towards passage.

 Written on the flag is the word, 'Solidarność' (Solidarity)

 

Here, John and some children pull off the shroud of the street sign on top of the hill. The camera missed the shot, but beneath the megaphone in the right side picture there is the shroud falling to the ground.