`Roamin' Catholics' wander in search of new church

CLEVELAND (RNS) They call themselves "Roamin' Catholics," traveling from
church to church, looking for a new place to worship since Cleveland's
oldest black Catholic church was shut down more than a year ago.

Initially, there were nearly 50 of them from St. Adalbert Catholic
Church, which closed in June 2010, as part of a diocesewide downsizing.
But some found other worship communities -- both Catholic and
Protestant -- while others just quit church.

Phillis Fuller Clipps, 54, said she knows of 14 former Adalbert
members or families who joined Protestant churches, 29 who no longer
attend any church and 69 who joined other parishes.