50th parish to close in huge Cleveland downsizing

They prayed the rosary in public and picketed outside the bishop's office. They held Mass on the sidewalk in the rain.

But the angry Catholics of the Cleveland diocese have watched helplessly as, one by one, 50 churches have been shuttered in the past year.

And on Wednesday, an old Hungarian parish called St. Emeric's was to be the last church to close its doors, ending a massive downsizing of mostly older, ethnic parishes decreed by the diocese because of falling attendance, a priest shortage and financial problems. The diocese has said many of the churches were operating in the red. Some were closed while others merged.

Roman Catholic dioceses …