Code,127016
Speaker,Rev. Dr. Remus Grama
Date,6-Jul-11
Interviewer,Richard Raponi and James Dubelko
Abstract,"Fr. Remus Grama traces the history of St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Church in Cleveland since its inception in 1904. He discusses the community, the churches and locations as well as the ethnic context during the past century."
Tags,"churches, sacred landmarks, religion, Romanian, Catholic, Detroit Shoreway"
Special Notes,Fr. Grama mentions the succession of priests involved with St. Mary for the past century; spelling of names are omitted in this log.
,
0,"Introductions: Fr. Grama, St. Mary Romanian Cathedral in Cleveland"
1,"Fr. Grama was born in 1952 in Romania, came to Chicago to study as a deacon in 1980, ordained, to Youngstown, then Cleveland in 1989; oldest Romanian Orthodox church in US"
2,"Church built in 1907 in West side neighborhood (West 63 and Detroit) of Romanian, Italian, Irish, immigrants. Fr. sites area of Romania where Cleveland immigrants originated."
3,First Easter celebration among Romanian immigrants 
4,Byzantine Greek Catholic and Romanian Orthodox churches grew together and served similar population.
5,St Mary had two priests prior to Fr. Grama. 
6,Tensions existed when church construction began (1904)
7,Groups debated about the church design
8,"Church provided first theatre for entertainment, and religious activities "
9,Choirs were organized 
10,George Enesco lent his name to the 80 person choir
11,President Wilson emancipated the central/eastern Europeans 1918
10,Cleveland was central to shaping consciousness of Romanians and others 
13,Newspaper published by priest inspired locals to fight in Europe
14,
15,Fighters contributed to the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire
16,"in the 1990's, the fall of Communism was a similar development (politically"
17,Religious and fraternal institutions centered at the church
18,St Mary was not established by a local bishop; grew from the community (Romanian 'colony' in Cleveland)
19,First mass in a home in the neighborhood (1904)
20,First priest conducted marriages and baptisms within the community
21,"First priest established 14 parishes in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana. He worked for Ford Motor Company also"
22,Second priest spent time here and returned to Romania as a bishop
23,"1929: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate established in Jackson, MI  Today more than 125 parishes"
24,Activist priest drove socialist movements in the 1930's and was defrocked
25,He wrote a history and opened a museum 
26,Parish hall built by Romanian handymen
27,Church was sold (1955) and repurposed in 1990's
28,The church hall  hosted many personalities and dignitaries
29,"Queen Marie, poet Queen, the last romantic, visited left artifacts for the museum"
30,
31,First orthodox convent established in PA
32,Grandfather and Great grandfather came through Ellis Island
33,I (Fr. Grama) grew up 'American'
34,
35,Warren Road property acquired in 1950's; old church sold to Russian Orthodox community
36,Fr. Grama saddened to see churches repurposed
37,
38,Story of bishop during the inter war period
39,Local diocese became independent of Romanian diocese network
40,This created some tension in the community; priests changed in 1959
41,"New church design rejected by community, wanted traditional design"
42,Current design prevailed for the new church 
43,Catechus school was also included in the project
44,Also acquired local building for residence and museum intentions
45,"Church is not just a building, it is the people and their activities"
46,
47,Fr. Grama inspired by fellow clergy and community
48,Established a museum of artifacts from the NY Worlds Fair in the 1938
49,Romania's story in the 1930's evidenced in the Fair
50,Fire destroyed some of the artifacts; some salvaged and stored until the 1950's
51,
52,Role of the Cleveland church during the Communist era in Europe
53,Romanians always hope the Americans were coming to liberate them
54,The church was the home and shelter for the occupied country
55,
56,Memorials to patriots and fighters from the community
57,
58,
59,President of Romania visited Cleveland's largest Romanian population in 2005
60,
61,Impressed with the presence of President Basescu 
62,"Fr. Asked for help with reconciliation with confiscated properties, etc."
63,
64,Devastation of church hall fire in 1970's 
65,Challenge of integrating immigrants with American born community members
66,Speaks of political connections within the community
67,"Interior mural painting ""the Sistine Chapel of the West Side"""
68,Description of the iconography
69,Church property description and the Romanian Festival (August) started 
70,Closing and Thank you