THE CZECHS OF CLEVELAND
Lourdes was established in 1883, with Rev. Stephen Furdek as its pastor. Father Furdek was a Slovak and a national leader in Slovak affairs, while remaining all his life the pastor of this Czech parish. All classes of people pronounce upon him the ideal obituary, “He was a very good man.” Our Lady of Lourdes grew to a commanding position under his care, and is still the largest Bohemian parish in the city, having a membership of about six thousand persons. The parochial school has a registration of 900 pupils who are taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame.
The parish organization of our Lady of Lourdes is very extensive. There are forty-five societies, several of which are uniformed organizations whose appearance adds color to the parish celebrations. Among them are the Knights of Columbus, the Cadets of St. Alexander, the Hunters of St. George, the Catholic Foresters, and the parish Sokol organization. The musical and dramiaict society, “Antonin Dvorak”, named for the great Czech composer, has a membership of 300 persons, and a second one is called the “Vaclav Benes Trebiszky Society,” after the popular Czech novelist. These societies present dramas in the parish hall at frequent intervals. A parish paper “Farnik” (the Parishioner) is published semi-monthly and is of newspaper size.
A number of Cleveland priests now holding important charges have served their apprenticeship as assistants at Our Lady of Lourdes. Among them are Rev. V. J. Horak, pastor of St. Martin’s Slovak church; Rev. J. W. Becka, of St. Adalbert’s Bohemian parish; and the Rev. V. A. Chaloupka, of the Slovak parish of St. Mary of the Nativity. The present assistant, Rev. C. W. Dik, has carried the entire responsibility of the parish during considerable intervals in the last five years; first during the illness of Father Furdek and the interim before the appointment of his successor, Rev. Oldrich Zlamal, and lately during the absence of Father Zlamal in the nationalistic work which has resulted so splendidly.
The essential unity of the Czechoslovak state is shown in the history of this Czech parish and its two pastors: Father Furdek, a Slovak, whose great interest outside his parish was the welfare and improvement of the Slovak race; and Father Zlamal, a Moravian, previously pastor of a Slovak parish, whose patriotic services have greatly contributed to the success of the Czechoslovak cause.
Until the war, a great gulf yawned between Catholic and free thinking Czechs. Father Zlamal was a strong factor among the wise leaders who bridged the chasm so that all might work together for the common cause. He spent much time during the years 1917 and 1918 making addresses and otherwise working for the cause in this country, and during the period from February to September, 1919, as a chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, he carried the message of American sympathy and support to the people of Bohemia. Father Zlamal and Monsignor Bouska, of Tabor, South Dakota, were commissioned by the Holy See to explain to the people of the new republic the American plan of the separation of church and state. In pursuit of this mission Father Zlamal traveled through the country addressing Czecho-Slovaks of every faith, and so helped to prepare public sentiment for the present Commission on the Separation of Church and State. His return in September was celebrated by an enthusiastic reception on the part of his parishioners, to many of whom he brought direct word from their relatives whom he had seen and talked with in the old country.
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