St. Vitus Catholic Church

NOTE:

This logo is created by Ani Muller. It may not be used or reproduced without written consent of St. Vitus Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio.

BIO:

During the early 1880s, the first permanent Slovenian immigrants, of whom, Jožef Turk is considered to be the first, arrived in Cleveland, Ohio. Turk arrived on Oct. 25, 1881, and was followed by approximately 50 Slovenian young men. The primary purpose to immigrate was for economic reasons: Slovenia at that time was a province in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe, and a predominantly agrarian society. The Slovenian community in Cleveland, Ohio grew over the next 10 years and encouraged a young seminarian, Vitus Hribar, to respond to the call to come to America and conclude his studies. He would serve the needs of the diocese of Cleveland.

On July 29, 1893, he was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church by Bishop Ignatz Hortsmann. On Aug. 11, 1893 he was commissioned with the task of establishing the first American Slovenian Roman Catholic parish in the state of Ohio and the diocese of Cleveland. The first worship services were held in the chapel of St. Peter Church, located at East 17th Street & Superior Avenue, which was, at that time, serving the needs of German Roman Catholics. Over the next 14 years, Rev. Hribar, who would eventually receive the title of “Monsignor,” would go about the task of meeting the spiritual, cultural, educational, and social needs of Slovenian immigrants in Cleveland, Ohio.

Land was purchased on June 29, 1894 at the corner of Norwood Road and Glass Avenue (now Lausche Avenue) for $6,000. On Oct. 14, 1894, Bp. Hortsmann blessed the cornerstone, and on Nov. 4, 1894, Msgr. Boff consecrated the new small wooden church. At the request of the 65 families and nearly 1,000 single young men, the new church would be named “St. Vitus Church” in honor of the patron saint name of the founding pastor.

The wooden church was expanded in 1902 and a new wooden elementary school was established. This was made possible by the arrival of the Roman Catholic religious women’s order, Sisters of Notre Dame, who responded to the call to be teachers for basic academic subjects of study, including the Slovenian language, from grades one to eight.

In July 1907, Rev. Hribar was assigned to St. Augustine Parish in Barberton, Ohio, while Rev. Bartholomew J. Ponikvar was installed as the second pastor at St. Vitus. Rev. Ponikvar was an immigrant seminarian who had concluded his priestly studies at a seminary in St. Paul, MN. He was born on Aug. 21, 1887 and was ordained on June 12, 1906. His first task was to address the growing needs of the parish: by 1907, the once primarily single men were now married with their own families, numbering roughly 1,000 families. The reality of needing both new church and school buildings with, however, funds being available to build only one structure, was the task faced by Rev. Ponikvar.

In 1912, a new three-story modern brick school was built with a chapel in the basement area. The 18 classrooms could now accommodate 700+ elementary school-aged children, but with more than 1,000 students, other buildings in the immediate neighborhood would also be needed over the next decade. The new church edifice would be realized, but construction would not start until 1930, at the height of the Great Depression. The new St. Vitus Church, a Byzantine-Lombard design with twin bell towers and three choir lofts, was completed in 1932. The church featured an orchestral sounding pipe organ, built by the Holtkamp Organ Co., Cleveland, Ohio. With 1,500 wooden and metal organ pipes, and the materials used in the church, the new church pipe organ could now provide a distinct orchestral sound.

Rev. Ponikvar would eventually receive the title of “Monsignor” due to his zeal for moving the parish forward and establishing many parish organizations. His total tenure at St. Vitus lasted 45 years until he passed away in March 1952.

The third pastor at St. Vitus, Louis B. Baznik, was born into and baptized in the parish. He was ordained on Apr. 23, 1935 and served his first priestly assignment at St. Vitus' sister Slovenian parish, St. Lawrence, in the Newburgh area of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1944, he was assigned as a chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1952, he was appointed as the third pastor of St. Vitus. Rev. Baznik would revive or establish a number of parish organizations as well as spearhead the construction of a new combined parish auditorium-gymnasium in 1957. He oversaw the construction of a new parish convent in 1963 for the Sisters of Notre Dame.After faithfully serving his home parish for 17 years, and at the conclusion of the parish Diamond Jubilee, in Sept. 1969, Msgr. Baznik was assigned to St. Patrick Parish.

The next pastors included Rev. Rudolph Praznik in October 1969 followed by Rev. A Edward Pevec on May 2, 1975, Rev. Joseph P. Boznar on May 1975, and - most recently - our current pastor Rev. John C. Retar, beginning on July 1, 2021.