Thursday, July 13, 2006
NOTED AT CLEVELAND SCENE
God and glitter
Critics of Catholicism have long dogged the church for its failure to provide quality transsexual entertainment. Now St. Helena's on West 65th hopes to change all that with its "Dressed in All White" celebration, slated for July 14. Fliers feature a woman sporting high heels and a thong.
"It's actually a drag event -- some of the best drag from throughout the whole state of Ohio," says Divinity, one of the scheduled performers.
But while the Catholic Church's love of male entertainment is well chronicled, the Diocese of Cleveland has no jurisdiction here: St. Helena's is a member of the Romanian Catholic Church. Its flock ignores the same pope that Roman Catholics do, but its regional headquarters are in Canton.
"It must be some mistake," says St. Helena's pastor, Andre Matthews. "I don't know anything about it."
Cleveland diocese spokesman Bob Tayek says decisions on parish entertainment -- like bingo or shemale dancers -- are made between each church and the bishop. He hints, however, that transsexual revues are not in the plans of new Cleveland bishop Richard Lennon.
"It would be safe to say that it'd be highly unlikely," Tayek says.
The Diocesan website listing of parishes does not include a St. Helena's.
The Unofficial Directory of Eastern Catholic Churches in Ohio lists:
Cleveland
Holy Ghost (Byzantine - Ruthenian/Parma)
2420 West 14th Street, Cleveland, OH, 44113, Phone: (216) 861-2177
St. Helena's Church (Byzantine - Romanian/Canton)
1365 West 65th St., Cleveland, OH 44102, Phone: (216) 651-0965
Wouldn't that put the church in the Catholic Eparchy of Parma? No St. Helena's listed there.
Can't find a Romanian Orthodox Church named St. Helena's in Cleveland, either.
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UPDATE
I found the Eparchy of St. George in Canton which lists St. Helena's in Cleveland.
